Chronically challenged?

This was quite a week, with a medical appt every day.
I saw the orthopedic doc on Thurs.

• He said that he could "make up a story that would sound really good," but honestly, he doesn't know the source of my pain.
  
• Now that it's been more than 6 months of daily pain, he said it's chronic back pain and that I need to learn what triggers the flare-ups and avoid doing those things.
  
• Keep going to the chiro until the chiro discharges me (um, I don't think they do that?) and the acu.
  
• Keep doing the back exercises from the therapist.
  
• I asked about supplements. He said studies show glucosamine is effective for osteoarthritis in knees. He said I could try it for 3 months and see if I feel any differently.
• I asked about vitamin D--he said unless I'm deficient, I don't need to take it. Said I should have a blood test at my primary care to determine that.
• I asked about Magnesium. He said he didn't know what that was for. According to the bottle, it helps nerve and muscle function. Acu recommended it. He just said "ok".
• He said because the pain oscillates from side to side, he doesn't think it's the SI joint.
• He said again that my spine is healthy.
• He said walking is the best exercise, and that he thinks I can use free weights again for my arms, as long as I watch my stance.
• He asked if I feel like I'm improving, and I said I am, with pain at a 1, 2 or 3 most days. He said that I seem more upbeat than my last visit.
  
• Then he said, "Be in good health", shook my hand and said good bye.
  

Tonight I saw the acu. It is really neat to feel all the fluttering/twitching/warm spots/pain spots. Tonight most twitching was in my right leg. I told her what happened this week. She said it's a good sign that I recovered so quickly from my back spasm. Oh, and there was one needle she put in my foot that made me say "OW" out loud--totally involuntary!! She said some of her patients yell with every needle. During the 35 minutes I was on the table, I started to fall asleep. When I came home, I slept for about an hour or so. The lotion that smells so good is Alba--I might buy some this weekend.

On Wed the chiro said if I hadn't had my flare-up, he would have reduced my visits to 1x a week. This coming week I will see him 2x, then I will start to see him 1x a week, unless I have another flare-up.

Tonight I cut out a very simple dress. It's basically to practice making the next dress I want to make, the one to wear to Christine's wedding. I'm worried that this practice dress is too small and will wrinkle too easily. But I am going to make it cute!!

Be in good health. I'm healing. My body knows how to heal itself. There's nothing wrong with me.

Good night!

Another diagnosis: SI joint issues

This afternoon I saw the orthopedic doctor. He says my back looks really healthy. Says the disk is bulging on the right side, so it’s not causing my left side pain. If I felt right side pain down the leg that was tingling, numbness or weakness, then the disk would be the cause of that pain. But I don’t feel pain like that down the right side. I've never felt pain down the right side.

He thinks my right side pain is the muscle recovering from the injury in January—esp since that pain is not so frequent now.

He thinks my left side pain is from the SI joint. This was something Janet hypothesized a few visits ago. He thinks the trauma (his words) of my fall on Dec 24 could be the reason.

He thinks I should see a chiropractor next for a month to do joint manipulation, then see him again in a month. If it’s still not better, he’ll inject the SI joint with cortisone.

Now that area is all inflamed from the test he did, I think it’s the FABER one talked about here:
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/hipsurgery/a/sacroiliacjoint.htm

I also enjoyed the SI info found here:
http://www.umm.edu/spinecenter/education/sacroiliac_joint_syndrome.htm

He says I should walk, take Aleeve when I need to, and keep doing the daily exercises Janet gave me to do. But otherwise keep on taking it easy.

Now I just have to find a chiropractor. I asked how frequently I should see the chiropractor and he said that is something I can work out with the chiropractor.

I asked him if he thinks I will be pain free someday and he said yes.

I asked what I can do to keep the bulging disk from becoming herniated or to keep it from happening to my other disks. He said I do not need to worry about my spine or back, that it looks very healthy from the MRI images. He says the bulging disk is quite small.

Tonight was my last appointment with Janet. She seemed frustrated that she was not able to "fix" me and she voiced her concerns about what a chiropractor might do to me. I don't know. I'm skeptical myself. But I also know a few people who really believe in chiropractors.

Oh, and I wasn't all that impressed with this doc. At one point he told me he was running behind on his appointments. He seemed kind of distant and eager to move on. I'm not sure he really cared. But he did the exam and he tested me in ways other docs and the therapist had not.

I love my Roomba!

Today's cloud picture

I really don't know what I did today, seeing as Hal, my Roomba, did all the work. I was wondering if it would make vacuum marks on the carpet. I always made the vacuum marks in a fan pattern. Hal does make marks, albeit of a random variety:

This morning I decided to cut the flowers on the rose bushes. I was right next to the white rose bush when I heard an animal rapidly approaching. Usually that sound indicates a dog that made a break for it, but today it was a deer! It came around the corner of my house and kept on running, then turned and ran into the park behind my house. It was really beautiful.

My week in medical review:

Pain level was at a 2 or 3 at the start of the week. I had a head cold so my nose was a mucus producing machine Mon afternoon at work (nice image, huh?) but at least by that point my gums had healed (another great image).

Tuesday night I went to PT. During deep tissue massage she said it felt like "nothing much" on the right side--that was an improvement over previous sessions, specifically the one where she said it felt like the tissue was immobilized. She held the manual traction for longer than usual on the left side. I felt something happen...then later that night and on Wednesday the pain level shot up to a 5. Plus it was dark and rainy and I was miserable.

Miserable. Three Aleeve miserable. Thinking about how much longer I have to live miserable.

Thursday I felt better (3/4) so I went back to PT. She took it easy on me that night, though she did her elbow-in-the-piriformis and deep tissue massage.

Friday I cancelled my Tues PT appointment.

Saturday night I went shopping and bought the Roomba and two new outdoor lawn chairs.

Today I woke up and the right side was hurting. I haven't felt the right side pain for at least 2 weeks now. Interesting. Pain sort of oscillated throughout the day, right side/left side. Remnants of head cold curiously remain.

Thursday I see the orthopedic!! I have about 100 questions for him. I'm going to type them up soon and leave spaces for answers like when I'm interviewing someone for a job. Plus my boss will buy me a good orthopedic chair if I get a doctor's note. Must get doctor's note!!

And how was your weekend?