Thursday, December 09, 2010

Thur, Dec 9, 2010: And still the pain persists.....

Yesterday......after a second long night of not sleeping at all.....moving from bed to sofa to floor to chair to bed and again and again, the same painful route around the sticknbrick. So, as soon as 9AM arrived I called one of the local chiropractors and made an appointment with him. My backside, my thigh, my shin......all never quite screaming and telling me to do something for them.

It was another horrible night and yesterday morning I could not walk across the room from the bed to the door without such horrific pain that I could think of nothing else but getting to where I was going so I could lay or sit in some contortionists position to try to alleviate the pain.....to no avail. I did take a very hot shower for about 35 minutes, letting the hot water pound my backside, upper left butt cheek, and my left leg on the front of it. By the time I was thoroughly puckered from the water and red from the sting of the hot water, I could move a bit without the excruciating pain that I had been experiencing.

At the chiropractors' office, I told him....Dr. Kevin Roberts.....a "friend" of mine as we have known each other for most of the years we have lived here......I told him of the problems I have been having and discussed what I thought brought them on......stepping off of the shelving in the garage and backwards onto a step on the ladder. And so......the process began: laying on the table so he could exam and feel where the pain was originating, so I thought. Then.....xrays were made.....and quite soon, he showed me the results. Yep......it is the sciatic nerve that has been compressed/pinched by the vertebrae or at least some portion of the spine's workings. And.....it was hardly visible by the haze on the x-ray.....looked like a satellite of a tornado.....it was soooo thick and white!! Lots of inflammation which must be eliminated........

And sooo, an electronic gizmo shot little sharp stings into that area.....felt like bugs biting on me in various sequences and little dances with synchronization to them. Then he "popped' that area and not only did I feel it, but I could hear it! And.....I felt somewhat better.

Another appointment was made for this morning. Back to the sticknbrick for lots of ice packs on my rear side......and lots of wet underwear and jeans as the ice made the ziplock bags quite wet.

We had invited the Hanner's for drinks and munchies, and had purchased tickets for them and us to go to the 2nd annual Mineral Area College Big Band Holiday evening: dancing and refreshments in a formal atmosphere. Well.....I decided I would go, even though I knew that dancing would be out of the question(I did dance a slow one or two)....and I was in no pain!

However, as the almost three hour evening wore on, I began to feel little twitches of pain in my thigh and shin.....and I knew it was not a good omen! Soooo, Sue was also having back problems, as she has been having for some time now....and so she and I sat out the dancing part of the evening and let Dave and the 1st Lady enjoy themselves on the dance floor.

It was an incredibly great evening with the place full of well-dressed people.......how nice it is to go to an event with everyone in dress clothing....cocktail dresses, coats/ties, etc., etc. Micheal Goldsmith is the director of the Jazz program at MAC.....and so, it was fun to watch him directing the group and in charge of the evening!!!! He does an incredible job of producing an evening like this, as well as producing such outstanding performers/musicians!!!! PROUD of him, I am...I am!!! Love you, Mike!!!!

We returned home and I went to bed quickly......no sleep for two damn nights in a row.....and so, luckily I fell asleep rather quickly. Then......about 4:30, the pain woke me up....and once again, I started the process of tying myself into strange physical configurations.....like some Yoga contortionist.....trying to find the right spot to allow the pain to go away!!!

By daylight.....it was impossible to walk without assistance, from either the 1st Lady or the furniture and walls of the sticknbrick! Soooooo effing painful!!!!!!!! Another long, hot shower, more ice packs, and then off to the doc's office. More treatments, more electrical "bugs" stabbing THAT area....and another "pop" of my backside. But, this time it was not much better. I was told to not sit, but to lay flat or stay on my feet!!! Well, laying flat in the pain I am having is almost impossible, but as the pain went away gradually this afternoon, I quit standing at our bar and made my way to the bed....and, to get some sleep.

Another appointment in the morning is scheduled........and we shall see. The doc says it will take some slow and lengthy time to get back to normal......and, everyone who has written has told me horror stories of how long it has taken them to recover from the sciatica nerve pinching......DAMN!!!! Some....up to 7 LONG weeks!!! Hmmmm.......sure the hell glad that this did not occur when I was getting ready to tow TheHowserHouse down the road OR to get on a 15 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand!!!!! I am not sure I could have survived that flight....and there would have been no place to land to get me off of there on that non-stop from Los Angeles to Auckland!!!!!

Now??? Almost 6pm and my leg seems the best it as been all day long....since about 4:30 this morning. BUT.....let's see how the night goes. It is getting to the point where I start dreading going to bed at night. This pain......it has been so horrific that there has only been one other time in my Life when it was worse.....and that was when I was hospitalized twice in one week for surgeries to remove the kidney stones from my kidneys......which for several days required that I have a morphine drip to control the pain!!

Ahhhh.....do I really end with my usual statement???? Well, even in the pain I am encountering......it still could be worse, couldn't it???? Soooo, as always.....

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

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