I wake up. My arms burn from the inside out. Waves of tingling ripple across my face. It is now day 13 of this new nerve pain. I don’t feel well. I caffeinate and slip into the shower. Today warrants a shaving of the legs and a fresh shower. Today I see Dr. McHH.
I head into Seattle. A masked man greets me at the entrance of the doctor’s office. I answer standard questions about covid symptoms. Then man takes my temperature, offers me a fresh mask, and then gives me a card to show I have been screened. One more quick check in and I wait.
The nurse calls me back. It’s Cool Nurse Chick. We catch up as we go over the reason for my visit. I inquire about the new ink on her forearm. Dr. McHH comes in before we are done. He must have heard us laughing. His eyes twinkle behind his face mask.
Cool Nurse Chick leaves and we get down to business. I shake, tremor, and stutter as a manage to further relay my symptoms. He appreciates my description of swallowing pop rocks to explain the burning and prickling pain in my throat and lungs.
I hesitate. Do I mention the other problem? What if it’s what is causing the nerve pain?
“Oh and by the way, my IUD has disappeared…. I swear I know how to find my cervix better than anyone. I know the cervix can more around and that’s not it. There are no strings. And it definitely did not fall out.”
What if my IUD went wandering out of place and it’s hitting my spine in some way? Maybe that’s it? Far fetched, but maybe.
Dr. McHH does a thorough exam and then I assume the position. After some time and lots of poking and prodding, Dr. McHH is forced to agree. The IUD is missing. He directs Cool Nurse Chick to call around. I need an ultrasound done stat.
While Cool Nurse Chick makes phone calls in the hallway, Dr. McHH and I discuss next steps. He’s going to draw blood. He doesn’t think the IUD is causing the nerve pain, but we need to find the IUD. In the meantime, we are going to seriously ramp up my dose of gabapentin over the course of a few days.
Cool Nurse Chick has managed to get me an ultrasound, but I’m going to have to book it. In good traffic it’s easily 25 minutes away. The appointment is in 45 minutes and I still have to get a blood draw. Ahhhhh.
I practically throw my arm at the nurse doing the blood draw. Once I warn them I have a history of fainting, one nurse grabs an ice pack, puts it on the back of my neck, and lowers the chair back. I’m so distracted I barely notice the jab.
I pop out of the chair, run downstairs to buy a water. Pelvic ultrasounds require you to pound water. I then briskly walk to the car and begin a determined trek across town.
The traffic gods smiled on me and I make it to the freeway relatively quickly (first hurtle). The freeway is fairly clear until it isn’t. I breathe, hope, and pray. I make it to the the imaging lab with 3 minutes to spare!
The ultrasound is straight forward. I am relieved to see the IUD about where it’s supposed to be. Now I don’t have to worry about dealing with emergency surgery. I can go back to focusing on that whole nerve pain thing.
A few hours later, Cool Nurse Chick calls (with Dr. McHH talking to her in the background). The radiologist reviewed the ultrasound. The IUD is in the place, but the strings have migrated up. The good news? The IUD can stay and can be removed when needed. The bad news? In 4 years the IUD is going to need to come out. Just thinking about what that will entail (especially since I can’t have lidocaine) makes me feel ill.
The next day Dr. McHH calls me (getting me out of a less than thrilling zoom meeting). The bloodwork came back. I’m not surprised to hear that everything looked normal. He doesn’t really know what is causing my new problems, but wants me to contact my neurologists and let them know what’s going on and find out about starting physical therapy. He reiterates the plan for increasing my gabapentin up to 1400 mg and asks me to email every couple of days to keep him in the loop.
After hanging up, I send off an email to Dr. McIrish about my new symptoms and med change (since he is the current prescriber). I send another to Dr. Moves to see if there is any new updates on starting therapy. Feeling I’ve been successfully productive, I lay down and take a nap. Gabapentin can do that to you.