My Sweet Protector -- Sophie the Newfoundland!

Most of you know that we have a Newfoundland named Sophie that we acquired almost two years ago.  Sophie is the sweetest dog, even if a bit of a drooler!  LOL (That may be a bit of an understatement!  Ha, ha!)  

Anyway, this morning before starting work, I let Sophie and Mater out and walked out with them to enjoy the cool morning air.  There's a couple rabbits that have made their home near our barn, and they've been driving the dogs nuts in the morning.  This morning; however, was different.  Sophie was looking to the east and started barking like crazy!   Because she was barking at something, of course, Mater had to start barking, too!  

I looked and looked and couldn't see anything in that direction.  Mater eventually decided that Sophie was nuts and stopped barking, because he couldn't see (or presumably smell) anything, either.   But Sophie wouldn't stop  She'd run to the end of her rope and bark and bark, and then come back and stand in front of me, as if she was protecting me from whatever she was barking at.  She did this for at least ten minutes!  

Greg came outside to see what the fuss was about, and we realized what Sophie was barking at and protecting me from.    See the picture below: 

If you look closely, to the left of the shed, there is a wheelbarrow leaning over a tire.  Yes, indeed, my precious Sophie was protecting me from a WHEELBARROW!     How sweet is that?!  

Normally, the wheelbarrow isn't there, so Sophie was wigged out about it!  We knew it was the wheelbarrow because I went to get it and when I brought it to her, she ran around it, sniffing it, like she had never seen it before and needed to know what this thing was!   

This was the first time I had ever seen her protective instincts!  My dear, sweet, 135 pound Newfoundland!   I must say, this beautiful giant is one of the sweetest, gentlest dogs I have ever met!  Even though she's a lot of work, and a lot of extra cleaning (she sheds more than four dogs combined!), and of course, there's the slobber (and lots of extra cleaning), it's all worth it!   

(Don't worry, even though we're in Wisconsin, this picture isn't from today!)!  

Greg's Health Saga Continues -- Next up -- ACUPUNCTURE!

So, even though I haven't written for a while, not much has changed as far as Greg's health is concerned.  He is still in an incredible amount of pain on a daily basis.  He's had some back procedures (radiofrequency ablation) that have done absolutely nothing for his bulging disk pain, even though it's been five weeks since the first procedure.  

We used a program through our insurance called "2nd MD" and it provides a second opinion.  A Harvard trained and educated pain specialist was chosen for Greg and after reviewing his records, we had a 45 minute video conference with him.  One of his biggest suggestions was to put Greg on a time-release pain medicine, with additional meds for "break-through" pain.  Greg's pain doctor at Advanced Pain Management was not very receptive, to say the least.  His attitude appeared to be that he knows what he's doing and did not like the fact that we went for a second opinion.  He appears to not like it when I question him!  And trust me, I have a lot of questions!  (Imagine that!)   I have not had a favorable opinion of this doctor for a while now, but there was literally no one else available, so we've been stuck with him.  I have had disagreements with their staff and have made formal complaints to their head office.  I am a thorn in their side, and I don't care.  If I don't advocate for Greg, who will?  Too bad if they don't like me questioning their treatment or not being happy about waiting 24 hours or more for a call back.  They treat their patients like we should be lucky they are there, instead of being compassionate, caring doctors and staff who are treating people that are in pain 24/7.  It's not right and I'm sick of it!    

The doctor did agree to put Greg on a time-release medicine and after a huge shit-show of trying to get it approved and then getting it at Walmart, Greg was finally able to start on it.  Suffice it to say that the medicine prescribed did NOTHING for his pain!  We have a case manager through our health insurance and she put us in touch with one of the head pharmacists, who told us that the dosage given to Greg was outrageously low, especially considering the amount of pain and the length of time he's been on opioids.   Greg was on this medicine for a week and it was doing absolutely nothing for his pain!  When we went to see the doctor, and he tried telling us that it could take up to two weeks to begin working, I stopped him in his tracks and told him that was absolutely NOT ACCEPTABLE!   (By the way, the pharmacist said that the doctor is full of crap on that point!)  We ended up going right back to his regular pain meds, and the doctor had nothing more to offer.  Zip, Nada, Nothing!    Suffice it to say I'm NOT pleased!  Trust me when I say that this is the very short version of what happened at that appointment!  

Because of that, I started researching more within our health plan.  As it turns out, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (about 2-1/1 hours away) is in network, but none of the doctors are.  That's not helpful!  UW-Health, in Madison, WI has a Pain Management Center and the clinic and the doctors are all in network!  I contacted Greg's PCP and requested a referral.  Fortunately, his PCP had no problems referring him there and agreed we needed to look at another alternative (I'd have opened up a major can of whoop-ass on her if she argued about it!  They don't like to refer out of their Aspirus network, so I was prepared for an argument.  Fortunately, that never happened!)   They are requesting his records and have scheduled an appointment for us for August 20th.  Please keep Greg in your prayers that they are able to do something for his constant pain!  This is no way to live!   

In the meantime, I did more research on our insurance, and found that up to ten acupuncture visits for pain management are covered!  Unfortunately, the closest in-network acupuncturist was an hour away.  Oh well!  That's closer than Madison (2-1/2 hours), and if it can help his pain, then that's what we're going to do!  

So, his PCP again had no problem referring us to the in-network acupuncturist.  I have a stupid plan that requires referrals for EVERYTHING, but it only has a $1,200 deductible, so we deal with it and I make sure we follow all the stupid rules to the letter.  Greg's bills so far this year are around $220,000 and between my UHC coverage and his secondary Medicare Part B (that we pay for), we haven't had to pay anything additional.  We are very blessed that I work for UnitedHealth Care!   

Today was Greg's first appointment with the acupuncturist, and it was interesting to say the least!  The doctor (he's also a chiropractor) reviewed all the information I gave them (I have Greg's very extensive health history all typed out in a nice little spreadsheet -- I know, shocking that I would be so organized, right?!  Ha, ha!  I guess my OCD comes in handy for stuff like that!  I even carry a spreadsheet of his meds because there's so many! ) 

Anyway, as promised on Facebook, here are some pictures!  First is the table.  I know, doesn't look like much, but there's a heated pad under there!  

The doctor is pressing on various areas of Greg's back.  

In the next picture, you can see some of the pads they put on him.  He had them on his back and on his legs.  It's some sort of magnetic thing, I think!  Too much information that I just didn't absorb all of.  Sorry about that!  

Next are going to be pictures of the needles.  If you're squeamish, you should probably stop reading now!  LOL!  

There are some pressure points in the ears, so he started there!  

Greg said he barely felt the needles going in.  He said it hurts more when I put in the needles for his weekly IVIG treatments!  These needles are thinner than an earring stud!   Super thin!!!!! 

Here, you can see a bunch of the needles in his back.  The different colors are different lengths of needles. 

The needles stayed in for about 30 minutes total.  Apparently, this is a treatment that does require more than one to work, so Greg hasn't really noticed much relief yet.  But, we're still hopeful!  The doctor is going to be gone all next week, so he won't be going back for 1-1/2 weeks.  At that point, he can go himself.  There's no need for me to go with.   I always like to go for at least the first appointment with someone new, so I know what's going on, and so I can help add to the discussion of his treatment/history. 

We're also starting Greg on some CBD oil.  The doctor really thinks that this will help Greg, and it won't interact with any of his other meds, so why not?   It cost about $100, which seems like a lot, but it should last about 1-1/1 months.  And, if you think about how many times you go to the grocery store for a loaf of bread or gallon of milk and blow 100 bucks, well, there you go!  

Afterwards, we went for lunch at Charcoal Grill (we LOVE onion strings, versus onion rings, and they are one of the few restaurants around here that have them.  YAY!).  The food was excellent and we ate enough that we won't have dinner tonight!  

After that, we stopped at a store to look for a dress for me for Erica's wedding.  Unfortunately, we didn't find anything, so we'll be going to David's Bridal in Eau Claire on Saturday (about 1-1/2 hours away).  So, we went to their sister store in Marshfield, and ran into Aaron and Rachel there!  Aaron needed to get fitted for his tux for Erica's wedding and a friend's wedding.  I had a feeling we may run into them there, and it was great to see them!   There were also stopping at Abby's new house for dinner (in case you didn't know, our 21 year old daughter, Abby (the one that went to Australia for six months) bought a house!  How incredible is that?!   So, we stopped there on the way home to see how it looked after she moved in her furniture and painted.  It's absolutely adorable and we are so incredibly proud of her!  

I know I need to post more on our trip to Australia.  I have tons and tons of pictures I want to share, but between work, taking care of Greg, making stuff for Erica's wedding and bridal shower, I just haven't had time.  

If anyone takes CBD oil, or has more information on it, please let me know!  I'm curious as to how long it might take to see some results (if any), and of course testimonials of how it's worked for you!  Feel free to leave it in the comments section here!    

So, that's what's going on with Greg.  It's been quite a journey, and we're anxious for it to end.  I am very hopeful about UW-Health being able to help him.  They have an entire team of doctors that work together to come up with treatment plans, so we're not stuck with just one doctor with a god-complex!  

Hope all is well with everyone!  Love, peace and prayers for all! 

Julie