To begin, I have been waxing nostalgic. Well, not quite as romantic as that, I've been trying to remember when my back issues that ultimately led to my current situation began this year. It was one of those gradual things, I've had some intermittent back pain on and off just like every other human on the planet and gave it as much thought as that. Things changed though this year in that it didn't go away. I went to chiropractors, made a standing workstation, changed my office chair out for an excercise ball, became one of those people who stand along the wall during long meetings, did yoga (not well though, pain in my back and leg had made me so stiff I couldn't even touch my knees. Really.) and perhaps the most difficult change from a vanity standpoint, I quit wearing my cute shoes with heels and exchanged them for flats, yuck. I would wander around saying "why does my back still hurt, oh my aching sciatica". I was having problems sleeping and (shhhh, this part is a secret) plied myself liberally with libations after work. The constant pain also didn't help with my inherent bitchyness. That is in no way an insult to myself, I fully embrace my sarcastic nature, I think I'm funny. I believe now that disc went bad way before it knocked me in the head. When you don't listen to your body, sometimes it will up the ante "how do you like me now?"
I got a treadmill yesterday, I feel like a hamster on a wheel but I think it will be helpful. I've been trying to walk between 30 and 60 minutes a day but it snowed on the 5th. I don't trust my balance, I can't catch myself with the outside of my left foot or toes. Turns out you use your entire foot to not fall over, interesting right? Anyway, that makes snow and ice really scary even with a cane. So, I can set the speed and I'm actually slower than I thought. I walk about .5 miles an hour. So to walk a mile would take 2 hours. What is that? My daughter has always said I walk faster than anyone, my husband has said walking with me is like a death march. I think they walk too slow, really I would like to get there before I die. Well, no longer. I am slow as molasses in January (ha, I thought throwing in a folksy colloquialism would be fun). We got the treadmill new, we checked for used ones but the closest were a 4 hour drive away. We looked online, WalMart had some that we're marked down 94% but when I tried to order it, it said NO! Today, I saw on the news they weren't going to honor any of those great prices anyway because it was a mistake. So, we went to the store and just bought one. We have a pretty big house for 2 people but we stuffed it into the sitting room because that's where we hang out the most. I think I can play video games and walk on it. If I break an ankle, I guess I was wrong.
I feel better every day and I think that is cool. I am still stiff, the muscles in my lower back are still a bit fussy but not bad considering they were sliced apart, rolling over when I sleep is still a little dicey but a satin bottom sheet and a satin nightshirt is slick enough to help. Sometimes I am afraid I'm just going to slip off the bed but that hasn't happened yet. I feel better now than I did 6 months ago, long before surgery was even a thought. You can talk about the good old days all you want, give me modern medicine and broad spectrum antibiotics any day. I can't even imagine what people did 200 years ago, but the average lifespan was about 37 back then so I would have been dead already and it wouldn't have been a problem.
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