Monday, August 12, 2019

Geez Louise, Not Again

I wasn't sure what I would be writing about today but I didn't think it would be this, again.  But dang it, just when I think I'm doing better with my herniated disc, and that the pain I have on a daily basis is tolerable (albeit with Gabapentin), I have a day like Saturday that reminds me that I am not done with this yet, not by a long shot.

I did some things on Saturday that WERE NORMAL, sheesh, but by late afternoon I was hurting much more than I have been, and it kept getting worse.  And because I did some different things, I don't know what was the culprit, or if it was simply a case of overdoing it, which, come ON.

Possible culprits:

I sat on a metal chair at Blue Baker for a couple of hours.  But I've been doing this for a month now without extra pain, so I don't think this was it.

Then I vacuumed the tile floors for the first time in months (Jeff has been taking care of this since my injury).  Vacuuming is on the "don't do this" list, but we have a Dyson cordless stick vac, which is super lightweight.  I didn't even push it back and forth like I normally would; instead I held it close to my body and walk forward in straight lines.  OK a couple of times I bent forward to get it under some furniture, but I worked at doing it with the least possible movement.  I didn't even empty the dirt cylinder - I had Jeff do that because it does take effort to pop it open.

After lazing around for a few hours, Jeff and I went to the mall to see a pop-up art show put on by our local art league.  It's a small mall and we didn't have far to walk to get to the show, which was in an empty storefront.  The show wasn't huge and we made the circle a couple of times but didn't see anything that needed to come home with us.

Then we walked a little way past the art show and found a Van's store, which I had to go into because it reminded me of California.  After perusing everything and finding a cool t-shirt with the California bear on it but they only had mediums in women's sizes which are too small for me so sadly I left it there, I knew I'd had enough because I was starting to limp.  So we walked back to our car.

Since we were really close, we drove to Bahama Buck's to get sno-cones.  After several 100+ degree days with more to come, we thought that sounded good.  So did about one hundred other people but luckily we got in before most of the mob and Jeff was able to snag a table while I ordered.  Jeff took this picture of me because he said my teeth were turning green from my blue coconut sno-cone:
No green teeth here...my tongue was blue, though.  But you can see the line of people snaking around the place.  Also I put a filter on this shot because mannnnn, was I looking rough.  Freckles and wrinkles and no makeup, oh my!

We planned out meals for the coming week and then we went home because I was really hurting with sharper pains than I've had in a while.  This was disappointing as we figured the walking ended up being too much for me even though we'd only walked a short distance.

I pretty much spent the rest of the evening on my zero gravity chair, watching Veronica Mars - but hey, I finally made it to the newest season!
Yes we have a lawn chair in the living room - it adds to the decor, don't you agree?  Actually it's folded up against the wall next to the patterned chair when I'm not using it, but the color is right for the room, at least.

I went to bed in a lot of pain, thinking that the walking had caused this.  When I woke up on Sunday I remembered that I'd vacuumed before the walk.  So...was it the vacuuming?  Or the walking?  Or both?  It would be nice to know, but I'm not ready to try either anytime soon while I get past this flare of pain.  Oh and speaking of pain, I forgot that I could have taken an additional Gabapentin when the pain kicked in, instead of waiting to take my normal dose later in the evening.  Thank you side effects of Gabapentin for that...I forgot that I'm an active participant in my pain management.

Last thing:  At the urging of a lot of people, I've made an appointment with a neurosurgeon for a consultation about my herniated disc.  I do not want to have surgery.  But, as my PT pointed out, it might be good to know what is recommended, and if I didn't have surgery now (if the doctor does think it's necessary), what would I be looking at in a few years?  The appointment isn't for another month; I'll let you know how it goes afterward.

21 comments:

  1. Maybe it wasn't any one thing? Maybe it was just a bad day. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Just when you're making progress, reality has to rear its ugly head...

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  2. Grrrrr...I don’t like this post. Ok, I like the post and the activity. I just don’t like the resulting pain!!!

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  3. Well this just sucks. It's so not fair that you can't do one little extra thing, especially when you are being such a good patient and active participant in your recovery.

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    1. Exactly. It feels like my life will be on hold forever.

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  4. o gosh, I am so sorry this pain is continuing. I'm glad you are trying to go about your normal routine though, it just stinks that it causes you problems.

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    1. Yes it does stink. I just want normal. My normal.

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  5. That's so frustrating. I agree with Wendy, maybe it was not a single thing, but a combination of the entire day. I hope the pain eases up for you, and fast.

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  6. I'm pretty sure it was the vacuuming. No more chores for you!

    I hope you're feeling a little better today!

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    1. Seems like it WAS the vacuuming. Which, I need to have Jeff vacuum our bedroom again - almost all of my PT exercises are on the floor and I need it clean!

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  7. Dang that pain flare-up, when all you were doing was trying to live life a little bit :-( I would certainly give up the vacuuming for medical science research reasons, right? I hate vacuuming...
    Hope you get some relief, Shelley!

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    1. But have you ever used a Dyson stick vac?? I have never loved a vacuum until I got this one. ;)

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    2. Honestly, I think the only vacuum I would really love is one that's being used by somebody else to do my floors! LOL I'd rather iron for an hour than vacuum for 15 minutes - crazy, huh?

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  8. That lawn chair looks really comfortable! Yes, I think its the vacuuming too, although the way you described using it sounds perfectly sane.

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    1. Right? I wasn't going all out with this vacuuming, but apparently that's what sent me over the edge, sigh.

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  9. Sorry for the pain flair up, but art shows and snow cones sounds good. Will be interesting to see what a surgeon has to say.

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    1. I will always go for a blue coconut sno cone. I've never outgrown that, LOL.

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  10. I think you look beautiful in that photo!

    What a frustrating way to finish what sounded like a really fun day. I also wonder if it was one or the other or a combo. You did SO MUCH that day, which is super awesome, but your body is not used to it :(

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