Scattered Thoughts . . .

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

A t 6:30 this morning, I got up for the third time to use the bathroom...  which itself is becoming more and more common as I get older...  but what was a bit unusual this morning is that I ended up in excruciating pain as a crumpled mess on the bathroom floor.  Getting up out of bed was extremely painful so I knew I was in for a rough morning at least for a short while.  I certainly wasn't expecting what happened though.  Getting out of bed was so painful this morning that I actually thought about grabbing my cane.  I quickly dismissed that idea, I think, because if I had to wake up enough to remember where I left my cane or to go looking for my cane, I would not be going back to bed after using the bathroom.  Too much thought would wake me enough that falling back asleep would be impossible.  I actually have two canes now but I have no idea where my older cane is located at the moment.   After carefully and painfully swinging my feet down off the bed and standing, I limped toward

Working on the refrigerator for five hours yesterday clearly placed my ankle injury a step or two backwards in the recovery process. I had difficulty sleeping last night due to the pain in my ankle.  It is abundantly clear that I did far too much standing on it yesterday.  At rest, I am back into the area of three on the ten point pain scale.  While walking...  well, hobbling, really...  the pain is in the range of five to six and I am back to needing the use of my cane.  Today, I'll be residing on the couch again with my foot up.  The ice will have to come out of the freezer again and get wrapped around my ankle too.  It will be a day of sleep (hopefully) and movies. It's bad enough when you cause a step or two backward because you did something you enjoy.  I had no desire to work on the fridge yesterday...  I needed to work on the fridge and, honestly, I don't enjoy having to fix things.  Not at all.  I enjoy designing things and building things but it really annoys me to

My ankle is slowly healing but I am still hobbling around the house with a cane.  Actually, most of my time is spent on the couch and I'm only on my feet when absolutely necessary.  I'm getting the impression that this is going to take some time. On the positive side, I slept in our bed for the first time in a week this past weekend.  It was nice to get back to the comfortable bed.  I still need to be careful about how I position my feet but I've been sleeping better since being back in bed at night. Showering is still a difficult and frustrating task.  Actually, it is a bit dangerous too.  Getting in and out of the tub/shower requires some creativity and a bit of acrobatics to keep from slipping and falling.  I've been managing to shower the past couple of days though so that is good. The pain, at rest, is around a three now.  The pain when hobbling around without my cane reaches a five or six.  I'm really looking forward to zero pain at rest!  Most of the time, I&