I recently said "Fuck" under my breath when getting a cortisone shot in, or should I say through, my left foot. Oh, God, it hurt so bad. I felt terrible because the doc was an older man in his mid to late sixties, which is the age range I adore and I was crushing on him terribly and felt bad for saying that in front of him. But damn it, those shots hurt.
I had a transvaginal ultrasound done last year that was EXTREMELY painful. I have several cysts on each ovary (but not PCOS) and had been suffering terrible pain so my doc wanted to check the status of the cysts. I keep begging for an oophorectomy so I can get it over and done with but it is best for me to keep my ovaries for now for hormone production.
So back to the ultrasound, I had to have a full bladder in order for them to see the ovaries well, which is uncomfortable in itself, more so because I have interstitial cystitis. I scooted to the edge of the table and slightly beyond, which is a torturous position to be in since it strains the lower back. It's especially painful since one must perch on the edge of the table and stay still with an arched back for nearly an hour. I'd been suffering from pelvic pain for two weeks so my doc needed to see how things were going along with the cysts. I knew it was going to be bad when I started hurting as soon as the transducer was inserted. Usually, it isn't too bad, kind of like a thin dildo, but really, really long.
The tech worked the wand in me and tried pressing from different angles to get a good image but no matter what she did, she could not get them in focus. She called in a second tech who did the same with similar results. They called in their supervisor who came in with them and they all three tried to get a good angle. The supervisor decided to try an external ultrasound and she kept rubbing across my pubic hair line over and over again. Even though the transducer was lubed, it tugged and pulled at my pubic hair and left streaks of red, purple and blue bruising across my skin from the pressure that lasted for weeks. But still, she could not get a good picture.
They tried using the internal wand again and hit me from every angle possible, abusing my bladder like it was a punching bag. I would groan, moan and gasp and my eyes would open wide with shock then roll back into my head due to the pain. They apologized the whole time and even though I was completely miserable, I let them go ahead because I knew how important it was to get a good scan. Finally, one of the techs removed the transducer and said, "That's it. We're done." She sounded somewhat frustrated and I told her it was okay to continue that I knew it was important but she said that there was no way she was going to continue since it was hurting me so terribly. She wrote in the doctor's report "Patient could not tolerate test due to pain." And though I was grateful it was over, I felt bad that they couldn't get a good look.
At the time of the test, I knew it was hurting but the real pain didn't start until the next day. I was bruised internally and externally and it felt like I had been gang-raped by a Louisville Slugger baseball bat. The pain continued for three weeks. I wish I had the sense to have them stop instead of lying there like a good patient should.