Office Visit with Dr. Kalra

I put way more angst into anticipating this visit than I should have! How many times had I rehearsed and re-rehearsed everything I was going to say to Dr. Kalra?!? I wrote down carefully in my notebook the three things I wanted to discuss with him.

His medical assistant took me to Dr. Kalra's exam room, asked questions, took notes, and then checked my blood pressure which was 111/69 and she said, "Good!"

He was a few minutes late for my appointment but I didn't mind. It just gave me that many more minutes to rehearse!

I knew he was probably Indian, but he was younger and shorter than I had imagined. He was cordial but I knew he was a down-to-business no-nonsense kind of person and so I behaved accordingly. I told him that I couldn't take more than 600mg/day of gabapentin or I get horrific headaches. He nodded and said that was common. I said I had heard of a painkiller called tramadol—and he stopped me with a half smile. "That is the next thing I was going to suggest for you," he said, and I internally heaved a great sigh of relief.

The next item on my list was to ask him about meloxicam. I told him I was concerned about destroying my liver and kidneys with Advil and Aleve. He said he would prescribe Mobic (brand name for meloxicam!). Which he did, but only half (7.5mg) of the 15mg dosage that Linda had (and which I took for a few weeks).

Finally, I asked him about the c-reactive protein (CRP) lab test which Google said is "a blood test marker for inflammation in the body." Is it valid, in your professional opinion, Dr. Kalra? He said yes and no. No, because your body's level of inflammation varies so much. A negative test wouldn't really tell you anything. A positive test wouldn't really tell you anything. But (and apparently Kaiser allows the test, covered or not) he was willing to order the test if I wanted. I said no, that's okay. But I just had to ask.

He said that I should have a follow up phone appointment in six weeks. He didn't say it would be with a pharmacist, but I wasn't surprised when his assistant told me that. She also told me I could pick up my prescriptions in San Leandro.

It was raining pretty hard when we got to Kaiser San Leandro but I didn't mind. I had just scored two new drugs! I also purchased, on impulse, a box of Salonpas pain patches, since someone on Facebook had mentioned that they worked for her husband. So…we'll see just how—or if—everything works for me!

Day 9 Pain Management

Today is Alex's second birthday. I failed to get my phone before we left the house, so I am starting this blog with a pen and notebook while in the Kaiser waiting room. (Hence, no pictures or check-in.)

One discovery is that the "Chin Tuck," which can be done any time and in any position, is instant pain relief! For the 5-10 seconds I can hold the "Chin Tuck."

I'm in my second week of gabapentin, having added an a.m. capsule to the p.m. capsule. Still afraid to not take the full 600mg of Advil twice a day. I keep wondering if meloxicam would be any better than Advil or Aleve, which apparently I'm not supposed to take with gabapentin.

Francis started the 10 a.m. session promptly with meditation. I could definitely hear his instructions over the music! Then he discussed our homework to create a 20-minute routine with the 7 core exercises (repeating 3 of them twice) and interspersed with 1 minute of cardio. Then he spent the rest of the time on Tai Chi, using the 10 exercises in the video he introduced to us earlier. Homework is to read "Tiny Habits" handout. The idea is to add a "tiny habit" to some behavior that you are already doing.

http://www.success.com/article/tiny-habits#sthash.s3mkvDO7.dpuf

Dr. Whitehead's discussion topic was reactions to stressors. She started with the Cognitive-Behavioral Model of Pain. Then we did a class exercise with this, giving a specific situation then listing feelings/mood, symptoms/body response, behaviors, thoughts, and then a "new plan" of action that would better deal with the stressors. Our homework is to do one of these on our own at home.

Throughout these presentations, the Kaiser model of prevention comes through loud and clear!