No need to apologize...I appreciate the concern and suggestions

Honestly Nanc, try the Manuka honey...it's very good at healing skin, and if that incision site is still giving you a lot of grief, it's worth a try.

Glad you managed to sleep a little

Bram.

Can you try using Caladryl around (lol... not on) your incision to help with the itching? Or see if you can take Hydroxyzine for the itching? That is what my doctor gives me for my medication & latex allergies and both work pretty well and the Hydroxyzine helps also with sleep. The caladryl is especially soothing if you get raised bumps with your rash like I do.. grrr so annoying! I feel bad for you and hope today is better.

Tessa

Thanks for the reminder about that honey Bram! I was going to look it up and forgot what I was doing...I swear my mind is so much worse right now

I didn't think about Caladryl, I think I have some and will try it AROUND the incisions...lol I am taking Benadryl but have not taken Hydroxyzine, I will ask about it. I do have raised red bumps.

Thanks again Tessa

OK, I am gonna attach pictures of two incisions. Both are where the batteries were removed (right front/side and left hip/butt). The other two are up my spine, so I cannot capture a picture of them The pictures really don't do them justice. They do look much better than they did and you can see that they are drying out today. If this grosses anyone out, I apologize.

Attached Thumbnails

 

for some reason it would only let me attach one picture to my post...here is the other one...
(they don't look like it in the pictures, but they are each about three inches long)

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Ouch, that does look sore....no wonder you've been going mad from the itching and irritation!

It's obviously completely up to you what stuff you try to help with the soreness. The only reason I've been pushing the honey is that I know how troublesome many of the meds are for you, and I thought it was something you could try without upsetting the balance too much... Whichever way you play it, I just hope whatever it is works for you!

The second one is definitely closing better. Thanks so much for posting these, I had no idea how major the SCS was, I've only read about it, and seeing your pictures certainly makes me appreciate why it's often seen as a risky decision with CRPS. I'm glad it helped you so much for that time though, as you say, getting that extra couple of years was worth all the aggro!

Lol on the muppetry thing you guys In our house, saying "you muppet" is a friendly way of pointing out that someone has messed up, haha, and "muppetry" is the art of messing things up without malice a forethought, as the courts would say... "Classic muppetry" means it's something that person has done previously and is well known for.....like for instance when I was halfway through cooking a tea tonight, but had forgotten to take the sausages out of the freezer...so my poor husband had to go and get some more!!!! Bless. My youngest told me I was a muppet first of all....as in 'oh Mum, you are a muppet sometimes...' in a slightly pitying way

Take care everyone, and Nanc, I'm glad I'd finished my tea before I looked at your pics Hope you get some sleep tonight.

Bram.

I guess I am a muppet too LOL...thanks for sharing that. It made me smile too

I most certainly appreciate every tip and suggestion from all. I am definitely going to look it to it more, I just keep forgetting...so frustrating!

Glad you finished your tea before looking at the pics The other two incisions on my back look about like the second pic posted (the first one is in the front and is the worst). The top incision on my back has this square around it where the tape was and broke me out. They all look a lot better.

SCS's sure are major, it is invasive and most don't realize it. I had both cervical and thoracic ones implanted at the same time, the dr and rep thought I was crazy. I told them do it at the same time or not at all. I only took off a week and a half from work...stubborn and hard-headed I know. I am glad I got some benefit from them, but am happy they are gone now.

Thanks again Bram!
Nanc

Side tracking a bit more.. sorry Nanc.

Az-Di, I totally understand that "look" I don't think most people can even fathom the types of pain we have.. even most doctors. One doctor whom I love actually understands it quite well and one day when I was expressing how much worse my deep bone pain was getting from the top of my femur to my foot - he said that "I could probably feel the blood moving through my bone marrow" that is how sensitive our nerves are. That made sense and shocked me to hear how much he understood what we/I are going through. He is also the doctor that recommended the Mexiletine which is helping some.

The look I have trouble the most with is when trying to explain to someone how the cold temperatures affect my pain.. they give you that look like "my joints hurt to when it is cold" .. the actual air hurts me like someone is holding two live wires in my legs like lightning bolts... then the "look" just like you said.. I don't understand why shingles get's so much attention on TV commercials and in magazines etc., I've had shingles and yes it hurts like heck (no offense to anyone) but seriously why can't they do a commercial for CRPS oh yeah because they can't fathom this type of pain! grrr.

Okay... I'm done thanks for the side-track Nanc. Thinking good thoughts for you tonight!