Month: August 2014

The Foot of Paranoia

Yoga was great. Yin Yoga to be exact which is crazy relaxing and rids your mind of all foolishness.  At home popcorn, beer and football were on tap for a different type of relaxation, which was also good.  I enjoyed it until I got sleepy and went to bed.  The call of nature came some time in the wee hours of the morning.  While exiting the bed I felt the sheet scrape my big toe and last time I checked, sheets don’t scrape.  At any rate in my sleepy haze I took a look at the toe and saw (as well as one can at 3:00 am) a cut. I wasn’t about to do anything about it though. 
 
In the morning I got a better look, a cut for sure maybe from some glass?? Who knew. I cleaned it, bandaged it and kept it moving to work, then to physical therapy.  20140829_153753Came home un-bandaged the toe to take another look.  It didn’t look scary just red from walking on it. I re-bandaged it and started a little cleaning when:
 
paranoia began to set in.
 
As I moved more I was FEELING that toe. I was advised to take no chances and off to Kaiser I went.
 
“Hi, my name is Michelle and I’m a paranoid diabetic.  I have a cut on my big toe and I’m worried about it.” The young lady checked me in and I had a seat. The waiting room filled up mostly with limping folks. I guess everyone twists, cuts and breaks stuff for the weekend. I was finally called back at 6:09 pm bad nerves, cut toe and all.
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The doctor was cool with a cute sense of humor. He said it was just a cut but ordered an x-ray to make sure nothing was stuck in the toe (negative). I was dismissed with wound care instructions and some fashionable footwear.
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I don’t mess around with my feet. They’re the only ones I’ve got. For a diabetic, wounds that don’t heal can end in amputation. That’s just a fact for us so I always err on the side of caution and watch my feet like a hawk and will continue to do so. So far so good, the toe is looking fine.
 
For all my diabetic readers and those who love us, please take care of your/our feet. Examine them yourself regularly, get a diabetic foot exam annually and if you ever see anything unusual, see your doctor immediately.
 
Until next time hopefully, see you at the gym.
 
By the way…
 
The physical therapist released me to ALL activities on Friday. But there’s this toe thing😕.
 
And…
 
I’m thankful for my yoga practice. I have to do a sort of combination pigeon/tree pose to care for the toe 😁
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Photos: MsThorns

Cleared for Take-off

airplaneIt was one month to the day from my last run at Rabbit Hill Park. I entered the physical therapy facility on August 14th and completed all exercises, evidently with flying colors. As of now I can participate in all my prior activities with the exception of kettlebell training and running and I’m okay with that. I’m much too skittish about running right now anyway, especially since I’m not completely free of this radicular pain situation. The time off has been good because I learned a few things.

  • It doesn’t take long for my body to get squishy. I stayed begging the therapist to lift because I was already behind the eight ball in my weight training having been focused on Peachtree training since may. A month off from nearly everything and I’m now close to marshmallow material.
  • When my back is up against the wall, compliance is a non-issue. Everything that I was doing or not doing wasn’t working to improve my condition. As it stands with my back in the condition it is in all I can do is what the professionals tell me in order to maintain a good quality of life.
  • I don’t miss the little bit of ego that I did have at all. Though I wasn’t laid up, though I didn’t miss any days of work, I was limited in what I could do. The piece of ego I used to have that said quitting is for whimps is gone. Quitting at least for a while was the best thing I could have done.
  • I never thought I’d miss yoga so much. Having started a 30 day yoga challenge around the time of that last run. I was really looking for to the practice everyday and was making some strides in terms of flexibility and in my overall life outlook. When the therapist sat me down I was like noooooooooooooo!!!

Finally, let me say that I’m thankful that I still have a body that tells me when things are going wrong and to keep the going wrong to a minimum I need to listen to my body AND the professionals to stay healthy.

Until next time, see you at the gym, the yoga mat and even the trail, where you’ll find me WALKING with a purpose.

pinckneyville bb

 

Photos: MsThorns

For The Long Haul

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I didn’t want to go to the pain clinic.  I have this vision in my mind of desperados milling around, chain smoking, waiting to be seen and get their meds.  That vision is there because my allergy clinic’s former location was next to a pain clinic/pill mill that has since been shut down.  Anyway those thoughts were absolutely unfounded at Kaiser.  In fact my visit was pleasant even though the news was unpleasant.

Her: Did the doctor go over the x-ray with you?
Me: Yeah they said I have arthritis and told me I could do nothing but walk, ride a stationary bike and practice yoga until I came here.
Her: Yes you do have arthritis in your back, severe arthritis.
Me: How did this happen?
Her: Have you had any injuries to your back?
Me: No but I’ve had problems off and on for almost 30 years. How did this happen anyway?
Her: You’re just unlucky.

She proceeded to have me bend and twist and touch toes and all sorts of thangs which I had no problem with.  However I still had the the spasmatic butt-cheek thing and numbness/tingling going down my right leg. She prescribed meds, physical therapy and to maintain the current level of activity.

One week later.

I’m at the physical therapy facility.  My therapist is late, I’m hot to death and about to leave.  It was a scheduling problem and I’d been told the wrong time. Hmph.  Anyway the therapist arrives. She’s nice, experienced and thorough.  She explained everything that was going on with my spine and my hip.  In addition to the arthritis in my back, it turns out that the right side of my pelvis is tilted forward.  She prescibes one exercise for the right leg alone to be performed one zillion times a day.  I push the envelope and ask what else I can do? Her reply? Definitely no running, walking (for exercise) nor biking and the killer NO YOGA. I’m like what????????? Yoga is the only thing I’ve been practicing and I have done so DAILY.  What’s acceptable, strength training of the upper body only with a protective back brace/wrap on if needed, swimming and the one legged therapy exercise.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (normal pelvis)

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(ye olde broad’s pelvis)

That’s it.

My fitness program has gone straight to the sh****r, but I have to get well.  I will absolutely comply as much as I hate it because I want to be active going forward.  Reduced activity in the short-term is truly a sacrifice, but who know I might end up a master swimmer after all this is over. Just don’t tell my current instructor that, she would beg to differ.

Until next time, see you in the living room, where I’ll be doing a zillion reps of one exercise AND at the gym, thank you JESUS!!!!!!!

For more information on the diagnoses go here and here.

Photos: MsThorns