Decisions

I had a CT scan Friday morning on my back.  I've been having some issues for the past couple of years and last fall was diagnosed with Isthmic Spondylolisthesis which has been causing a great deal of sciatic nerve pain in my left leg.  I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand, I couldn't walk, I couldn't lay down, I couldn't do anything in any one position for any length of time without pain. After physical therapy, shots and pills and everything else the pain had gotten unbearable and my doctor recommended surgery.  Due to the crazy work schedule I had determined to live with the pain until this fall when it would be easier for me to take the 6-8 weeks off work that he estimates I'll need.

So that was the plan.  Except that in May I took a steroid pack for my sister's wedding, so that I could actually stand up for 20 minutes straight during her wedding.  While on the steroid pills, the pain is almost gone, but usually the very first day after I finish the steroids, the pain returns.  This time it didn't, at least not right away, and since then although I'm still in pain, it's not nearly as severe as it was.  This level of pain I could live with, although I would prefer not to, as it still damned inconvenient to not be able to find a comfortable position no matter what I'm doing.  But my doctor is now not so gung ho on the surgery, although he admits that it probably will return to the previous level of pain at some point.

Thus the CT scan today.  It serves a two-fold purpose.  One, to see if something has shifted and it's just not pinching the nerve as much now or what.  Two, to give him a better view in general in preparation for possible surgery.  I don't really want to have major surgery, and I certainly don't want unnecessary surgery, but I don't want to put the surgery off now and 6 months from now be back in the amount of pain I was 3 months ago.  So I don't know at this point.  I go back to the doctor in another week to see the results of the CT scan and I guess we'll see what he says then.

Back on Track

Well, North Carolina has been redistricted.  The lines for the NC House and Senate districts and the NC delegation to the US Congress have been drawn.  Literally, and figuratively, but I won't get into that.  What it means for me is that another crazy time has come and gone and my hours will be normal again.  For a few weeks at least, they're coming back September 12th for a session on constitutional amendments.

Our son, Logan is now deployed to the Middle East.  He left about two weeks ago and has arrived safely in the lands of heat and sand.  Please think good thoughts for him and his unit and that they stay safe.  Apparently, a lot of our troops going to and coming from over there are flown through the Bangor, Maine airport.  There's a great group I recently found out about, called The Maine Troop Greeters, that tries to greet every flight of troops.  They welcome them back to the US or wish them luck on their tour of duty, but they also take pictures of the troops and post them on their website so that loved ones can see their soldier.  They took the picture above of my son talking to his wife just before he left the States. They are an all volunteer group that just does what they can, and I for one greatly appreciate what they do.

Now that work has gotten a little calmer, I've been trying to get back into a normal routine and get my life back on track as far as some of the goals I set for myself for the year, primarily writing and weightloss.  I've signed up for an 8 week class at the community college on writing that I hope will help me get my writing jump started.  I've started eating healthier and writing down what I eat.  I'm making some progress and I'll definitely be talking about both goals in more detail in the future.

I got back to my knitting group earlier this week and it was good to have a girls' night out just hanging out and chatting.  I've finished a couple of knitting projects over the past few months despite my work schedule, so maybe I'll do a post with some of those sometime soon as well.

So that's the quick and dirty update on what's going on here, more to come soon.