We caught a curveball…

Embarrassingly, I managed to lock myself out of the site and didn’t want to deal with figuring out how to get back in until today. That’s a little complicated, thanks to the security plugin I use.

I’m still kicking, but it’s been a rocky year. Last fall, the neurosurgeon’s office had me trucking back and forth to Walla Walla for physical therapy in spite of me telling them how painful the car ride to Walla Walla was. My husband drove me, but I was usually in tears both ways. And would end up laying in bed for hours afterward, just hoping for the pain to ease. Finally, the physical therapist called it quits. He said he couldn’t see me in such pain.

At least I had the beginnings of a home exercise program. Unfortunately, by then the nerve pain flare-up was so bad I was unable to do my exercises for well over a month after we stopped the driving back and forth.

I resumed the exercises slowly and carefully, but winter was depressing. I was sending out some Covid care packages to hobby folk (mainly books) but a trip to the PO just before Christmas meant a short wait in line that resulted in yet another flare-up. I had to stop as clearly, my body wasn’t ready for anything additional beyond taking care of myself.

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My spine on steroids . . . a tailbone tale

After two months of physical therapy in summer of 2019, my doctor wanted to get an MRI on my lower back. The results came in late October of the same year.

“The good news is that your spine is stable and you probably won’t wake up paralyzed some morning.”

My doctor’s first words, verbatim.

As I’d been worrying about that little matter, that was somewhat of a relief to hear!

“The bad news is you have degenerative disk disease with one disk virtually obliterated, another in bad shape, a bulging disk, spinal stenosis and multiple pinched nerves. You’re in for it.”

His next words or close enough . . .
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UPDATE: Leg pain and back issue

Yesterday I had my physical therapy evaluation. The therapist thinks that I may have a bulging spinal disk issue.

So, she wants me trying to avoid: a) bending over, b) leaning, and c) twisting. Yikes! All things one does rather a lot of in daily life! And she’s not keen on me lifting anything heavy either!

BENDING OVER: The veggie drawers are at the very BOTTOM of the fridge. As I like to eat, that’s  a difficulty! Or feeding my cats. Or getting into horse and book boxes. Or taking sales and eBay photos.

LEANING: This one is a problem because of the dry eye. I can’t put drops in with my glasses on. I can’t see to put drops in unless I’m close to a mirror. 99% of all public mirrors as well as my own bathroom mirror have a sink and often a counter in front of them. Meaning I have to lean somewhat towards the mirror.

TWISTING: Can’t hardly drive without some twisting, in order not to run over someone. Really, you have to look behind you when backing out of the driveway or parking places. Just gotta.

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Not a leg to stand on…

Seems the last year and a half of my life has been nothing but issues! The toe problem on my right foot is ongoing, though the pain has been less. But now, I’ve got pain in my LEFT leg!

A couple weeks ago, I went to do my Monday weight workout. It seemed like a great workout! Except the day after, my entire left leg hurt. And only the left leg. It hurt in my hip, my thigh, the left side of my knee and down on into my shin.

I elected to rest it for a week. No improvement. Poor quality sleep, as pain made it difficult to nod off.

OK, if inactivity wasn’t going to help, might as well carry on! I definitely don’t want to lose the progress I’ve made with my knees! So I did another workout, going cautiously, which gave me some information, the Abductor/Adductor machine definitely hurts! But all else was OK.

I tried a pool workout two days later. Nope, that HURT! Moving the leg through water resistance was painful. I dressed, left the gym and drove straight across the street to my doctor’s. And was lucky enough to score a next day appointment.

Doc examined me, had me do a few moves like bending over and touching my toes and rotating my torso. Checked my reflexes. He thinks I may have a pinched nerve in my back! Sent me to the hospital for X-rays, THAT was painful! My leg was sounding off the whole time. Doc prescribed a short course of steroids, which took the pain away for six whole days and also physical therapy for my back. Unfortunately, the earliest PT appointment is later this month.

He said I should stay as active as I can, listening to my body. Pain’s been better since the steroids, but still painful enough that getting through a shower has me gritting my teeth. I really didn’t need anything else slowing me down….

Wrote the above last night, pain is growing, worse this morning. Ugh! Here’s hoping I can stand the pain for nearly two weeks more. If I seem slow on listing or posting, well, slow on EVERYTHING right now!

Mid-October, I had a bad fall

Falling isn’t fun. The older you get, the less fun it is. It’s downright scary!

So I have these wonderful Stegmann wool clogs, the best slippers ever. Not too warm, not too cool, they have decent arch support and I can wear them with or without socks. They aren’t cheap, but worth it for sheer comfort. And I can also step outside in them at need with no worries.

Eventually, they wear out. The uppers part from the bottoms and my old pair was quite bad and I worried about tripping and falling in them. So I bought a brand new pair off eBay for half price.

One night, just after starting to wear the new slippers, I tripped and fell! I guess I wasn’t quite used to the feel of the new footwear yet. Just what I was hoping to avoid by buying a new pair! Brand new footwear can be trickier than old, comfy shoes!

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How I’m Doing: Part 2

In part 1, it was my knees keeping me away from live showing. But as the commercial says, but wait, there’s more!

Getting to live shows is becoming a problem. I suffer from dry eyes. I guess I’m not the only one, the shelves at Wal-Mart are chock full of various eye drops. So many that I actually took a picture of the exact one I use so I can remember what to buy. My smart phone *is* my memory these days!

My eye doctor has me on artificial tears, anti-inflammatory eye drops, fish oils, a heated mask followed by a massage of my lower eyelids and a humidifier going in my bedroom. None of which is really solving the problem. I am putting drops in my eyes so darn often it looks like I’m crying half the time!

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How I’m Doing: Part 1

As I’ve not been terribly active in the model horse hobby in recent years, I thought people might like to know what’s up. I still have my collection, but add new pieces infrequently.

2015 Horsing Around 'Sioux' in bay roan
Horsing Around ‘Sioux’ by Brigitte Eberl

As I collect fewer figurines, I’ve switched to hunting for horse books from my childhood or books I might have loved reading as a child if I’d had access! I clearly missed out on a lot of great horse stories over the years.

Books from left to right: Tall and Proud by Vian Smith, Challenger by Patsey Gray, Vicki and the Brown Mare by Sam Savitt and Red Embers by Dorothy Lyons
To be read…

This whole nostalgia reading kick means you may see various horse books for sale in addition to figurines, as I read and resell.

Continue reading “How I’m Doing: Part 1”