Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Back to the Beginning....

Get into some comfortable "walkin shoes" because we're starting the Journey ready or not. Just a side note though..... I know cancer is in NO WAY a funny topic (just ask me, I have it!) so be it my sense of humor or just the way I tend to see things normally, you may find me saying some things I hope you won't find offensive. Believe me, I am in no way minimizing Cancer's devastating effects on the person or family, but truth be told, Cancer is a part of life and humorous things happen in life.....so there's how I make my connection and as they say I'm keepin' it real!................. I'd say it was around early October of 2006 when I was getting repeated Urinary Tract infections...(boy, do I know how to begin a journal!).....got your attention though didn't I? LOL... I would go to my primary care doctor, finish the entire bottle of prescribed antibiotics as instructed and then about a week or so later would get another infection, and of course with all the pleasantries involved with UTI's, right ladies? At about the same time, my lower and mid back started hurting....not crazy hurting, but enough to make you know it's there. I have a history of a cervical injury to the spine and have 2 herniated discs at C 5/6 and C 6/7 so I've had back pain over the last 12 years, and didn't really think too much of it at the time. Then it gets to be around the end of November, and I'm still fighting recurring urinary tract infections, but not as often by now, but then the back pain started to make it's real debut. And trust me....I don't cry easily and this pain would bring me to my knees beggin like a fool to make it stop. So all through the holidays, my back pain got so bad that I was wearing a back brace and walking with a cane. We had Christmas at my sisters that year too (we alternate Thanksgivings and Christmases) and my back was so painful that lying on a bed or couch just seemed to make it worse. The only place that felt halfway decent was either sitting on the couch or lying on an air mattress. All except for the night that I'm lying on the mattress and we're all watching a movie together and Sandy, my sis's 120 pound dog decided she liked it too and came over and literally just plopped herself down on it while I practically go flying off the other side. The only thing anchoring me was half her body was on mine!! I know you're probably asking by now.....and you didn't go have that back pain checked out? Well, the answer was NO because I thought between Christmas shopping, putting up our 15 foot tree, sitting and wrapping gifts, along with all kinds of other stuff that I probably herniated another disc or 2 and didn't want to get stuck in the hospital over the holidays. Plus I can't stand when people are whiners. To go to the ER wouldn't have done any good at all because I was already taking muscle relaxers and vicodin for the previous neck injuries and they wouldn't have done anything more for me. So my thinking was.....Jan, just "buck up" and get through the holidays as best you can and go to the doctors as soon as possible when the holidays are over. Keep in mind that I'm taking you back to the beginning of my journey, and I'll get you caught up to date after a few more posts.

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