Sidelined

You know what I hate?

When things seem to be going along smoothly and you get into a groove and it feels good and then something happens and everything gets off track.

My exercising has been sidelined for now by an injury.  Yesterday I was walking around the lake near my work before I went to my second job.

I made it two miles around when I felt like I was getting a cramp at the top of my thigh.  I stopped for a second then tried to walk it off.  The pain was too great and I had to stop.  Joe was watching me from the car and could see that I was struggling so he came and helped me get to the car.  At this point I knew it was more than a cramp, most likely a muscle strain.


Long story short, I pulled a muscle in my groin.  It is very painful.  It's hard to hobble.  Forget about walking for exercise.

To be honest, I don't even care about the pain.

I'm sad and disappointed that I'm not able to keep some goals I set for myself because now I have to rest a couple of days(at the least).

On top of that I miss the release that I was getting from the exercising so now I'm grouchy too.

Hmph.

Something else has gone off track and it is taking all of me not to go into complete panic mode about it.  I can't get into it here, but it has to do with something we had a huge problem with at the beginning of Joe's unemployment, then everything was o.k. for awhile and now problems have popped up again which have brought it to a standstill yet again.

It is causing some rather serious complications for us.

I'm not going to succumb to the panic though.  Nope.  I will not panic over something I cannot control. (I just keep reciting this mantra to myself over and over and over).

In trying to keep up with the positive attitude, here are my thankful things for today:

--I am thankful for the circle of support we have built around ourselves to help us cope as a couple in difficult situations.  How lucky we are to not have to deal with these things on our own.

--I am thankful for the books I got at the library the other day.  I need something to escape our reality right now.

--O.K. this is stretching it because I'm having a hard time with these today but I'm thankful for Dancing with the Stars, because I love that show and we are about to watch it right now(I'm always a day behind on my shows because I can't watch t.v. on Mon. or Wed. nights). 

Well that was kind of a pathetic attempt at being positive.  Tomorrow I will be better.

I got nothin'.  A whole lotta nothing going on around here lately.  Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, repeat process the next day.  I did go to a Chiropractor on Tuesday. It was......interesting.  It freaked me out a little bit.  I was not prepared for the sound my neck was going to make when he did the adjustment.  It was loud!  He did spend part of the session massaging my back and neck, and I did feel much better afterwards. The  bad news is that I seriously strained a ligament in my lower back and it's going to take four to six weeks to completely heal.  Sigh.  At least I can walk upright again!  The Hunchback look wasn't good on me.  I have completely wasted my day off today.  We're headed out now to pick up something to cook for dinner and then we might watch a movie.  Boring, my life.

TGIF

I'm glad it's Friday. I guess that goes without saying. This has been a long week. And I had Monday off. It was a long short week. Mostly due to the fact that my back is still really hurting. A lot. How long does this type of thing typically last? Because I'm ready for it to be over now. Being in pain really drains me. I can't believe I used to deal with chronic pain on a monthly basis for almost two week intervals. So grateful that is gone. So grateful. But I'm in an extraordinary amount of pain right now. Can't stand up straight. Laying flat on my back on the couch. With my laptop perched precariously on my stomach. Can you say obsessive? I wanted to post last night about the A I eliminations, but just couldn't muster up the energy. Luke went home. Sob! I heart Luke. Although I really didn't care for any of his song choices much. My new crush is Michael Johns. He's yummy. Wow. This post is wildly informative. I'll leave you with another digital scrapbook page I did. I'm really getting into this. I need more help on printing them though. I tried uploading one to Cost Co but it wouldn't upload. It was very frustrating. I tried like ten times and it kept saying "upload failed". It's annoying. And I am in no mood to be annoyed.


P.S. I'm seriously considering going to see a chiropractor. I have never been to one though, and I have some fears and doubts. My General Practitioner is strongly against them, but I have a friend who goes to one and swears she feels a million times better after seeing him. Any personal experience and/or advice?

My husband wants me to feel better soon because I am seriously in pain and very grouchy.

Marginally Better

My  back is only marginally better. I can stand almost upright now.  The funny thing is, now it hurts in different places in addition to the place it hurt yesterday. I'm pretty sure it is from the hunching over I did all day yesterday, and now those muscles are sore.  Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately Ibuprofin or Mortin are out for me because of the kidney disease, so I have to stick with Tylenol and heat packs for now.  My doctor will absolutely not allow me any of those particular pain killers. At. All. He says they are basically poison for my already damaged kidneys. And he's the doctor, so you know, I kind of have to listen to him.  I'm going to try out the hot tub at our complex tonight, as I took a bath last night and it seemed to help quite a bit. I'm also going to take Lisa's suggestion and consume copious amounts of chocolate.  That will help for sure. Thanks Lisa!  

Kristen had a question about one of the pictures in my slide show.  On Sunday we were sitting on the beach soaking up the sun when we see this couple come walking down the beach with a pack of dogs.  Yes, a pack.  I tried to count them, but they were crazily a running all over, getting their leashes all tangled up and I kept counting the same ones over again. At one point he let their leashes fall and it was pandemonium!  They were scrambling all over the place, chasing each other and playing. It was so cute!  I managed to count about eleven of them, most of them chihuahuas, with a couple of other types of small dogs mixed in.  I never did get to ask him is he was a dog walker or if they all belonged to them.  It was funny.  I just had some breakfast and now I'm back to laying on the couch. Thank goodness for my day off.  I heart my job.

Apparently it is possible to have too much fun because I got up this morning and felt fine but when I got out of the car at work, I did something to my back and by the end of the day I could hardly stand upright.  So all day I walked around like a ninety year old woman, hunched over and looking like I needed a cane.  Are you kidding me?  It's always something with me.  Sheesh.  And we were crazy busy at work today too.  So now I'm laying flat on my back on the couch and I literally cannot move at all, my back hurts so bad.  Perhaps it was all of the loading/unloading of the car for our trip. Perhaps it was sleeping on an air mattress for two nights. Perhaps it was hiking up(and down) the steep trails getting to and from the beach, or the long walks on the sand I took. Whatever it was, it sucks. Lucky for me I have tomorrow off, although I had planned on getting a bunch of stuff done and now I'm pretty I won't get any of it done. Sigh. This has never happened to me before. I don't even know how to treat it. Heat packs or ice?  Stay immobile, or try some light stretching?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I'm off to G**gle "back pain" and take some Tylenol.  'Night.