A New Frame of Mind
It’s been very easy the last few months to dwell on the negatives, especially with regard to my back. Face it; it hurts…a lot. I think this would bring down any person to a dangerous level of frustration, depression and negativity. I don’t want any sort of pity party, but I recognize in myself that I have been doing a lot of complaining over the last several months for obvious reasons.
Well, there’s not much I can do about my condition other than what I have been doing. As several people have noted, starting with my darling wife, this is something that is going to take a long time to heal. 6-12 months probably, at least. So rather than dwell on that or hope for some “miracle cure”, which isn’t going to happen, I’d like to take this entry to focus on accomplishments, no matter how small.
So, at this point, I can do the following, which I couldn’t do at some point in the last few months:
- I can walk across a room without stopping to let a spasm subside
- I do not need to walk with a cane
- I can get in and out of bed myself
- I can put my socks on
- I can tie my shoes
- I can sit down into a chair without taking 5-10 minutes to let the muscle spasms subside
- I can sit at the dinner table and eat a meal with my family
- I can walk (slowly) for 10 minutes or so at a time
- I can sit in a chair for 30 minutes or so
- I can lift 5 pounds
- I can go grocery shopping (slowly)
- I can concentrate enough to focus on tasks at work
I hope to add things to this list. Rather than try to set goals/expectations, I’m just to let things happen as they happen. I’m going to continue with my PT and medication and let time do its thing. Based on the level of pain I experienced during my cortisone injections on Thursday, I don’t think I’m going to do any more of those.
