Now We Know Why I Hurt

The best way to describe my state of mind is “Ouch!” I am on a first name basis with pain. The simple term is sciatica, but today was the day I discovered the three herniated disks at the root of my problem.

I should have taken an MRI yesterday. I would have taken an MRI yesterday. Instead I panicked!

“You’re not claustrophobic,” I was asked by everyone involved in the MRI process. Originally I wasn’t, but their suggestion was enough. I bolted.

Today I came back well prepared. Along with the Vicodin I’d taken for pain I swallowed two Xanax for anxiety.

My appointment was 12:45. By 12:30 I no longer qualified as a fully functional member of society. My speech was slurred. My walk was wobbly. I looked like surveillance tape from a sobriety checkpoint!

The drugs and a sleeping mask Helaine found worked perfectly. I laid back and let the MRI proceed. Along with placing you in a slender tube an MRI subjects you to loud noise. The Xanax put it out of whatever functioning mind I had left.

The good news is we now have a better idea what’s causing the pain. The bad news it isn’t the right time for physical therapy yet.

For the next few days I’ll do everything possible to avoid irritating the problem. Sitting is out! My movements will be held to a minimal.

Hopefully I’ll soon be ready for physical therapy. This stuff’s getting old in a hurry!

My Mom’s Cracked Vertebrae

My mom fell a few weeks ago and like all good moms she suffered in silence. Why do they do that?

My mom fell a few weeks ago and like all good moms she suffered in silence. Why do they do that?

It hasn’t gotten better (though she kept telling me it had–a little). Yesterday she went for an MRI scan. She has a cracked vertebrae. Her doctor says she’ll need a procedure called a kyphoplasty. Doctors will inject cement into her broken piece.

Medical science is amazing but there’s no way to make this any easier. You don’t want your mom to hurt.