Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Goodwill Cat


Just a good morning to everyone today. Looks like we are going to have another sunny, near-90 day here in Newnan. Thankfully our humidity is super low. We're expecting rain later in the week, and that sounds wonderful to me. It's funny to me how much a person's interest in the forecast depends on how their grass and flowers are growing. At our last house in SC, I had no desire to hear the weather report because we had a small yard in almost complete shade, and I hadn't planted the first flower there. Now we have a much larger yard with NO shade and of course all my new bulbs and perennials, and the pots of veggies out back. The perfect balance of rain and sun are very much on my mind every day!!

Not much to report about my back issues and my appointment yesterday. My new pain specialist told me the same thing as the last doctor- all the "degenerative disc disease" showing up on my newest MRI are on the left side, while my pain is completely isolated on my right side (sciatica). He said somewhere something is pressing on a nerve, and they just can't see it. So I am scheduled for one more good ol' epidural next Tuesday morning. As I've posted before, this will be my third lumbar epidural in about nine months. The first two were useless, I received zero relief from them. This new doctor gave me an almost imperceptible wink and said "we'll try something a little different this time" and I'm almost scared to know what he meant by that. He prescribed me Valium for the procedure- two the night before and three an hour before the epidural. I admit I had the other two epidurals without any kind of medication except the actual local anesthesia and the epidural injection itself, and they were both quite uncomfortable- not a sharp pain but a dull, throbbing pressure while the doctor worked on me. (Afterwards was a different story!!!!) On the way out yesterday, the receptionist said "Oh, he works miracles" so we will see. I feel like, after three years of chronic pain, I need a miracle!!

I've been busy this week filling several boxes to take over to Goodwill in a few days. Not only of clothes, but of everything I can find in the basement that we are not ever going to use again. A lot of miscellaneous kitchen items, children's books, home decor items, clocks, even a small B&W TV. We have a goal of the basement being (nearly) completely empty, so that next year if and when we get ready to start finishing it, there will be little to do in the way of bringing things up into the house during construction. A lot of what's down there now is holiday decorations, but a lot is just junk. And it is dawning on me that if it's been boxed up all this time and I haven't needed it yet, what is the likelihood that I will need it anytime soon, if ever??? Hopefully what we are not using, someone else out there will have a need for, so I will be loading up the back of the SUV very soon with donations. We like Goodwill, and we usually make it a habit of donating to them probably every other month or so. Last month we took over my old computer, clothes, books, even a fireplace set (matching tools and screen).

Not much else to post about this morning. We are all just trying to stay cool today, and I'm going to spend the better part of the day working on the studio upstairs- it is almost the picture of perfection and I am close to getting it decorated the way I want. I hope everyone has a great morning, and please enjoy the photo above of General yesterday, napping in my closet in one of the boxes of clothes headed to Goodwill.

6 comments:

  1. I hope this epidural works. My father has gotten them for a number of years and swears by them. He has degenerative disc disease as well. He's been hoping to have a surgical procedure soon, but with his recent heart episode 3 weeks ago that is on hold. He's now on warfirin and heparin (major blood thinners) so surgery is not an option right now. But - he does have success with the procedure, so hopefully you will too!!

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  2. My dad swears by the chiropractor, but I want something a little more permanent. I will just keep happy thoughts!

    Oops. I see I forgot to give this post a name, better fix it.

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  3. Geez, that's a lot of Valium...at that point, I probably wouldn't care what they did to me, lol! My boss has horrible sciatica pain and I wouldn't wish that on anybody, seeing how he suffers, so I really hope this new doc helps you.

    Love the General with his legs stretched out as if to say "mine, all mine." Good on ya for clearing out the clutter!

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  4. Keep up the right attitude and you will never go back with your weight. Your life today is so much better and that's what makes frustrations leave you alone. Frustrations cause people to eat, eat and eat. As for back problems yours are different than mine. I do not have degenerative disc disease. I have bulging disc, so decompression works for me. Take care, your "looking good Darling".

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  5. My mother was having terrible problems with sciatica for almost a year and absolutely refused to see a chiropractor. It got to the point where she could barely walk. The ortho guy was giving her epidurals, drugs and more drugs and no relief. Finally she swallowed her pride and went to a chiropractor for different types of treatments. Guess what - less than two months later the pain left. No meds at all. It's been 8 months and she remains pain free. Just a thought. I hope everything works out for you - chronic pain is life altering. Hugs, Lisa

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  6. The chiropractor will be the next step, I guess. The only reason I've never wanted to see one is most everyone I know, once they start going, they seem to keep on going again and again.... I was hoping for a more permanent form of pain relief. But if this next epidural doesn't work, I will have to admit defeat with that and look into something else. Acupuncture, anyone??

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