19Sep13 91 degrees Sunny. My overall pain for the day was a 6.5. By bedtime it was a 8. My feet are on fire. I did not sleep last night, but I had slept all the day before except when I was in route to RRH. I miss my daily FaceTime visits with my Granddaughter Riley. I miss Frank (dachshund). Darrell leaves Saturday and I can feel panic starting to set in. I am feeling weak/exhausted after each dive. I am even having trouble pulling myself out of the car. I am disappointed that the firie redness purple swelling in my leg and feet has returned. Susan tells me that I will go backwards before getting better. Today was a backwards day. Today's movies: Morning, 'License to Wed.' Didn't see any of it; I slept. Afternoon, 'Legend of the Guardians.' Animated artwork of the owls was great, but I didn't like the movie.

20Sep13 71degrees. Sunny. Weather still continues to affect me, because it is beautiful here even if there is a fall spell. Sure makes me happy. I woke this morning feeling pretty good, about a 6 on the pain scale. My pain level was a 7 by the by the afternoon even after my dive. $#=+! My left foot and leg were back to an 8 by bedtime with burning pain shooting from the foot up the leg into my hip.This morning I slept late to about 4:00 am. I have been feeling very weak and fatigued. It is all I can do to get myself out of the car and back to bed. I fell asleep on my scooter before I could get in the elevator. Susan says it could be too much oxygen. We need to space the dives out more. I had only one dive today due to the extreme weakness. The movie was ''Shrek.' It has always been one of my favorites.

I had my baclofen pump refilled in the afternoon. It was a close call. Eeeeek! I had the pump filled 2 week 2 days ago. According to Medtronic, I have to get it filled every 2 weeks while in HBOT. Since we arrived Darrell has been running by nearby hospitals looking for pain medicine doctors that would be willing to fill my pump. One of the hospitals recommended a Dr Cho. We didn't know if he would even agree to fill the pump but made an appointment anyway. I didn't see him. I saw a Dr Hasseltine instead. He is fantastic! I wish he or someone with his rapport and knowledge were in Omaha. He knew all about RSD and the latest treatments. He is a Medtonic specialist. He asked why Prialt was not mixed in with the baclofen. Dr Follett did not want to mix meds in the pump. Hasseltine uses Ketamine to treat some of his RSD patients. We talked about my CRPS II. He recommended a web site tamethepain.com to find Medtronic specialists in my area. He referred to my neurosurgeon Dr Follett an excellent Doctor. I agree. He loaded up my pump with liquid baclofen. I'll see him again in 2 weeks.

21Sep13. 74 degrees and sunny. I started out the day at an 8 on the 10 point pain scale. By bedtime it was a 7. I had one dive today. Movie was 'Rango.' Cute except a couple of the characters were too gnarly. I am still feeling weak. I was anxious about the close call with my pump, but now I have to get my pain medicines refilled before I go into withdrawal. I brought hand written and signed prescriptions from my neurologist, but I always get an uneasy feeling when I have to have them filled in another state. There is usually a glitch. Darrell tried to pick them up from Walgreens but was told that the scrips couldn't be filled because they were not written on 'special' paper. What!?! Now what!?! Option A: find a Doctor who would be willing to reissue them on the special paper; Option B: send the scripts home with Darrell, get them filled, and overnight them to me here in California. We called Susan right away. Um, Dr Underwood ... ? I have one 100 mcg/h and one 50 mcg/h patches left. I use 150 mcg/h total each dose. I'm due to change them today (Saturday). That gives me 3 days to figure it out. I couldn't have them filled early in Omaha because they are narcotics. Boy am I in a tight spot. Chewing my nails.

My friend Kelly arrived in Ontario California this afternoon. Yay! She will be relieving Darrell as my caretaker for the week. He is leaving 5:00 am Saturday morning to go back to Omaha for a couple weeks. We had dinner out at a nearby Italian restaurant. Really nearby. It shares a parking lot with the hotel. I walked to and from the restaurant on foot with the handy aid of my good ol' cane. Woot!

We got a call that our old dachshund Frank is sick. My heart sank. He has been staying with Darrell's parents while I am in California. He is 16, nearly blind, short on teeth, can't hear, and has liver cancer. He is fragile, special, and requires tender care. We phoned the Vet in Omaha Nebraska; they have a branch in Edwardsville Illinois. Don rushed him in to the office. Frank was given some pain meds and sent back to Grandma and Grampa's house. He is truly a sweet boy. I hope he can hang in till I get back home.

As a leisurely reading project I decided to peruse my medical records. Looking way back, waaaaaay back, I checked out my psych evaluation on behalf of my neurologist way before she even gave me a diagnosis. It was standard procedure. The report notes pre-dementia. Again, WHAT!?! I guess that was just conveniently left out of any of our conversations. Damn this has been a bad day!

22Sep13 76 degrees; always sunny. Even though my pain was a 7 most the day, it did drop to a 6 1/2 after my morning treatment. The movie was 'Toy Story.' Excellent! I woke this morning at 2:00 am. I walked with my cane most of the day. I used my scooter on my way back up to the room later in the day. The red color on my left leg and feet seems to be fading some. I am very anxious because I am worried about Darrell who kinked his back lugging me and my stuff to sunny Southern California, Frank, and whether or not I will be able to fill my Fentanyl and Oxycodone. I am still fatigued but feeling better. Tomorrow is a day off. I'll hit two-a-days again on Tuesday.

I was finally able to pick up my meds. Yay! Dr Underwood was kind enough to rewrite my prescriptions on the special paper. I took the scripts straight to Walgreens incase they would need to talk with DrU. Sure enough. They called him to confirm that it was his writing and signature on the special paper. Then they checked my prescription history to make sure I have been on the stuff. I gave them my DNA, my first born Grandbaby, drivers license, and signed my life away to the state of California. Did I mention my credit card. But, I got my meds. Whew! That was too close for comfort. Thought of taking an Ativan. I was trying to figure out the logistics of plan B or even C if we had one. Well, now I am good for 30 days. I should be home by then.

23Sep13 87 degrees. Sunny. Sat at the pool today but stayed in the shade. Got a little overheated. Went inside and cooled off. No problem. Yep; I love this weather outside of the smog that rolls up the hill from LA. Today was a day off from HBOT. No movies. Still walking with my cane. I'm at a pain level 6. I have been all day. Of course the only thing I've done is venture out to the pool. Nice. Tomorrow I am shooting for a 5.