23 January 2006 To answer some questions. I don’t own an iPod. I don’t listen to music when I’m biking as I’m too busy listening for traffic. However, I’m not in the least bit bored as I do a lot of story planning. Biked 8 miles today, along with physical therapy and walking Beauty, the usual easy routine, so to speak. I’ve officially made it to Mount Doom with Frodo and Sam, as well as been rescued by the Eagles, with the Éowyn Challenge, and now I’m on my way from Isengard to Minas Tirith with Gandalf and Pippin. I miss the Daypro. It isn’t serious pain medication so much as a serious anti-inflammatory, but it does make a difference for me. Actually, with my reaction, or lack of reaction to pain killers, this is the best answer for me. Dr. R told me he’d check me again in a few weeks to see how I’m doing. I was very surprised this morning to hear what sounded like an explosive, like on some of the TV programs, with that grinding and clicking. Imagine my surprise when I found the source to be a hummingbird. LOL! With family dinner yesterday, my weight is up, what with my compulsive stress eating. I’m being very careful today, i.e., paying attention to whether or not I’m hungry and eating healthily. It was a relief to have Jenafer, my niece who’s a massage therapist, tell me she knew someone who’d done the exact same thing I had and how painful it was. She was wonderfully sympathetic. LOL! It’s always nice to know I’m not being a wimp. Speaking of being a wimp, my lower back really benefited from the Daypro. I had to take ibuprofen for the pain this afternoon. Craig will not be happy if I undid all the work we accomplished, then again, I won’t be happy either. I just tried some heat on my back, instead of ice, and feel much better. So, whatever I did, it’s different from the disk injury, which always felt better with ice. The body is an amazing thing.24 January 2006 I forgot my mantra: Pain is good. It tells me that I’m moving incorrectly and to stop and reassess. As I lay down to sleep last night, on my left side as always, I stretched out my right leg and heard and felt a pop in my back. At first, I was afraid I’d done something awful and then the pain subsided and I slept quite well. I hope Craig can help me straighten out this mess with a minimum of difficulty. Sandy sent a lovely picture of her dad today. I cried. When I get discouraged I look at that and take a deep breath and square my shoulders. I can do this.
25 January 2006 Craig was out with laryngitis. However, Mark was there and was willing to help me if I was willing. They asked if I wanted to come back, but I said, “No, I need help with the pain now.” Mark was an intern when I was there last spring. It was a relief to learn that it is not my disk but simply the back muscles. He gave me some gentle stretching exercises, the same ones I was using in the spring. I call them my intermediate exercises. LOL! After working with Mark, I was able to stand for the first time in days without pain. I’m doing them every time I get up and move around: my regular break from working. What a relief.
26 January 2006 Question first: The 111-mile bike ride is done all in one day. I still think I’m out of my mind, but I’m getting to be okay with that. I’m amazed at the difference my physical therapy has made. That and I’m settling quickly into my new job. My boss is very happy with my work, and I’ve only done it twice. It’s such a relief to know a bit of extra money will be coming in, without a lot of extra work, at least once I’m settled it won’t be a lot. And my weight is back to pre-weekend stress weight. YAY! Biked 20 miles today and actually did pretty well. I was able to do it a bit more quickly; even with stops to pick up work, it only took me about 2 hours. A guy passed me when I was less than 3 miles from home. I caught up to him at the light. We greeted each other and he commented that the gloves seemed like a really good idea and he was thinking about it. I agreed, especially when one starts at 7am (it was almost 9am by this time). It was cold this morning! Cold is being able to see your breath. :-) And he was cute, not unlike the delightful Mr. Wood he was. LOL! I’m doing extra of my physical therapy and grateful for it. It really has helped. I’ve also remembered a bit of comfrey tea yesterday and today.
27 January 2006 I’m feeling considerably better. My back is loosening up nicely and though it is still a little sore, it’s ever so much better. Biked only 8 miles today and doing my stretching. It always amazes me that a slight change in the way one moves their body can make such a big difference in how one feels. Made a chocolate cake today, just because. Also feeling very tired.
28 January 2006 My sister and I spent the morning and had a grand time. We dropped off my work; the rest of the family still doesn’t know about it. It’s a bit of a relief not to have people questioning me. ‘Are you going to be able live on this? Is your boss going to give you more?’ Mostly questions that I simply have no answers to, but I’m asked them repeatedly anyway. We dropped off some stuff for charity. I stayed in the car and heard this loud crash. I knew something glass had broken. Ruth got in the car snickering. She chastised herself for laughing, and I couldn’t help but point out that it really was quite funny. Here she had gone to all the trouble to be so careful about getting the glass object delivered safely when she could have simply done the same thing at home and at least had the fun of breaking it herself. We both laughed so hard we cried. We also went in search of a Shrek. She wants an Ogre. We searched Wal-Mart, her store of choice, and Target, my store of choice. LOL! No luck, though I did find a lovely Italian place setting of four that I decided to use as my reward for meeting my next weight goal. I’m down another pound, so only one more pound to go to reach the next benchmark. I found what she wanted at Amazon and ordered it for her. My first store of choice! LOL! We came home and had some of my cake in milk. The day got pretty stressful after that. Walked MissB and did my stretches. What a wonderful blessing those are!
29 January 2006 After yesterday, I’m not surprised my weight is up this morning, but also quite confident I can get it back down easily enough. Who is this person?! I always struggled so. I’m eating completely differently. I still like my junk food, but I’m more selective and better about portioning, except when I stress eat, but I’m even learning to not let it go on for days, one maybe two, but never longer than that. Today, I’m simply trying to get my eating back to being more relaxed. Started the day with salmon and wild rice and sugar snap peas.; needed to check that the oven worked properly. There was a bit of smoke yesterday along with it being pulled from the wall and unplugged. I’m taking it very, very quiet today. I want to read more of “Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Viktor Frankl and a bit of Brother Cadfael and ‘The Leper of Saint Giles.’ My friends are such a blessing to me.