Stand by Your Man

My hat's off to my patient and long suffering Lizzy who has stuck with me through a thin part of my life. I think I can finally write about it once again because I believe this episode of my life is coming to a close.

I am talking about my year long battle with the pain in my hip. Eleven months ago the nagging ache I was experiencing became chronic. Driving was increasingly difficult and sleep was only happening on my left side. In January I began seeking help. I was encouraged by many to see a doctor and get an x-ray. I knew where this would lead and considered it a waste of time. The pain was not in the joint so would not show up on an x-ray and the solution would only be pain management.

I started with the treatments, that relieved me of 5 years of worsening neck pain about three years ago, called NST (Neurostructural integration therapy). The muscles were locked and inflamed, I thought, and had forgotten how to relax. It worked once for me so I pursued it for several months, but to no avail.

I then went to my regular chiropractor who does what I call impact manipulation together with exercise. I got temporary relief, but my pelvis, which he said was twisted, kept popping out of alignment. I then went to his partner who used a gentle form of massage together with manipulation. In the end he was baffled that my pain was actually getting worse. I asked him if he thought I should see a NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractor's Association)practitioner. He smiled and said he would not tell me what to do but he thought I would be wasting my time.

I was getting desperate and made an appointment with an acupuncturist. It was during the BC Lions training camp and I had heard that all the professional football players went to him. I had treatments there for more than a month and the pain got worse. Toward the end of his treatments, he talked me into getting a deep massage just before his acupuncture session and it would help me. His explanation and theory sounded good. I did this combo three times at $200 a pop and found that any good the massage did was nullified by the needles minutes later.

I was desperate by now. I made an appointment with my son's NUCCA specialist, with great reluctance, because I suspected I would be put onto a never never plan, going back to him forever and never getting full relief. He could find something wrong with me that would take years to fix. I was now desperate for a quick fix and was popping pain relievers like candy, just to take the edge off and so I could drive to work and back.

Like I thought, the first session was very pricey, almost $200, and yes, the x-rays showed that my neck was way out of line. Even I could see that on the picture. He then showed me the calcification and bone spurs on the fourth and fifth vertebrae that should not be there and were causing the grinding in my neck. He told me that the size of the spurs indicated that I had been out of alignment for about 30 years! But the crooked neck was being compensated for by one of my shoulders dropping 6 degrees. This caused a slight curve in my spine as my back tried to keep my shoulders square. My hips were tilted to keep the back straight and that caused my right leg to be one inch shorter than the left. And THAT is what was causing my pelvis to twist and THAT was causing the strain on the muscles that meet on the outside of my hip joint, right between the front and back pocket of my jeans.

In late July I began the treatments to straighten my atlas, the top bone of the spinal column. It is shaped like a saucer and its function is to keep the head straight. It was tilted 6 degrees and could not be moved all at once, but in increments. It was three steps forward and two steps back until about early October. I noticed one day that I had driven for 15 minutes and felt totally normal. I was overjoyed, but cautiously optimistic. Then, over the weeks, there were slight indications that things were improving. I cut back on the meds and knew that things were changing. I began to sleep better at night and soon I was rolling out of bed without crying out in pain.

Today, I can report that I am straight as an arrow, from top to bottom, and the inflammation in the muscles is definitely healing. On Sunday, we drove to Bellingham, the first real test for me as driving was always the indicator as to where I was with my condition. I drove there and back and suffered almost no discomfort. I am no longer on pain meds and I sleep like a baby, right through the night.

I can still feel the spot and at times there is a twinge or two, but I am miles from where I was. The underlying problem was discovered, was addressed, was treated and will now be watched closely as I will continue to go to Dr. Dan to maintain my 'straightness' but only as need arises. I have spent a horrendous amount of money getting to the bottom of this, but am relieved that I did not have to resort to Cortisone, which I am sure my Doctor would have prescribed.

Our bodies experience pain for specific reasons and there is always an underlying cause. Treating the pain is tempting as it brings relief from the debilitating quagmire that pain can become. But, I am writing this mainly to encourage anyone with chronic pain to seek solutions that address the underlying problem. Our Health Care system seems not to be set up for this tactic as it can be costly, but the long term consequences end up costing even more.

Thanks to all of my friends and family who have been praying for me, for a solution and for my ability to cope with the situation. And thanks to Lis especially. I have not been fun to be with for the last year. But things are changing.

Now, if only I could do something about this 'trick' knee of mine.

The End of the Path

My Aunt Doris from Calgary usually calls me on my birthday in April so I was somewhat surprised to hear her voice yesterday morning when I answered an early morning call. She called to give me some sad news. Her husband, my Uncle Eric Friesen, passed away on Friday evening. He had Alzheimer's Disease but that was only a contributing factor. He had contracted pneumonia a few times in the last year and when it hit him again this fall, he could not battle it and it took his life.

Uncle Eric was my dad's younger brother in a family of eight children. He is the first of the Friesen siblings to pass away. The long standing topic of conversation in that family has been the longevity with which they are all blessed. My grandfather and his father lived to just under 100 years of age. The oldest sibling is now 95 and doing well. Uncle Eric did not choose to be the first. None of us chooses the time of our death and yet we think it fair that there is a chronological order that should be followed.

I have fond memories of my Uncle even though I would say that I did not know him well. I do know that what would have followed in the years to come, with his Alzheimer's disease, was not nearly as desirable as what happened on Friday night when he reached the end of his life's path.

Signs of Autumn

The last few weeks have been hectic, to say the least. In my work, I have always managed to complete one project before moving on to the next. I am natured that way, as I do not like unfinished business, but I also strive to keep disruption in a customer's home to a minimum. As of a few days ago, I have 10 different jobs in various stages of completion and it is driving me crazy. Very little of this is my fault, however, I suppose I could have said "no" to some of my very long time loyal customers. Each job has a story to it but I will not go into detail. By Wednesday I will have cut that number in half and by the end of the next week I will have completed another two. This has really stressed me out as one of the jobs fell through because I could not come in time, and then the news that my dad was finally being moved to a Car Home was a mixed blessing. My sister and her husband came through and we managed to get some of my dad's things in his room and he is more or less settled in now. I took a bit of time off work yesterday to move furniture and still met the work goal for the day, thanks to Andrew's hard work. Today is catch up time for a lot of undone errands and then in the pm I will do a feature wall that should have been done two months ago. The customer is thrilled that I will finally complete her decorating project in her new Brownstone Manor Townhouse.

The jobs are backing up into January now so there will be no unemployment here for a while yet.

Finally!

Now you see her.

Now you don't.

I got 'the call' from the hospital yesterday, the call we have been waiting for. It has been nearly 6 weeks since the health authorities told us it would be about two weeks before they would find a place for my dad in a care facility. He has been so very patient and I am proud of him. Today at 10:30 am he will be moved to the Menno Home where he will have a private room with its own bathroom and room for a bit of furniture and a TV. I am hoping he will be thrilled to not only be out of the hospital, but to be settled into a place where he can get used to a new routine and a place where the boredom is only as bad as he makes it. He will be well cared for there as the Menno home has a very good reputation. He will get three square meals and opportunity for socialising and making new friends. It was what we were praying for and there is a great sense of gratitude and relief right now.

The Short List

Things I am absolutely tired of hearing about.
1. H1N1 and vaccinations
2. 2010 winter Olympics
3. An imminent federal election
4. The economic recovery
5. Twitter
6. iPods
7. Michael Jackson's "This is it"
8. Metro Vancouver's transit woes
9. Homeless shelters
10. Global warming

I am sure you have your own list.

Traffic Woes

Here is a photo of MaClure Rd. west of Clearbrook Rd. It is without a doubt one of the most efficient as well as beautiful east/west connector roads in Abbotsford. This little stretch has been closed for more than a month now while newer and larger water pipes are being laid beneath its surface. The busy traffic has been re-routed to Old Yale Rd. and it has been a nightmare. The extra traffic on already busy Old Yale has made it difficult to get to my Dad's place which is across Old Yale from where I live.
Today, they started closing east bound MaClure between Clearbrook and Tretheway Streets and that leaves our little sub-division in a bit of a bind. There will be no easy way in or out of our neighbourhood. The school traffic alone, with two large schools at the top of our street, will be impossible. There are mornings when we simply cannot get out of our driveway for minutes on end, and that is when all these main thoroughfares are open. What will happen tomorrow morning is any one's guess.
Now, to my point. As you can see, there is not a lot of action as the only machine on the construction site sits idle. It seems not to matter to the 'powers that be' that the whole west end of Abbotsford is being greatly inconvenienced.

Chocolate Overdose

Tonight was Halloween and as usual, we had many children, some of them quite large, actually, come to our door wanting all my chocolate. I am a chocoholic and as a result, try not to have it in the house too often as I tend to binge. There was a rather large tub of the stuff by the front door, handy to throw into the sacks of the little goblins, princesses, and spider men. Who would notice if a few were missing?
"That was a big group of kids and did they ever use up a lot of chocolate", I would say in defense, as the pile grew smaller by the minute.
After sampling every one at least twice, I settled in to the final three and began to sort through the bin, separating the really good ones from the others. Handing out the inferior ones to the kids would leave me the choice pieces at the end of the evening, if only 'they' would stop coming in droves.
In the end, I need not have concerned myself as my daughter brought a huge box of even better ones that she wanted to get rid of.
It is a good thing that I did not keep track of how much chocolate I actually ate tonight. It would be embarrassing as well as being downright unhealthy. (They were not all dark chocolate, in fact, none of them were)
I tried to look up the word "restraint" as I battled my addiction, but unfortunately, my dictionary was lost somewhere under a massive pile of chocolate wrappers. I will try to do better next year. Maybe.

Squirreling it Away

Those giant sunflowers I posted a while back are now being harvested. We have never cared for the seeds of those monsters and only grow them for their oddity and beauty. The kernels are not well developed, but try to tell this squirrel. Actually, there were two of them for a few days, hanging up side down, plucking a kernel, and then sitting on top cracking it and eating the seed. They were eating non stop for days, and working hard for every mouthful. We are at eye level with them from our deck so it is a great place from which to take a photo. I hope they left a few seeds for the chick-a-dees who usually are the only birds nimble enough to hang on the underside of the flower.