Scattered Thoughts . . .

T he pain from my spine and down my right leg that has been keeping me couchbound over the past couple of weeks is slowly improving but I am still mostly couchbound.   I've managed to wander the house for very short periods today.  I even was able to sit at the piano for very short sessions last night and today.  Almost all of my days, however, are still spent on the couch swapping out ice packs.   I managed to stay in bed for eight hours last night.  I eventually got up at 5am so I could take my morning dose of medications and put some ice on my spine.   Late last night, I switched to taking Dual Action Advil and then I took it once this morning.  It is clear to me that this stuff is only a fraction as good as Aleve for me.  I don't think I'll be use the Advil again.  That was a complete waste of money and it cost me a bit in pain.  I'll be going back to Aleve with my bedtime dose of medications.   This evening, I was able to feel around along my spine to figure out th

I' m still couchbound due to excruciating pain. The pain started a bit over a week ago.  The pain wasn't terrible in those first few days but, by the weekend, the pain was unbearable.  Sunday was the worst day with constant pain in the seven to nine out of ten range.  Saturday and Monday were pretty much equal with constant pain in the six to eight range.   Tuesday and Wednesday (so far) have been only slightly better with constant pain in the five to seven range.  The pain gets up to a seven when I do some walking or when I delay taking some Aleve or aspirin for the whole night. On Saturday, I finally resorted to throwing some Aleve at this pain.  I took one Aleve in the morning and then one Aleve at bedtime.  I hardly slept at all due to the pain and, by Sunday morning, the pain was worse.  On Sunday, I alternated between Aleve and aspirin all through the day, every four hours.   By Monday, I was feeling a mild improvement although I was still couchbound and not able to get a

B y mid-week last week, I started using my cane because my lumbar spinal pain was making it difficult to walk.  I would also get stabbing pains in the tops of my feet that would hit me like lightning.  At the time, my constant pain level was in the four to five out of ten range.   Unfortunately, this pain did not pass quickly...  definitely not as quickly as I would like.  By the weekend, my pain level increased to the unbearable seven to eight range.  I could not get comfortable.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't do anything.  The pain was constantly unbearable. I took two Aleves on Saturday but they didn't touch the pain.  I got no relief whatsoever.  The pain continued to get worse into the night.  By 1:30am, even dozing for a few minutes was impossible.  Getting to the bathroom in the wee hours of Sunday morning was unbearably excruciating.  All day Sunday, the pain was well in the eight to eight-plus range.   On Saturday and Sunday, I used an ice pack on my lumbar spine a