Good morning

[Guest guest]

Good Sunday morning to everyone out there! I was up and about a lot

earlier than normal this morning...got up at 8:30 instead of around

11! I can't believe it, because I didn't go to bed til almost 3,

but I'm wide awake now! I don't normally have an easy time getting

out of bed in the morning, even if I get 8-9 hours of sleep. Even

on the weekends, it's still a struggle.

Then again, I think I am probably pretty caught up on my sleep, or I

should be! I had another round of nerve blocks done in my lower

back/SI area on Thursday morning, and when I came home, I laid down

on the couch and slept for almost 24 hours! When I woke up, all I

wanted was an ice pack and my pain med. I was pretty sore, getting

6 injections total this time instead of 4. Yesterday I was still kinda tender,

but a well-placed Lidoderm patch helped that problem.

I'm so glad I took Thursday and Friday off, instead of going back to

work like I did the last time! I think it made a big difference. I

feel like I got relief a lot faster without having to put stress on

my body right away.

Today though, I feel great. No pain at all ANYWHERE to speak

of.....yet. The day is still very young, and all I have done so far

is make coffee and log onto the computer. I'm hoping that this lack

of pain lasts at least today. Tomorrow I go back to work and that

will be the true test of how well my injections " took " . Most of you

know that I work at a very physically demanding job, so keep your

fingers and toes crossed for me that everything goes okay!

I'm finding that Lyrica is helping more and more. I'm up to 100mg

twice a day now, and it's make a huge difference as far as the

burning pain went. Although I was reluctant at first to switch from

Topamax to Lyrica, I'm glad I did. I've heard they are using

it " off label " to treat Fibro pain, so it's killing 3 birds with one

stone for me....both my neuropathy and Fibro pain, plus it works as

a mood stabilizer for my bipolar disorder.

I've decided that I'm going to give PT a try. I need to strengthen

my lower back, and work on my shoulders, and yeah, probably the rest

of my body too. I've put it off before, because of the fear of

creating more pain, but my PM doctor has told me that strengthening

my back once it was down to a minimal level of pain was a must. So

I figure, why not work on everything else too?

I can't wait til spring. I hate this dreary, cold, wet weather, and

just winter in general. It's always my worst time of year. I also

want to start taking walks again, so I hope spring comes early this

year! When I got up this morning, the sun was shining away, but now

it's totally overcast...I hope it clears up, because we need some

sunshine around here!

The weather here in Ohio has been so wacky this winter. We've had days that

were close to 50 degrees, then the temp. just drops off to like 20 degrees the

next day. It makes my body go nuts! But that's what I get for living in Ohio,

where they say " if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will

change " .

Well, I better quit rambling. I hope everyone is doing okay, and

that your pain levels are as low as possible! I wish I could share

with everyone how I am feeling right now. I'm off to make the most

of my " feel good " day, and no, I won't overdo it! I have done that

many times, and have learned my lesson! Take care all!

All my best,

Jen

[Guest guest]

Good Morning Jen,

I am glad you are doing so well. Haven't heard from you in so long. What's

going on?

Hope your holiday was a good one and all is well. Your course of treatment

seems to be going real well. That is a very good thing.

I had a car accident the night before Christmas eve. Probably cause it was

almost dark and I didn't see how close I was to the car in front of me and

banged it's bumper.

Had cataract surgery last week and am trying to recouperate. Feels lilke I

have something in my eye. But, it is amazing how I can see now. The world

looks like a bright penny now.

Hope to hear from you soon. I have written about 5 times and have wondered

how you are doing.

Thinking of you,

donna