I SURVIVED! Sort of!

I SURVIVED!

After a horrible weekend due to the cold front, I felt really good on Monday.  I decided to take my little man Shane to the movies, then I had to go to a church council meeting, and finally I decided to go shopping.  I got home around 9:00 p.m. and was exhausted.

Tuesday I got up and cooked 2 turkeys, and made a double batch of my broccoli, rice and cheese casserole for our big family Thanksgiving/Family Reunion on Thursday.  I also did about 7 loads of laundry.  I still felt good, but my shoulders were a little sore.

Wednesday morning I went and picked up my mom around 8:15 so that we could go see the spine doctor (we both had appointments).  Doctor wants me to get an MRI and said I could go back to the chiropractor for now (yay me).  After our appointments my mom wanted to go to the mall to return some boots she had bought the day before.  We ended up getting makeovers (I got some makeup courtesy of my mom) and going to a late lunch.  After I dropped her off I headed to my nail appointment.  While I was there, my hubby called me and asked me to stop at the store and pick up some things we still needed for Thanksgiving.  I ended up getting home around 7:00 p.m. I was exhausted, a little more sore, but still moving.

Thursday 36 people (including my family) were crowded into my house for our first ever family reunion.  We hadn't all been together in over 13 years (see pictures on left sidebar).  My mom (the oldest sibling) called her other 3 siblings and told them that they needed to get all of their children and grandchildren to come down for Thanksgiving.  She didn't ask, she demanded!  My 89 year old grandfather was recently diagnosed with stage 4 skin cancer, and has decided he isn't going to get any treatments for it.  So my mom let everyone know that we may not have many more holidays with him.  So all 32 family members joined the 4 of us at my house for a wonderful day of love, laughter, and lots of memories.  I'm glad my body was still cooperating!

Friday and today I AM IN PAIN!!! My feet burn, my back is killing me, my shoulders feel like someone is stabbing me, and I have a monster headache!  The pain is worth the week I had.  I'm using the weekend to recuperate so that I'm work ready on Monday!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I know I did!

Gentle Hugs,
Bonnie

Feeling Better Until...

I called the orthopedist Monday to see if I could get an appointment.  After 4 weeks at the chiropractor I was starting to get new pains.  I went in with lower back pain and ended up with neck and middle back pains.  I was getting headaches every time he did an adjustment to my neck. 

My regular orthopedist couldn't fit me in until December 13th.  When I told the receptionist about my back and neck pain, she said they just added a new partner who was a spine specialist. I talked to his receptionist and was able to schedule an appointment for this coming Wednesday (thank goodness I'm on Thanksgiving break and don't have to take another day off).  She also told me to stop going to the chiropractor until they could determine if I had any other problems.

So after a week away from the chiropractor I was starting to feel better and was looking forward to a fun filled weekend until....

Yep a cold front moved into my desert city bringing rain, sleet, and temperatures in the 30s.  All week long we had weather in the 70s, and then Friday morning it got cold and windy.  By Friday afternoon it had dropped into the mid 40s.  Since yesterday it hasn't gotten above 37 degrees.  So of course everything hurts again.  Luckily by tomorrow this cold front will move out of the area, and things will warm up some. 

Hopefully things get better soon, I'm hosting Thanksgiving! My mom's entire family is coming into town (all 39 of us in my house).  Going to be a fun filled stress free week! NOT!

Gentle Hugs,
Bonnie

Snap! Crackle! Pop! Redux!

I've been going to the chiropractor for almost 4 weeks now (3 times a week).  Four weeks of getting deep tissue massages, physical therapy, electrical stimulation, and my favorite adjustments.  My lower back is actually starting to feel a little better. 

The massage therapist is determined to get rid of all the knots in my neck, shoulders, and glutes by torturing me with deep tissue massages.  She hasn't been able to make a dent in the knots yet, and let me tell you she's not giving up.  It's 15 minutes of pure torture, and I walk out of the room light headed and feeling like she took a bat to my back.

I definitely look like this after a massage and adjustment!

The physical therapy part isn't bad.  They have me doing several stretches and exercises to help my back.  I don't mind the adjustment on my back, but the neck freaks me out every time.  I keep expecting for my head to come flying right off my shoulders.  Every time they adjust my neck I swear I see stars! After a session, I'm pretty much finished for the rest of the night.  I come home and just collapse!

They did a scan of my feet, and now I'm getting orthotics because apparently when I walk I don't put any weight on my big toes.  I'm actually having to learn how to walk all over again.  Apparently this is also a cause of my balance issues.  I thought I was just super clumsy!  Thank goodness my insurance is covering this, because the orthotics are expensive.

After looking at my x-rays, the doctor was amazed that the only part of my body I don't complain about pain is the part that has arthritis (vertebrae T11 and T12).  I guess I'm just lucky that way!

Photo Courtesy of www.yogaback.com

So I will continue to go get tortured 3 times a week, and wait for that magical day when I don't walk out of there feeling like I was mugged.  They say it's going to happen! Fingers crossed!

Gentle Hugs,
Bonnie

Spondo What?

Photo courtesy of the Mayo Clinic

I finally got the x-ray results for my back, and the chiropractor tells me I have spondylosis.  I know I was diagnosed with scoliosis as a child, but had no clue what spondylosis was and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.  So the doctor shows me the x-ray and starts to explain what is happening with my back.

Needless to say I was a little freaked out by all his doctor talk, so I asked him to explain it to me in normal person talk.  He laughed at me and basically said my vertebrae are degenerating and I have bone spurs on the ends of them, my tail bone is at a funky angle, and my left hip is higher than my right hip.   I also have arthritis of the spine! Yay me!  So he wants to see me 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks to work on my back (more snap! crackle! and pop!).  He says they should be able to get me walking with minimal pain in no time.

I went to my rheumy yesterday and told him about the diagnoses, and he wants me to be careful with the chiropractor because he's afraid they're going to mess me up even more.  He then proceeded to give me 2 cortisone shots (one in each hip) to help with my myofascial pain.  My hubby was with me and I could see the look on his face.  I had seen the needle (about 5 inches in length) and asked hubby if the doctor had pushed the whole needle in my hip (the doctor gives a numbing shot first so I couldn't feel the big needle), and my hubby could only nod his head up and down.  The shots have actually helped with the tenderness in my legs.  Hopefully it lasts a while before wearing off.

So tomorrow I go back to the chiropractor and tell him about my rheumy's concerns. My rheumy also gave me a note for the chiropractor explaining what he would like accomplished during physical therapy.  He said to let him know if the chiropractor couldn't accommodate me and he would send me to a new physical therapist.

I just want the pain to go away!

Gentle Hugs,
Bonnie

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

No, I'm not talking about the cereal! 

What a day! First hubby and I went to my family doctor (who I absolutely love and wouldn't trade in for the world because he believes me when I tell him I'm hurting) who gave me a shot of something, a pain pill, a prescription for some pain patches, and a prescription for a muscle relaxer. Then he called his brother the chiropractor and told him he needed to see me today. 

So off we went to the chiropractor who said my back was really jacked up (though he used his doctor words) and worked out a temporary plan of treatment. First a massage (I was thinking awesome until they went all deep tissue on me and pissed off my fibro and made me seriously light headed), then some stretches (painful but manageable), time with the industrial strength tens unit , and finally I was back with the doctor. 

 He stretched me out (ouch), and then told me he was going to do an adjustment (oh-oh). I have never been to a chiropractor before, but I relaxed and let him do his thing. He popped every bone in my back (quick relief, then "Dude, I'm going to hurt you if you do that again" pain). Monday I have to get some x-rays and lab work done, and he wants to see me again. Apparently it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Right now I feel like I've been beaten with a bat, plus my back is still killing me. I did take a long nap today due to the work out my body got plus the meds they gave me. So for now I'm supposed to keep resting, and then we'll see what Monday brings. So looking forward to it!

A little humor courtesy of http://www.digitalham.co.uk/misc/chiropractor/

Gentle hugs,
Bonnie