Tie shoes on your back

Here I am tying my shoes on my back, a new good practice to save my back.

Alvin's wedding

The kids and I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday. I ended up overdoing it, so I'm resting this morning. The kids were sweet and Joanna was able tomaneuver through the crowd and see and talk to Alvin and his bride to my amusement.

The reception was grand and we stayed through dinner, but I had to leave before the cake cutting. I was ready to go before dinner. I stopped at sonic to get the kids milkshakes in lieu of cake. If I needed evidence that I should stay home this was it. Whew!

I hope I didn't do harm, and I font think so, but I had some sharp pain last night and muscle spasms and it continued this morning.

Enough whining. :-) it was a beautiful wedding.

Feeling better but with good days and bad

I have started having more days I can do more. Wednesday was really good but I know I pushed past my limit. Because yesterday was not great. I didn't sleep well Wednesday night so I didn't feel good and had more nerve pain on Thursday. But by evening I was read to make a trip, so I took the kids to chick-fil-a where we ate and they played and I stood and sat in a stool. I had pain while walking in the living room, and only walked 10 min. Last night I didn't sleep much, but it was better than Wednesday.

The doc recommended physical therapy to help relieve the nerve pain and get me transitioned to full activity. I started physical therapy today and have my exercising to do 3 times a day. The physical therapist thinks I am doing well with my recovery plan by easing back to full activity and supports me staying home from work 1-2 more weeks to transition. I called the doc and left a message with his medical assistant to get paperwork started.

I feel guilty for not returning at the three weeks mark, and possibly needing the full 6 weeks, but I will try to make it only five weeks. Though, I'm anxious about my job and what it means to be out, and even though my job is supposed to be legally protected, I cannot help but think there will be consequences for missing work. I hope it's okay in the end.

I worked when in pain for more than a year with the last 6 months being terrible. Part of the healing is resting and doing more everyday. I'm doing that.

However, I do know that if I don't get the nerve pain under control first and get to where I can drive the full distance and sit during the day, then going back too soon will not help me improve.

I am sure I will feel better tomorrow and I need to be positive to ensure I heal up. Nothing good ever came from having a bad attitude.

Feeling better

Starting to truly feel improvements! Last night I did not need pain medicine!
I made scrambled eggs for Jason and me this morning for breakfast!
I put away the silverware from the dishwasher.
I finished watching a movie while sitting on the couch.
I knitted a hat, finished today.
Drove a short trip twice today.
Walked 20 minutes in the backyard.
Dinner for me and the kids was simple; pre grilled hot dogs and a sliced apple. It was so big we all shared it and Jack got some too.
I brushed and dried Joanna's hair after her bath, standing up in the bathroom and we had a nice time talking. Joanna showed me she can curl her tounge.
I brushed my teeth with Thomas.

Surgery

Ok, it's taken me since 9/13 to write this: I'm having surgery on my back on 10/11, day after Joanna's and my buddy's birthdays.

It could really happen that I will feel better. Doc didn't promise 100 percent pain free, but I am hoping all the agony will be gone. I can handle discomforts and time-to-time problems, but God truly has been my help in this.

I'm still fighting great bouts of sickening grief of pain. It's maddening that there is no relief, but if there were a way to feel better then I would not be having surgery. I suppose this is all in gods timing. I have had several thoughts on the goodness of his plan:

1. I did indeed have tilted misaligned pelvis.
2. I did have si joint dysfunction, and sacrum pain, too.
3. I did develop levator ani syndrome in April and it lasted unrelenting until mid August, thanks to meds and sleep meds, it relented.still have bouts but nothing near like it was.
4. The PRP and physical therapy did help in many ways.
5. Doc was right in a way about peeling back layers of the onion.
6. If the disc problem was discovered earlier, maybe it would have been fixed but these other issues would not have been addressed as they were. I trust this is to my benefit and gods glory. I am thankful for the ways he has shown me so far through this.
7. I have learned a lot about treatments and methods, and my own tolerances and true limits.

Pain and concentration

It's more efficient to tell folks my back hurts rather than the details, but it is not just my back: it is my low back, my butt, along my tailbone through my pelvis to my pubic bone, down my leg, with numbness in my foot. When standing, and sometimes laying, strong pressure in both legs below/outer my calves with pins and needles. And the pain from my back down my leg will alternate legs as well. Mostly the pain is on the left, but during walking, it will hurt on the right instead of the left and my foot goes numb. It's obviously not the physical legs hurting, but the nerves in my spine are being squished.

All this has been disrupting my sleep since April. I'm getting better sleep now, but it is difficult to concentrate during the day as the pain just keeps my mind on edge.

So, I'm happy it's Friday. But, my back is already killing me before the day starts. Typing about it helps some!

Labor Day weekend

I relaxed in bed half the day on Monday, but I had a big weekend.

On Saturday, the kids and I loaded up and went to Walmart, and one of our list items was a back brace. I bought a lumbar back brace and used it while doing my cleaning and chores on Saturday. Joanna and Thomas helped some with the chores too, after failed attempts to play nicely together outside.

I wore the brace to the family reunion and long car ride on Sunday. It was really helpful. I don't plan on using it constantly, but it is nice to have.

Monday, none of got out of our pajamas until a few minutes before the pizza arrived!

Friday and Saturday used my meds, but I held off both meds the last two nights. Sleep was ok on Sunday night; last night, I was up till 12:30, then woke for the fat at 3:30.