'Back' in the ER

I did not sleep well last night, which made it a long night. I woke Chris up at 7 to bring me a towel and some meds. I tried to rest until they took effect. I contacted my tapping buddy and we tapped, but the pain just got worse. Finally she said that maybe I needed a more physical intervention and to let her know what happened. Right after she signed off, the meds kicked in and I felt better. I watched an episode of The 4400 on my tablet. Then I decided I should sleep while the pain was not so bad. But sleep did not come and the meds wore off. The pain was so bad that I could barely stand it, and getting worse. I could not move my arms or wiggle my feet without triggering a spasm. And some came on without provocation of any kind.

I took some oxycodon and tried to be patient. But I was afraid that something bad was happening in my spine. So Chris took a shower, then called the insurance company and we spoke with a nurse that triaged my symptoms. She recommended that I see a doctor. Since I could not get out of bed, Chris called 911 and they sent an ambulance. But first the fire department showed up and took my vital signs.

Then the Hemi showed up. But the stretcher would not fit in the bedroom, so they had it just inside the front door. I tried to get up but could not, so they rolled me onto a sheet and carried me to the stretcher. Yes, it hurt, but since the oxycodone had kicked in, the spasms weren't as bad as I feared. They put me on the stretcher , covered me with blankets because I was in my nightgown and it was raining. And rolled it to the ambulance, and slid me into it. I had a bad moment there. A man took my blood pressure again. We chatted all the way to the hospital. The ride wasn't too bumpy and he warned me each time. I had a white-knuckled hand on each side rail.

When we got to the hospital, he rolled me inside and we waited by a desk until the lady could tell us which room to go to. Then the two men rolled me there, and used the sheet to convey me to the hospital bed. It hurt more than the first time. There were two nurses, one male and one female, that took my vitals again, and tagged me. He asked a few questions and entered them in the computer. Then they left. After a while, a lady came to push me to the MRI room. Then I had to scoot myself from the bed to the MRI table. Luckily she was in no hurry. It took three passes of pictures of me. Then I had to scoot myself back to the hospital bed. I felt a little better afterward and wondered if I had pushed something back into place by accident.

When we got back to my room, Chris was sitting there. She left me with him. I passed the time by watching the monitor. It took my blood pressure every 15 minutes. It went down to 103 over 59 during the course of my stay.

A doctor came in finally. He wasn't Dr. Bombay 'cause he didn't come right away. He asked questions about my history and what the pain felt like and he examined my scar. He said the MRI did not show anything major, just the beginnings of arthritis and some degeneration. He said there was probably a micro tear in a disk and stuff was bulging out of it just a little. He discussed what mix of prescriptions I wanted. I did not want the steroid pack, so he ordered a steroid shot instead, plus one for pain and valium as a muscle relaxer. I asked him if I was staying overnight and he said I would be taken to the car in a wheelchair, although he could order an ambulance if I preferred. Then he left. Chris went home to get some street clothes for me.

Waiting... and watching the monitor.... and finally a woman came in. She had three shots for me. She said she was the best shot-giver in the hospital. She pinched some skin in my derriere and the first two shots were done before I had time to react. But then came the Vallium shot. It took longer and it stung for some time and left bruising on my skin. It hurt worse than my back, but then my back wasn't feeling as bad as before I took the oxycodone. She said she'd be back to check on me and thought I would be walking out of the hospital. Wow, such positivity here. More than I could imagine.

More waiting and hoping the shots would create the miracle she promised. The doctor came back with a prescription sheet for Percoset, Naprosyn and Skelaxin. We had a nice chat about keto diets, and the value of fat in food, and fasting and all sorts of health stuff. He recommended I read a book called The Back Mechanic, which could prevent me from having this happen again. He said only 48 hours of bedrest was helpful and after that one should get up and move around. He said he understood about the spasms, but I didn't get the feeling that he quite got that the spasms are dangerous because they can set back healing for days. He thought only the pain part was relevant and no damage occurred. H

e insisted that I get into a sitting position. It was quite painful. He raised the head of the bed to help me. Then I had to swing my legs over the edge. He did not understand how painful that was. But he did not leave until I was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a death grip on the mattress to support my back.

After he left, Chris helped me get dressed and move to the wheelchair. A man came to push me to the checkout station and we had to wait. If I had realized all the sitting that was involved, I would have asked for an ambulance. Chris said he thought I should have stayed overnight. But, as tiring as it was, I waited in the chair. There was more sitting time as a lady figured out which forms we needed. Chris signed them because I was still using my hands to support my upper body weight. Then a lady wheeled me out to the entrance as Chris went to get the car. I had a few bad moments getting into the car from the chair.

But then we went to Rite Aid to fill the prescriptions. Sadly the pharmacy was closed. I told Chris I just wanted to go home. So we did. He parked the car and brought out a rolling desk chair. I maneuvered onto it and he pushed me to the front door. There was a chair inside the door so I only had to walk a few feet before sitting down again. Then he put the chair away and helped me to the bathroom. I wanted to go lay down, so he helped me there and then he went out to another pharmacy. Three people were texting me, so I laid there and texted back. Then Chris returned, saying that pharmacy was closed as well.

He made me a bowl of hot soup. Then he helped me get to the dining room table to eat it. I walked back and forth a few times, gingerly. I took today's supplements. Then I sat down to post to my blog, looking forward to going back to bed, and hoping I would be able to get up in the morning.
* Chris took this pic of me just as the paramedics were taking me out. *

P.S.
I just remembered a few other things the doctor said. A- the valium may cause short term memory loss so Chris shouldn't be concerned if I don't remember a conversation we had under the influence. B - Stretching the spine is a bad idea. It will only take so many stretches before something breaks. Yoga is good for the rest of the body, but don't do the spinal stretches.

Bummer of a day

I went to bed ambulatory, but woke up bedridden. Chris had already left for work, and my phone was in the diningroom, so I had no way to get help. My kidneys were very productive, however. I had to use pillowcases and sheets to soak it up so the mattress would not get wet. It was pathetic and depressing. I tapped, and visualized, and prayed for Chris to come check on me. I put on my mp3 headphones to meditate.
Around 1:30, the mainenance men came to replace the fridge and water heater. Praise the Lord. When they knocked, I yelled for them to come in. I was afraid they wouldn't, but after a minute, they did. Then I asked one of them to get my phone for me. I was embarrassed for him to come in the bedroom, but I needed the phone. I called Chris and he came home from work. While the men worked, Chris helped me get more comfortable. He brought me food and water and meds. He found 5 and I chose three. He plugged in a lamp so I could read. I finished a quilting novel. I got sleepy but when I did not fall asleep right away, I kept reading. Chris brought me two hardboiled eggs. I tried to get up, but still could not. Beverly called me for advice on her quilt. She mentioned some back exercises, but I was not up to doing them yet.
Then I called Dad to see how he was doing. I had meant to call him for Easter. I asked Chris for a bowl of vegetable soup. He heated it up, then fed it to me. I read part of a second quilting novel in the same series. Then I called Faye for advice on which meds to take as a second round since the first round did not seem to help. I tried to move around a little so as not to get bed sores. Chris called up Netflix on my tablet. I watched part of an episode of The Office, but it wasn't holding my attention. So I switched to The 4400. I asked Chris to rub magnesium oil on my back. But I spasmed just from his flicking my nightshirt out of the way.
At 10:30 Chris brought me a second round of meds and some water and pili nuts and a banana. I was feeling a little better so I tried to get up, but I spasmed. I requested my laptop so I could post to my blog because I don't know how to do that on my tablet. It has been a long and frustrating (and painul) day. I hope the night will be different.
* This is a tree that fell over in the storm a few days ago. *

Onion juice - the cureall

I did not sleep well last night. I was alternately too hot or too cold. In the morning, I woke up (or thought I did) and could not get out of bed because the left side of my body wasn't working right. I figured I had a mini-stroke. I tried to sing a song but it sounded terrible. I wondered if I should go to the hospital, but I couldn't get up or to a phone. So I went back to sleep (or thought I did).
When I woke up (for real), I was fine. Surprisingly, it was only 7:15. I brushed my teeth, then worked on the crayon challenge project. I took stitches out of a green quilt sleeve that I rescued from the trash at quilting. It seemed the perfect size for the backing. I rustled up some matching green thread to stitch down the stem of the flower.
I turned on the router then went to take a shower. The tub was scummy, so I got some baking soda and a sponge and scrubbed it. Then I turned on the shower and got in to rinse the tub and wash up. That's went my back went out with a sudden painful 'gotcha' sensation. I stood in the tub, afraid to move, wondering if I would still be there when Chris came home. After a minute, I could move gingerly. I washed myself as best I could, then managed to get out of the tub. I dried my upper body, then laid on the bed to dry the rest. I got dressed, then meditated with Oprah (and my best sitting posture.) I had a few minutes left, so I sat in front of the piano to work out the chords for 'Lamb of God'. But it just didn't work. So I looked it up online. But then it was time to go.
I got in the car and drove to the acupuncture place. Jennifer called me along the way to say she was on her way. When I got to the shopping center, I parked and sat for a few minutes. Then I went in the store to tell the doctor that she would be along shortly. I went outside and she was just driving up. Then we went in together. We were guided to two upholstered chairs. My feet did not touch the floor. I asked for a pillow behind my back and Jennifer asked for one, too. But the pillows were a little too big. So I wasn't all the comfortable sitting there with my feet in the ionic foot bath. Jennifer had one, too. We talked during the 30 minute session. I let her look at my aura report in case she wanted to get one as well. The lady doctor talked about the benefits of onion juice – good for whatever ails you apparently. She showed us the individual packets. We asked if we could buy one packet, but she said no, just a box for $50.
After the foot bath, she took pics. I took some as well. I did not see a difference from last time, but the doctor said she did. She took a pic of Jennifer's feet, too. Then she gave us paper towels to wipe our feet. My ankles had a lot more gunk clinging to them than Jennifer's did. She got the foot massager that I had last time and the lady gave me a different one. Instead of feet going inside, the feet stayed on top and little nubs went round in circles under the soles. I prefered the other one. She also gave us the shoulder massagers.
When the massages were finished, I payed for both of us – as a treat for our choir director's hard work. The lady doctor showed us her 'very expensive machine' that washed onions, and cooked them and packaged the extract in plastic pouches. I did not get a pic because she had the lights off. Then she showed us a paper-covered wall where her previous patients had signed their gratitude. She also showed us her degrees and certificates on the wall, as well as her husband's - 2012 and 2013 from a college I never heard of in California called South Baylo University.
We left the acupuncture place and went to the Asian store so Jennifer could see what kimbap was. She asked about kimchi and bought a small container. We wandered around the store a bit, then checked out. I asked the owner if she tried the onion juice and she had. We asked if we could buy a packet. She sold us two, for a $1 each. Jennifer paid for both. Then we went to our cars and went our separate ways.
I went home. I was feeling stiff and sore so I took a walk. It seemed to help a lot. I looked where the hidden tulips were and found peonies coming up, as well as lilies. I saw big trees that had fallen in the storm. When I got back, I looked up the chords again. Somehow they just didn't fit. The music in the bulliten had only the melody and it looked like D major. Well, the chords in the pdf online looked like they belonged to the key of C. They were just chord names, no notes or staff.
I gave up and started searching for the onion juice machine. I found all kinds of things for peeling and slicing them, but not extracting and packaging. I did read that onion juice is good for your hair if you rub it on your scalp.
I gave up on that, too and ate a fat bomb. Once I had eaten something, I wanted more. I ate some nuts, too. Then I started making breakfast. Chris came home from work. As I started eating, there was a knock at the door. Two mainenance men came to look at the water heater and the fridge. Then they said they'll be back tomorrow afternoon with new ones.
I took another look at the chords but could not make them fit. I laid down on the guest bed with the infrared heating pad. It was relaxing and I might have fallen asleep for a bit. When I got up, it was after six. I asked Chris to make me a salad. By the time it was ready, it was quarter of 7. I ate it in front of my laptop, looking at red images on Bing. I figure red strengthens the root chakra. But it didn't seem to help me. My tapping buddy contacted me before I finished my salad. She was willing to wait so I finished and then we tapped together for my back. She recorded the session so she could use it as a case study to get her certification.
I made a cup of hot bone broth. Then we watched two episodes of Enterprise. I had a frozen rice pack on my back. Chris made his sandwich and went to bed. I stayed up to blog.

Just my luck

Last night, lying the bed, I heard the wind howling ferociously. So I put up a virtual bubble of protection over our duplex. Then I grabbed onto Chris and tried to go to sleep.
When I woke up, it was 7:15. Chris was on his laptop, but not online. He was going in late like he did yesterday. I swished while doing some sewing. Then I took some niacin and read e-mail until it kicked in. By then Chris had left for work. I did my exercises and made coffee. I listened to three of Oprah's meditations to try to catch up. I also did some tapping.
I cleaned the kitchen and washed dishes. Then I did the bathrooms. I wiped the floor in the master bath to get the stuff that doesn't sweep up. I used hot glue to fix the cracks in the handmixer bowl. I played my trombone to see if the chiropractic adjustments made any difference. Maybe. I listened to an audio. Then I went for a walk. My socks crept down to my arches. I think they were Grandma's socks. I ran for minute several times. I went farther than usual, but because I also ran some, it only took half an hour. When I got back, I looked for our recycle bin, but did not find it. It seemed to be the only casualty of the storm.
I checked the mail, then listened to another audio. I watched a video about 10 people in a retreat to become breatharians. I had decided not to eat on Wednesdays, so was a little hungry. But these guys were going without water as well as food. I drank some hot bone broth. Then I used my sketch from yesterday to make another flower, and this time added the leaves. I auditioned several borders.
There was no choir practice tonight because the choir director is taking a week off after the busyness of the Easter season. It seemed like a good time to watch X-Files. But at 7 something else was showing. So Chris went to the Fox website and discovered that last week's episode was the season finale. Huh. Short season. I decided to stream the last episode I hadn't seen yet. It took more than an hour to get through it because some of the ads stalled and I had to refresh the page. When it was over, I put a tea bag in some water. Then we watched two episodes of Enterprise. Chris went to bed and I stayed up to blog and drink my tea.
* My project for the crayon challenge. *

First day of shorts weather

I thought I heard Chris leave for work this morning. Then I heard my phone alarm ring from the diningroom. So it must have been 7:30. But a few minutes later, he came in the room to take a shower. He said he was at PT and each station had a puzzle to do after the exercise. He thought I should have come because one was Sudoku and another was algebra. But I guess it was a one-day thing for whatever is going on this week.
I stayed in bed awhile longer, but he didn't leave. So I got up about 8. I put some water in the teapot with the turmeric slices and heated it. I chose some salmon squares and sewed them to a black strip. Then I turned on the router and poured out the hot turmeric water. It was deep red. I added a few drops of lemon juice and the whole thing turned orange. I drank it while typing some notes for my blog. And then I checked e-mail. I did one of Oprah's meditations, noting that I am far behind. When it finished, I got dressed and went to quilting.
There were only about a table and a half of women there. I sat at the second table and talked to Jodi. Beverly came in a little later. Jane did not come. All we did was talk, and I did not get any work done on the rug. Eventually the group cleared out. Beverly and I went to the parking lot. I put my bag of rug in my car and then joined her in hers. We went to get kimbap. It was freezing in that store! I asked the manager if she knew the new Korean doctors. She said she had tried their machine and gotten a rating of 88. Then we went to the Korean acupuncture store where I made appointments for Jennifer and me for Thursday morning. I asked for my rating (having tried their machine last week). It took him a moment to look it up, but he found it - 73 or 76.
From there, Beverly and I went to the Kiwanis Sport-Plex which was nearby. It is a big circle of 4 baseball fields, stadiums and kids playground. There is also a water feature with a path around it. We walked here and there, around the pond and past the fields. Then we sat in her car and tried to get a walking app on my phone. I asked her how to use the calendar app. So she played around with it, and I added something, too. Then we went back to the church so I could pick up my car and go home.
When I got home, I resumed the video I had paused earlier. I ate my kimbap with kimchi. When the video was finished, I washed up from having hot flashes and put on shorts. At 3 I left the house for the doctor's office. I got there just a minute early. I waited while he walked his wife out to her car. Since his afternoon hours don't start until three, I am guessing she came by for lunch.
Anyway, then it was my turn. He did a test for fibromyalgia. He said it would hurt, but it did not – which means I passed. He adjusted my back. We did some muscle-testing. He said I was taking too many supplements. I asked about the cyst on my wrist. He did some localized adjusting for that. He said I didn't need any more adjustments, but he wanted to keep an eye on the detoxing from arsenic. However, the homeopathic arsenic had not come in yet, so I have to go back when it does.
From there, I went to the bank to use the ATM, but it was off-line. So I went inside and got cash for the appointment on Thursday. Then I went home.
Chris was there, on his laptop. I checked my e-mail again, and started an audio. Then I retired to my sewing area. I cut apart squares sewn to a black strip. I got out the two crayons from the crayon challenge. I found some fabric to match them. Then I played around with designs until I had an idea. I started sewing before I sketched and it did not turn out as I had envisioned. So I sketched. I did both the crayon project and the cross project. Chris left for another social engagement related to work. I noticed dandelion heads poking up out of the lawn. I got clippers and walked around trimming them. Then I picked some dandelion and violet leaves and chives. I made a salad and ate it while listening to an audio. Chris came home right as my audio ended.
When 8pm rolled around, we watched three episodes of Enterprise. Then I checked my phone to see if I had taken any pics today and it was waiting for me to swipe in answer to the event Supper. Why didn't it do so with the other events we programmed? I wrote my blog post and drank my kava tea. I wished I had taken pics at the sport-plex. I chose a pic, then posted to my blog and went to bed.
* flowering tree *

Revive me, but skip the scent

I wrote my blog post last night but forgot to actually post it. I guess I checked my open windows to see if I forgot to mention anything and got side-tracked, then went to bed.
I got up between 8 and 8:30. I brushed my hair and teeth. I took some vitamin c and niacin, then started swishing. I sewed four patches onto a black strip. I heated water in the teapot, which had turmeric slices in it. I drank that while I checked e-mail and listened to audios. I published my blog post. I threw on some old clothes and went in the back yard to finish trimming the yard. What I really wanted was to get some morning sunlight to help me sleep better tonight. I called Revive to schedule a reflexology session. They had an opening this afternoon.
At 11, I started making breakfast. I ate it in front of my laptop, listening to a tapping audio. I paused it to get dressed a little better. I gathered up some red scraps for my project. Then I rolled my cart out to the car and put the sewing gear in the trunk. I drove to quilting.
When I arrived, all the ladies were sitting around the lunch table. I pulled up a chair and joined the chitchat. When the lunch bunch broke up, I assembled my sewing gear at a back table. I worked on my red project while talked to the others. Most of them left by 1 or 2. Carolyn stayed with me until three. Then we packed up and left.
From there, I went to the YouFit shopping center. I drove around until I found Revive at the back. It was a cute little place, but when I walked in, I could smell the chemicals associated with manicures. A nice young man welcomed me to the shop. He had tattoos all over his arms. He led me to a room with a bed. I took off my shoes and footies and laid on the bed. He turned down the lights and got some lotion to rub on my calves and feet. It was so nice and relaxing that I almost fell asleep. But the smell of nail polish kept me awake. And the lotion was scented as well. He went over the half hour we agreed on. So I gave me an extra $5 when I paid. He offered me a plastic bottle of cold water, but I declined.
I went home and had lunch. And water, too. Chris was home, but only to have a bite to eat. He gave me a package from Swansons. It was the pili nuts that I heard about on The Skinny About Fat summit: the highest fat content of any nut. I tried them. They were ok but I prefer nuts that are crunchy and these definitely aren't.
Then he left for some social obligation. I finished my audio from earlier. I took a walk down by the school. It did not take 45 minutes. When I got back, I checked the house mail. Nothing. I went to the back yard to mow. It was slow going, with an 11 inch cut and having to mow 2 steps forward and one back.
Near the end, I noticed Chris was home. I put away the mower and greeted him. I ate some ham and roasted vegetables. Then I made a small salad. I ate it while playing Solitaire. Then I sat in the living room with a book, waiting for Chris to watch TV.
When he was ready, we went to the Fox network to watch the episode of Lucifer that got pre-empted by weather news. But the streaming got interrupted several times and the download was slow. I think it took us an hour and a half to watch the show. Then we watched one episode of Enterprise. Chris got ready for bed. I assembled the recyclables and took them to the street. Then I sat down to write my blog.

Easter hair

I got up around 7:30. Chris was gone, but was home soon. They had held the service early and he missed it. So he went to the 9am service on post. I swished while I sewed the butterfly on my hat. I drank some water. I took a shower to wash more oil from my hair. You'd think with all this hair washing the turmeric on my fingernails would be gone, but no. I put on the dress that matched my Easter hat. It had a spot but there was nothing I could do about that. But I had nice new light blue shoes that my sister bought me for Christmas. Perfect. I emptied one of my sewing baskets and put the contents in a plastic bag. I took the basket to my car. Then I went to church.
When I got there, everyone was still eating in the fellowship hall. I waited for the choir to assemble in the sanctuary. Then we sang through the anthem a few times. I sat in my usual seat by Don. I watched the church fill up and then had to move over to let a group of 6 in. I don't know where Chris would have sat if he had come. It was nice to have so many people in church. Many I had never seen before.
The service started with a few announcements, including about the intergenerational Easter egg hunt afterward. We had all the usual liturgies. The choir sang and did well. The organ sounded like a string quartet. I got a lot of compliments on my hat. After the service, I took a lily from the altar to my car. I wished I had bought two. I also dropped off my choir folder and grabbed the basket.
I went to the fellowship hall to join the hunt. The little ones were sent out first, then the youth, and then the adults. Each adult had a card with six eggs of different colors. We were instructed to find one of each. Well, they were not hard to find, just sitting there in the grass. We could only pick up six, but the kids had dozens. I brought my basket back inside. The yellow eggs all had numbers. Mine was #40. My prize was a small notebook. Another egg had a tag that said 't-shirt'. So I got to pick one of those. A third one said 'u-pick'. From that bin I took a set of sticky notes. My three remaining eggs contained candy. I left them on a table for kids to find.
I could not call Chris because I had left my phone to charge, so I drove home. I pulled the lily from the back seat and set it in the flowerbed. I changed clothes, and ate a fat bomb and a banana. Then we went to Publix. Since it was closed, we shopped at Kroger instead. We brought the food home and put it away. I put ingredients in the bread machine, then made breakfast and read e-mail. Chris put ham and sweet potatoes in the oven. After a while, we went for a walk together. We remarked on things we saw along the way. When we returned, I put a check in the mail. Then I went to the back yard to trim grass around the fence line. When supper was ready, he called me in. We had ham with a honey-mustard sauce, sweet potatoes, and roasted vegetables. Then I picked some dandelion and violets to add to a salad. I listened to episodes one and two from the replay weekend of the Skinny on Fat to round out the notes I took weeks ago. Chris put the bread away when it had cooled.
We watched three episodes of Enterprise. I drank my kava tea and wrote my blog post. Chris went to bed.
* I guess it is a good thing I wore a hat. *