Sunday: Sciatica

Last night at 5:30, Danny went to BWI to pick up Adam, whose plane was landing at 6:30. I was so exhausted from barely sleeping the night before, I collapsed into bed while watching television. And then I felt lips kissing mine, and woke up to Adam cuddling me. It was around 8:00 or so. He went downstairs to make dinner. I stayed, still drained, and watched more TV. Eventually I went downstairs and ate dinner with my husband: Spaghetti with homemade meatballs.
We made love on the couch, and a short time afterwards I went back up to the bedroom, still tired. When we woke up Sunday morning, we lingered in bed before Adam got up so he could start his day, which consisted of cashing his paycheck, then shopping at Lowe's for a water heater. He convinced me to go with him. I got out of bed, got dressed, took a few steps, and then a massive shock of pain shot through the back of my left leg and lower back and I collapsed. When Adam came upstairs and found me leaning against the bed struggling to stand, I told him I was having a severe sciatica flare-up on the left side. He proceeded to stretch my legs and my back several ways, but it didn't help. He told me to stay home; I insisted on going with him. He went back downstairs and outside to wait. I managed to get down the stairs and outside, and as I started walking with him to the gate, pain took me like a bullet and I actually screamed, and went down again, catching myself so I crouched, bent over. Adam told me to go back inside. I took two paracetamol tablets, rubbed arnica gel on my leg and back, and sat in a chair with my leg propped up. It still hurts. It won't stop hurting unless something serious is done. That's how bad sciatica can be. It can prevent you from sleeping, from standing, from sitting, from walking, from merely existing, without pain. And if this is anything like my first major flare-up when I was 17, I'm in trouble. Because the only thing that had stopped it was acupuncture. And I won't be able to make any appointments until October, since my boss is still away. Unless I can find someone on a weekend.

Sunday: Sciatica

Last night at 5:30, Danny went to BWI to pick up Adam, whose plane was landing at 6:30. I was so exhausted from barely sleeping the night before, I collapsed into bed while watching television. And then I felt lips kissing mine, and woke up to Adam cuddling me. It was around 8:00 or so. He went downstairs to make dinner. I stayed, still drained, and watched more TV. Eventually I went downstairs and ate dinner with my husband: Spaghetti with homemade meatballs.
We made love on the couch, and a short time afterwards I went back up to the bedroom, still tired. When we woke up Sunday morning, we lingered in bed before Adam got up so he could start his day, which consisted of cashing his paycheck, then shopping at Lowe's for a water heater. He convinced me to go with him. I got out of bed, got dressed, took a few steps, and then a massive shock of pain shot through the back of my left leg and lower back and I collapsed. When Adam came upstairs and found me leaning against the bed struggling to stand, I told him I was having a severe sciatica flare-up on the left side. He proceeded to stretch my legs and my back several ways, but it didn't help. He told me to stay home; I insisted on going with him. He went back downstairs and outside to wait. I managed to get down the stairs and outside, and as I started walking with him to the gate, pain took me like a bullet and I actually screamed, and went down again, catching myself so I crouched, bent over. Adam told me to go back inside. I took two paracetamol tablets, rubbed arnica gel on my leg and back, and sat in a chair with my leg propped up. It still hurts. It won't stop hurting unless something serious is done. That's how bad sciatica can be. It can prevent you from sleeping, from standing, from sitting, from walking, from merely existing, without pain. And if this is anything like my first major flare-up when I was 17, I'm in trouble. Because the only thing that had stopped it was acupuncture. And I won't be able to make any appointments until October, since my boss is still away. Unless I can find someone on a weekend.

Sunday: Sciatica

Last night at 5:30, Danny went to BWI to pick up Adam, whose plane was landing at 6:30. I was so exhausted from barely sleeping the night before, I collapsed into bed while watching television. And then I felt lips kissing mine, and woke up to Adam cuddling me. It was around 8:00 or so. He went downstairs to make dinner. I stayed, still drained, and watched more TV. Eventually I went downstairs and ate dinner with my husband: Spaghetti with homemade meatballs.
We made love on the couch, and a short time afterwards I went back up to the bedroom, still tired. When we woke up Sunday morning, we lingered in bed before Adam got up so he could start his day, which consisted of cashing his paycheck, then shopping at Lowe's for a water heater. He convinced me to go with him. I got out of bed, got dressed, took a few steps, and then a massive shock of pain shot through the back of my left leg and lower back and I collapsed. When Adam came upstairs and found me leaning against the bed struggling to stand, I told him I was having a severe sciatica flare-up on the left side. He proceeded to stretch my legs and my back several ways, but it didn't help. He told me to stay home; I insisted on going with him. He went back downstairs and outside to wait. I managed to get down the stairs and outside, and as I started walking with him to the gate, pain took me like a bullet and I actually screamed, and went down again, catching myself so I crouched, bent over. Adam told me to go back inside. I took two paracetamol tablets, rubbed arnica gel on my leg and back, and sat in a chair with my leg propped up. It still hurts. It won't stop hurting unless something serious is done. That's how bad sciatica can be. It can prevent you from sleeping, from standing, from sitting, from walking, from merely existing, without pain. And if this is anything like my first major flare-up when I was 17, I'm in trouble. Because the only thing that had stopped it was acupuncture. And I won't be able to make any appointments until October, since my boss is still away. Unless I can find someone on a weekend.

Okay now

Adam couldn't find a place to cash his paycheck, so he came home and got me, since I have more money in my account -- he'll give me some money on Tuesday. My leg still hurt, but I was happy to help. We went to Home Depot and couldn't find what we needed, so we drove to Lowe's. There, we found a 40-gallon gas water heater that would work very well, much better than our old 30-gallon. We bought pipes and accessories, and it was all still under my budget.
Unfortunately, Adam lost his cell phone between Home Depot and Lowe's. It is either in Home Depot or in a parking lot. When I called it, I got voicemail, which meant it had either turned itself off or was broken. He'll have to get a new one from his boss. Apologies if any of our friends have tried to call him and didn't get an answer.
When we came home, Billy and Charlotte were already there. Charlotte was cleaning the living room and it was nearly spotless.
Charlotte has even made a deal with me: If I pay for her cats' Frontline medications once a month, she will come to my home once a week and clean it as best she can, which will be very, very well. Fifty bucks per month for medication, in exchange for weekly housecleaning, is something I can do. Besides, she says, I'm her best friend and she wants to do something special for me that will lessen my stress. She doesn't want to see me become overwhelmed.

Sidenote/Footnote: Charlotte has a half-sister with epilepsy. While she doesn't often see Tanya, she has observed the woman's behavior enough to recognize certain signs and effects of having partial seizures. Tanya becomes overwhelmed to the point where she can lash out irrationally and become almost incapable of functioning normally. Charlotte tells me that she has seen the same things in me, except I'm better at actually getting past my brain's trappings to do what I need to do -- her sister is very maniupulative. Charlotte has observed that when I try to clean my house, I sometimes become oddly overwhelmed and start having simple partials, merely because I cannot process everything at once. She says that while most people have that problem, it seems to be very common with epileptics, who can often shut down. She has been showing me some tricks to help myself overcome those issues. I'm incredibly grateful.

Adam and Billy have successfully installed and hooked up the new heater. We now have hot water. I love handymen.

The sciatica pain has lessened to a dull pinching. It may not be as bad as it used to be. Stretching more often should help.

Okay now

Adam couldn't find a place to cash his paycheck, so he came home and got me, since I have more money in my account -- he'll give me some money on Tuesday. My leg still hurt, but I was happy to help. We went to Home Depot and couldn't find what we needed, so we drove to Lowe's. There, we found a 40-gallon gas water heater that would work very well, much better than our old 30-gallon. We bought pipes and accessories, and it was all still under my budget.
Unfortunately, Adam lost his cell phone between Home Depot and Lowe's. It is either in Home Depot or in a parking lot. When I called it, I got voicemail, which meant it had either turned itself off or was broken. He'll have to get a new one from his boss. Apologies if any of our friends have tried to call him and didn't get an answer.
When we came home, Billy and Charlotte were already there. Charlotte was cleaning the living room and it was nearly spotless.
Charlotte has even made a deal with me: If I pay for her cats' Frontline medications once a month, she will come to my home once a week and clean it as best she can, which will be very, very well. Fifty bucks per month for medication, in exchange for weekly housecleaning, is something I can do. Besides, she says, I'm her best friend and she wants to do something special for me that will lessen my stress. She doesn't want to see me become overwhelmed.

Sidenote/Footnote: Charlotte has a half-sister with epilepsy. While she doesn't often see Tanya, she has observed the woman's behavior enough to recognize certain signs and effects of having partial seizures. Tanya becomes overwhelmed to the point where she can lash out irrationally and become almost incapable of functioning normally. Charlotte tells me that she has seen the same things in me, except I'm better at actually getting past my brain's trappings to do what I need to do -- her sister is very maniupulative. Charlotte has observed that when I try to clean my house, I sometimes become oddly overwhelmed and start having simple partials, merely because I cannot process everything at once. She says that while most people have that problem, it seems to be very common with epileptics, who can often shut down. She has been showing me some tricks to help myself overcome those issues. I'm incredibly grateful.

Adam and Billy have successfully installed and hooked up the new heater. We now have hot water. I love handymen.

The sciatica pain has lessened to a dull pinching. It may not be as bad as it used to be. Stretching more often should help.

Okay now

Adam couldn't find a place to cash his paycheck, so he came home and got me, since I have more money in my account -- he'll give me some money on Tuesday. My leg still hurt, but I was happy to help. We went to Home Depot and couldn't find what we needed, so we drove to Lowe's. There, we found a 40-gallon gas water heater that would work very well, much better than our old 30-gallon. We bought pipes and accessories, and it was all still under my budget.
Unfortunately, Adam lost his cell phone between Home Depot and Lowe's. It is either in Home Depot or in a parking lot. When I called it, I got voicemail, which meant it had either turned itself off or was broken. He'll have to get a new one from his boss. Apologies if any of our friends have tried to call him and didn't get an answer.
When we came home, Billy and Charlotte were already there. Charlotte was cleaning the living room and it was nearly spotless.
Charlotte has even made a deal with me: If I pay for her cats' Frontline medications once a month, she will come to my home once a week and clean it as best she can, which will be very, very well. Fifty bucks per month for medication, in exchange for weekly housecleaning, is something I can do. Besides, she says, I'm her best friend and she wants to do something special for me that will lessen my stress. She doesn't want to see me become overwhelmed.

Sidenote/Footnote: Charlotte has a half-sister with epilepsy. While she doesn't often see Tanya, she has observed the woman's behavior enough to recognize certain signs and effects of having partial seizures. Tanya becomes overwhelmed to the point where she can lash out irrationally and become almost incapable of functioning normally. Charlotte tells me that she has seen the same things in me, except I'm better at actually getting past my brain's trappings to do what I need to do -- her sister is very maniupulative. Charlotte has observed that when I try to clean my house, I sometimes become oddly overwhelmed and start having simple partials, merely because I cannot process everything at once. She says that while most people have that problem, it seems to be very common with epileptics, who can often shut down. She has been showing me some tricks to help myself overcome those issues. I'm incredibly grateful.

Adam and Billy have successfully installed and hooked up the new heater. We now have hot water. I love handymen.

The sciatica pain has lessened to a dull pinching. It may not be as bad as it used to be. Stretching more often should help.