This comprehensive history of Starleaf’s medical history was provided to her Primary Care Physician and to the hospice palliative care specialist. She always referred to it as her “misery list.”
1981 –Stopped car struck by van: neck & shoulder pain begins (and continues to this day)
1983 – Fusion of C4/5: partial relief of pain, continuing muscle spasms, and upper body weakness from nerve damage; began chlorzaxazone muscle relaxant
1990 – Breast cancer: lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiation
– Atrophic vaginitis with associated pain began
1991 – Began continuing acupuncture treatments
1992 – Osteoarthritis diagnosis: hands, hips, knees, back
1996 – Foot problems: neuroma surgery, plantar fasciitis begins, foot pain continues
1996 – Sciatica: pain off and on since then
2003 – Endometrial cancer: hysterectomy
– Urinary urgency/frequency began
2003 – Began continuing physical therapy for physical ailments – now weekly
2006 – Tremor began in right arm; increased neck and shoulder pain
2011 – Talked with Primary Care Physician about pain, began Tramadol; referral to neurologist
2012 – Parkinson’s diagnosis: began Parkinson’s drugs; pain gradually increasing
2014 – September – Dental work tweaked my neck: neck/shoulder pain much worse; chronic headaches begin – both day and night, all progressively increasing (muscle spasms since 1993)
2015 – Work-up for headache cause: Primary Care Physician; Ear, Nose and Throat specialist; neurologist; began trigger point injections at Headache Clinic
– Drug side effects became more unpleasant: frequent, extreme hot flashes; lower digestive tract: urgency, cramping, 4-15 bowel movements per day
– Side effects have increased as dosages were ramped up
2016 – neurologist referred to Pain Management for headaches: their trigger point injections made pain much worse; trigger point injections at Headache Clinic became less and less effective
– Started having trouble swallowing
2017 – neurologist referred to Good Samaritan rehabilitation for Parkinson’s “BIG” program; the BIG program overstressed my physical capabilities – pain greatly increased; more frail and tired after this; after this point, the neck and shoulder pain did not reduce – muscle spasms worse
2017 – Quit driving: too painful
2018 – January/February – Dr. Svoboda tried Nudexta for pseudo-bulbar affect: bad reaction
– January/February : weak and painful, quit going out to eat, quit going to theater productions
– March/April: Pain Management tried Baclophen as a new muscle relaxant to replace chlorzaxazone: increasing weakness, confusion, severe constipation, feeling “not myself” and experienced a “spell”; returned to chlorzaxazone; cancelled coast vacation
– April: quit eating more than I want
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Pain summary:
– Head, front and back
– Neck
– Shoulders
– Right arm
– Both hands: fingers/wrists
– Back
– Mid
– Lower
– Hips
– Knees
– Feet, bottoms of both
– Toes near toenails of right foot
– Abdomen
– Churning
– Cramping
– Urgent, frequent bowel movements
Starleaf VSED 