Well, after years of suffering with a bad ankle that is getting progressively worse, it looks like my husband may be facing an ankle fusion. I’ve been quite preoccupied with this worry recently, and it’s part of my lack of blog postings. Nothing I read about it looks like fun. But he can’t keep on like he is, as it’s getting almost impossible for him to even get around on it. He is at the doctors in Amarillo today, while I am here looking up scary things on the internet. Access to lots of information can be a good thing, and a bad thing. But I tend to want to read it all, or hear it all, so, if anyone has any personal ankle fusion experience they would like to share with me, either publicly or privately, I’d be interested to hear it. If you want to share, but prefer to keep it private, just post a comment asking me to contact you back, and I will respond to your comment via email. From what I’ve read, I understand recovery is quite lengthy. I’m trying to convince him, though, that if it will result in easing the tremendous, life sucking amount of pain he is currently in, that it will be worth it in the long run. And that’s all I have for today.
Category: health
Just a Midweek Check-in
I’ve barely had time to stay up with reading some of my favorite blogs and message boards this week, let alone post anything. I’m having a good week, though. I’ve kept up with my Flylady missions, and my exercise.
Today, the weather is horrible here. Right now the wind is HOWLING. Plus, we’ve dropped from the 50’s & 60’s back to the 20’s. The windchill is supposed to be below 0 at some point. Maybe right now, I haven’t been out yet. Then there is supposed to be some snow, with practically no visibility due to the wind. Needless to say, I am not going to the doctor in Amarillo today. We postponed that a couple of weeks.
However, I found some online articles yesterday that I found very interesting, and I hope that I am finally finding some answers to my shoulder & back issues. The articles were on myofascial pain syndrome and trigger points. I found an article with diagrams, showing common trigger points in the back and neck muscles, and where the referred pain locations are on the body. They described what I am experiencing exactly. They also show stretches for those muscles. They said it’s better to treat the trigger points, with pressure, before stretching, but me, being impatient, went ahead and tried out some of the stretches. I did this while sitting at my desk, waiting for my afternoon appts. to finish coming in, and they made me feel better. I’ve been complaining that the pain goes right down the back of my right arm. That area was really bothering me yesterday. I did the stretching exercise for one of the muscle groups that it showed to refer pain to that area, and I kid you not, immediately, my arm quit hurting. And it hasn’t started again, yet. I’m trying not to get my hopes up that it is going to turn out to be something this easy….I’ll keep you posted. BTW, the article on the trigger points can be found here, http://www.pressurepointer.com/BookOne1.pdf
Of course, they are trying to sell a product, too, but the stretches are fantastic. This link will take you to the Mayo Clinic site, and their description of mayofascial pain syndrome.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/myofascial-pain-syndrome/DS01042
Now I better get up from here and get ready to go to work.
Scattered Saturday Thoughts
This post is just some random musings going through my head.
Slow down. Quit rushing through projects. Take my time, enjoy the process. Keep it fun and relaxing. Don’t feel guilty about telling someone “no, I’m not interested in taking that project on”, or “this is my price, take it or leave it”, because I will not GIVE my time away. My time is valuable. I would rather not do any quilting for money, than do it for less than it’s worth. To do that, makes me resent the project. I have plenty of my own projects to work on, which make me happy. My quilting must continue to be one of “my happy places”. This is not negotiable.
Set smaller goals. This really goes along with slowing down. Why do I put so much pressure on my self to finish, finish, finish? This is hard to explain, but I’m sure others of you will grasp what I’m trying to say. I think I have so many projects that I hope to make, and I start feeling like…I don’t know…the world might end, or I might die, or some other such catastrophe will occur…before I get to them. I need to get over this one. There will ALWAYS be projects coming along that I want to do, that list will never get smaller, I will never come to the end, I WILL die, or the world will end, or some other catastrophe will happen before I make EVERYTHING, or accomplish everything I want to accomplish. Anyone else relate to this crazy thinking????
So, like for example, this week, my quilting goal is ONLY to finish the nine patches for my 9P & stripe quilts. That is 88 9P’s. I’m almost done, so by the end of this day, I fully expect to meet that goal. Then next week, my goal will be to have the stripe blocks completed.
The Biggest Loser. I love this reality show. I am not obese, but I am now struggling with my weight, which has been gradually creeping up, up, up ever since my hyster, almost 3 yrs ago. I know it’s partly my age, 41, but I think also in part to the estrogen replacement I’m taking. Maybe that’s just a cop-out, denial on my part, too. I don’t really know. However, since a new season of The Biggest Loser has started, so has a new try on my part to get those numbers going back in the right direction. So, I will also start posting a weekly weigh-in on my blog. If those contestants can be brave enough to stand up before the world and weigh-in, so can I. Maybe knowing that I will be putting it here for you all to see will help keep me accountable and motivated. My starting weight is 154. Ouch! I don’t like that number. My first official weigh-in will be tomorrow. I will try to remember to do that on Sundays. Sunday is the day I view as the first day of each new week. I’m just barely, maybe even a smidge under, 5’5″. So that weight is at least 25 lbs more than I should be for my frame. And the majority of it goes south of the waistline. If I could redirect it to my boobs, all would be well…LOL. My exercise goal is not less than three times per week.
Stay on track with my Flylady routines. Hit a lick at a snake. Remember that even housework done incorrectly still blesses my family, and me.
If I continue to have problems with my shoulder, back, neck, etc., to the point that I have been, and it continues to interfere with my life as it has been, I will find the courage to go back to my family doctor (I’m currently seeing only my chiro for this, and some days it’s better, most days not) and be insistent with him that he look into it further, or send me on to someone else who can & will get to the bottom of what is causing it. WHY am I getting so much inflammation, irritation, pain….??? Why do all my upper body bones pop & creak, and feel like they are grinding against each other with movement, or just changing positions, such as simple rolling over in bed? But on the other hand, I’m terrified of any kind of surgery….waaa, waaa…I know…I just get so frustrated with doctors kind of throwing their hands up and acting like I’m making too much out of it, because they can’t see anything significant on an Xray. This pain is not normal. And I would skip over my family doctor, but my insurance requires a referral from him, so this requires me to be more insistent and forceful, which for some reason, I find hard to do when dealing with health care professionals. I turn into a wimp around them. I let them completely intimidate me.
Ok, was this too much rambling for you…? Flylady just asked “where is your laundry?”, so I guess I best get up and put some in the washing machine…lol. And I have some 9P’s to finish, and some treadclimbing to do, therefore the rambling must come to an end….
Ramblings From Randi, The Wild Rose Quilter 