Good news – visited the Doctor for a follow up (of course, I was wearing a red shirt!) and learned a few things. 1. – Derangement Meniscus can’t really be diagnosed without an MRI or similar scan. That was an educated guess on the part of the Urgent Care practitioner. 2. – from the position I was in, I couldn’t have damaged the Meniscus since the weight was on the patella, and not on the meniscus. (2.5 – meniscus is kinda funny to spell) 3. – chances are I’ve merely popped the patella ligament out of and back into place – a painful process, and fraught with all kinds of pain, but again I heard that icing it was the right thing to do.

I want everyone to know that TMBWitW is the one who convinced me to ice it in the first place. I was just gonna pop some Tylenol for the pain and keep on keepin’ on. Marines are like that. TMBWitW says Marines are stubborn and less than helpful when they themselves are the ones who are hurt. I’ll let you know if I find any evidence to refute that statement.

So – prognosis is good. If I don’t show improvement in the next two to three weeks, while continuing with the elevation/ice/no weight pressure and adding in the occasional flexing routine, then Doc will be bringing in a specialist and tossing me to the MRI wolves. If surgery is called for, we would know then. At this point in time I refuse to believe that I am going under the knife. I know that I will heal or be healed and things will be back to normal before the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons are upon us at the toy store.

Thanks to all who have been praying for me. I am positive that it helped.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

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When it takes longer to recover from physical exertion than it did to plan for, prepare for, borrow the tools for, and actually perform the physical exertion, then it’s official:

I’m old.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Sick.

Friday, after the show, was spent cleaning the house (with TMBWitW, who took the day off) so when the dogsitter came on Saturday she wouldn’t notice that we have five dogs who shed constantly.

We needed the dogsitter because TMBWitW’s aunt was in Kingman visiting the cousins. We left here at about 0600 to get to Kingman in time for breakfast with our very good friend, her fiancé, and her daughters at the Cracker Barrel. I had the slightest hint of a sinus headache. One of the cousin’s son had spent Friday sick, but that was not revealed to anyone until after we had left, at around 2000.

Soooo….

I woke up Sunday morning with no voice, swollen glands, and post-nasal drip. TMBWitW had a sinus thing going on. MEG sounded like a harbor seal and was running a slight temp. They stayed home while I went to church, although I did not sing and spent most of the service trying not to cough. Should’ve taken a laxative.

Monday – no conscious thoughts from any of us. TMBWitW managed to get hold of her doctor. They called in a prescription for her. With the help of Thera-Flu and Tylenol Cold, I managed to get my symptoms under control. MEG got an appointment for Tuesday morning.

Tuesday – TMBWitW went to work, and got sent home. She worked from home for a while, then went back to bed. MEG’s appointment revealed an ear infection. They called in a prescription. I boosted Tylenol’s stock some more.

Wednesday – TMBWitW works from home on Wednesdays anyway, so no biggie. Although, she didn’t get going until 0800 instead of her normal 0600. Not that I noticed – I slept until 0930. So did MEG.

Today – I spent most of last night keeping TMBWitW awake with my constant coughing and hacking. When she got up to go to work, she told me to call the doctor and get something, or she would muffle me herself. Medicine sure does make her cranky.

I sure hope I have a voice in time for the show tomorrow morning. BlogTalkRadio, The O Word, 0700 Mountain Standard Time (that’s 1000 on the east coast, 0700 on the west coast).

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Do you all remember Logan?

He has polyneuropathy – the muscles in his back half ignore the nerves and the messages they send, so he doesn’t walk very well due to under-development of the leg muscles. Sometimes, he gets frustrated with not being able to get up and romp with the other dogs.

Friday evening he needed to go out. He tried several times to get going, but then he gave up. I tried to help him stand up a few more times, but he wasn’t ready to try, or something, but I finally got my game face on and lifted him (deadweight, no assistance from him, about 115 pounds of dog) up and through the back door, got him balanced on his legs, and he started tottering off to take care of his business. He kind of stutter stepped once, when I was almost straightening back up, and I made a lunge to keep him upright. That was where I made the mistake.

I overextended and exerted in that overextended position. I went down hard.

So, there I was, crumpled on the back patio. TMBWitW heard my whimpers requests for help. After mumbling something about stubborn old Marines again, she did everything she could to help me up. We ended up using the box dolly (with her standing on the blade, and me using the back as a hand ladder) to get me into a walking position. With great difficulty I managed to get to the bed. Meanwhile, TMBWitW called our chiropractor and he outlined a treatment for the muscles of hot bath, ice packs, heating pad, ice packs, alternating these for about an hour.

It worked, pretty darn well too. By Saturday morning when I woke up, I could almost move without pain. By Saturday evening I had regained most of my movement, and now I am pain-free and able to enjoy a full range of movement – well, as full as I have had recently.

Promises have been made to not attempt such a maneuver in the future.

How was your weekend?

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, Time, Inc. is a bunch of weasels, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

But first, let me catch you up, since I know you all are dying to know what I’ve been up to since I last posted.

Actually, I need to start back a bit, like Monday night. I was supposed to put the small box dolly in the trunk of the car for TMBWitW. In between Rodolfo and other projects on line and off, making sure TMBWitW’s ice pack didn’t freeze her or stay on her too long as she slept, and Logan not quite sure whether he wanted in, out, or to just move from room to room, I managed to forget. I lost big time husband points there. (TMBWitW uses an ice pack on her back since the accident; it keep some of the inflammation to a minimum).

So – this deficiency was not discovered until Tuesday morning, when she got to work and expected to grab the dolly out of the trunk to take up to her desk, so she could load files at the end of the day for working at home on Wednesday.

Phone call – my phone rings:
“This is Cary.”

TMBWitW: “Hi honey. Guess what wasn’t in the trunk today?”

“That leaves it pretty wide open, but I imagine you were looking for the dolly that’s in the garage.”

“Uh-huh. So, guess what you get to do?”

I got to drive downtown and pick up her and the box of files, leaving the SUV in the parking garage. No problem, since I don’t do a lot of driving anyway.

Wednesday passed, with her working from home; I did manage to check my e-mail after she went to bed.

Today I went to the doctor. Helpful hint – if you don’t like long waits in the doctor’s office, see about getting one of the earliest appointments possible. There hasn’t been any delays yet, and you’ll be in and out in a timely manner. My appointment was at 0800. I saw the doctor at 0805, we had a nice chat, yadda yadda yadda, I was out the door by 0830.

I know what you’re thinking – “Cary, don’t yadda yadda yadda the visit – we want DETAILS!”

OK. We discussed the migraines that hit me two Mondays ago, and the one from Sunday. We reviewed my meals prior to the attacks, and sleep patterns; he asked about work-related stress, I asked him “What stress? I haven’t had a wood order in months!” and we both chuckled, then he asked “Isn’t that kind of stressful, not having orders?” Well, yes, but I have a 17 month old to keep me happy and well adjusted. He couldn’t tell if there was a pattern, or any specific triggers, I couldn’t help him with that either, since I know what to look out for and I have been eating less, but not not eating, which could be a trigger; I’ve been getting my usual four and a half to six hours of sleep every night (not straight through – dogs, especially Logan, make that hard to happen), and I’ve been engaging in moderate levels of exercise. In the end, he gave me some samples for migraine meds (one, Frova (frovatriptan succinate), I’ve had before, and it works OK if you take it early enough in the process; the other is new to me, Axert (almotriptan malate), and I’ll be carrying two tabs in my pocket just in case).

To seal the deal (and this is the best part) he prayed for my healing. Yes, my doctor is a Christian. He had prayed for TMBWitW to have a healthy pregnancy before she was pregnant, and she conceived shortly after; with a track record like that you don’t turn down this man’s offer for a healing prayer. So – after all is said and done, with the grace of God I will not have any more migraines, there is medicine in my pocket if one does break through; my faith will be the barrier to any more incidents. After a month, if there are no more frequent attacks, then fine; otherwise more stringent tracking and recording will be needed. If, in fact, there is a physical reason for the migraines, it will be outed over the next few months. No neurologist yet, but if it’s necessary, then one will be consulted.

TMBWitW thinks I should have gone to one now. She also mumbled something about “stubborn”, “old”, and “Marine” but that could have been my imagination.

Thank you to everyone who has been worrying about me since I mentioned the first migraine, and thank you for the prayers and support leading up to the appointment. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and with your prayers backing me up I have faith that I’ve seen the last of the migraines.

I know what you’re thinking now – “Cary, how do you find time to squeeze all this in?”

I don’t know. I just do. I also try to keep up with the growing piles of fur in every corner (five dogs and five cats generate a lot of loose fur), keep a seventeen month old entertained, stay on top of the laundry (most days), post here, have a talk show on Friday mornings, play TradeWars to keep my mind sharp (oo – that reminds me. i found another trader last night, he was almost as good-aligned as i was – took him out, stole his planet from him, and in the process became one bad dude – i am now an evil trader, and i had to park my imperial starship – only goody-two-shoes traders can fly those. on the upside, i can now trade at a port, and turn around and steal everything back. i’m so evil.)

How is your Thursday going?

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!