And on it goes...

Well, I've been frustrated with the lack of progress that I've had since vigilantly going to the Chiropractor for almost a month.  Did I write about this new chiropractor?  She's Vietnamese - Dr. Tammy Le.  I discovered her completely by accident, or more specifically... the universe led me to her.  I discovered my old chiropractor in LaVista had closed (temporarily, according to the sign on his door, but a call to his office number finds it is disconnected...) and it was a Friday and I had a neck misalignment that needed immediate attention, or I would be in for a miserable weekend.  I sat in the car and started calling chiropractors, trying to find one that would see me right away.  This Dr. Le was the first one that agreed to see me, and after filling out much paperwork and getting an xray, she adjusted me.  But she also went the extra mile... she spent about 30 minutes talking to me, using a vibrator on my neck and upper back (where I was having spasms as a result of the misalignment...) and then one of those clicker tools many of them use.  I talked to her extensively about my lower back and hip paid because I got such a good vibe from her.  She saw me twice more and then suggested that I needed intensive, 3 times a week adjustments and therapy and worked up a plan to the tune of about $450 out of my pocket.  But considering the time she spent with me, it was a bargain!!  HOWEVER, the results, in the end, were minimal.  

I don't want to downplay it in any way - it did help.  I went from constantly (even at home) using a cane with severe pain with every step to mostly NOT using the cane around the house, and using it intermittently when out.  But... still pain.  If I'm sitting, I'm fine.  An occasional twinge, sometimes stiffness, but pretty ok.  But the moment I get up and start to walk, there's the pain. Most times, the first several steps aren't bad.  But around step 10, it really starts to fire up.  And so when I'm out, I take my cane everywhere, though I don't always use it.  I have "good" days, which means pain in the range of say 4 (out of 10)... but again, only when I'm up walking.  I'm grateful, of course, that I'm fine when I sit, but the bad thing about that is the more I sit, most likely the worse it's getting. So here I am, after almost a month of what I'd consider pretty intensive chiropractic care that has included ultra-sound therapy and manipulation, and I can't get under the number 4.  

So a week ago, my neck was hurting me again.  Dr. Le is truly a godsend when it comes to the spine and is good with her therapies.  But she is not very good at adjusting my neck.  If you have been to chiropractors, you probably know that some are good at neck adjustments, some are very so-so, and some just aren't good at all.  Dr. Le is just not aggressive enough - she claims it's because I have a couple of fused vertebrae at the base of my neck and she's "being cautious".  And so I went out to see the chiropractor I've been seeing for the last couple years who also does acupuncture.  (The other one I talked about earlier, who's practice is temporarily closed, came before Dr. Corey...)  Dr. Corey is very good at getting my neck back in place - the trouble is that he's only in the office Monday - Wednesday, so if I'm desperate, I need someone else to see the other days... So I went out to see him because my neck was bothering me, and I admitted to him that I'd been going to another chiropractor (I called her a "PT chiropractor") and that I wish I could get further with this whole back/hip issue I was having.  

Dr. Corey had told me a couple months ago about this other therapy he offered called "spine decompression."  He told me about it after he took xrays of my back, but at that time he said "It's expensive and your back may not warrant spending the money right now."  That was the point at which I started looking into the idea of PT to see if that might help...  Well, during this recent visit, and after I detailed him about how bad my back/hip had gotten, he convinced me that I should consider this "decompression therapy."  He threw out a number of "around $3500 for a 3-month, 2x week commitment", and after some consideration, I thought I can hang on to $3500 and be miserable, or I can be $3500 poorer and maybe, MAYBE, have a shot at going back to my life.  So I got the plan, which is really more like $4000 with the attached chiropractic care, and I'm going to pull it from one of my IRAs and go for it.  Today, I was there and I did a test run... it was about 10 minutes on the machine, and I guess it will be 28 minutes each time in the future.  They want to know that my body can tolerate it - it has sensors that show if you're having muscle spasms and how well it's working, and everything looked good.  Well, when I was done, and started walking, wow... it felt so much better!  I hate to even say it, I hate to be that hopeful!  Of course, it didn't last long.  By the time I drove home, it was back to feeling the same, but it WAS only 10 minutes!  So fingers crossed...

So I start that therapy Monday at 11 a.m.  I hope that the 8 sessions I'll have before the end of the year (it might be a little less due to the holidays) will get me back into enough shape that I can go back to work after the first of the year.  I really miss my work peeps!!  

I got a somewhat nasty letter from the CPAP people a few days ago - "you have not been in compliance, using your CPAP less than 4 hours a night!"  So it looks like they're going to take it away from me.  (Oh, darn...can you hear my drippy sarcasm??)  They said I MUST make an appointment with my GP and call them to tell them the date and time.  (Even my GP doesn't understand that...) So I called to let them know I'd made the appointment, and asked if there was a chance they would give me an extension to try longer.  No, BCBS won't do that.  Okey dokey!  I asked if I had enough time to be compliant if I found a way to tolerate it for 4 hours a night and he said no, I only had a few days left.  Sooo... I've had 3 nights of glorious sleep without that fucking thing! 

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I'm going to pack it back into its case and wait for them to call and ask me to return it.  I'm going to try out one of these "adjustable" dental appliances I see online to see if that might help (thought how would I know since I already sleep like a baby?)  And I'm hopeful that once I get the weight off, the apnea will resolve itself. 

I'm tired of dealing with all these little health issues.  But I think I'm moving in the right direction.  My A1C is down to 5.6, and I was told that if I can maintain that for at least 6 months (or, God willing, go lower), I will be considered NOT diabetic, not even PRE-diabetic anymore.  I'm down around 35 lbs., and though I've been somewhat "stuck" for the last month, it's going in the right direction.  I have total resolve in sticking with it.  As for my glaucoma, after the procedure I had 3 weeks ago, my pressure came down from somewhere in the mid-40s to the high 20s.  They want it below 20, but they did say it can take 6 weeks for it to come down.  But happily, the pressure in my right eye was back down to 17, which is pretty good.  So I'm addressing that as well and hope everything is moving in the right direction with it.    

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I wrote the above about 9 days ago, so I've been to my first two decompression therapy sessions.  What do I think?  Well, I'm cautiously optimistic I guess.  Do I hurt less?  Depends on when you ask me!  The day after my first one, hell no!  It was miserable!  But the next day, by the time I went in for my second round, it was better, but not "better" as in "I think it's working" but "better" as in "better than yesterday".   Now it's Saturday, so I'm 3 days from my 2nd treatment and I still have no concrete opinion about it.  The sense of relief (or not) is still a day-to-day, sometimes even hour-to-hour feeling.  Yesterday was pretty decent for most of the day, but then around the time I started on supper, it got gnarly.  But by the time I came up at bedtime, it was a little better again.  I remain hopeful...

In the evenings, right after supper, I go downstairs to watch TV, catch up on the various series I enjoy.  A little over a year ago, I bought one of those old-fart seated pedaling exercisers.  They advertise them on TV always with some old coot (or cootette!) pedaling away.  I was experiencing a little swelling in my lower legs and between that and the fact that a) I have arthritis and b) I don't get much exercise because of my gimpy-ness, this might help with all of that.  When I got it, I was surprised to find that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be!  Wow, that made me realize just how bad it's gotten!  I started out on a slower speed, maybe setting 3 (of 10) and went as long as I could, which I think was maybe a half hour.  I committed to doing it every night and building on that and now, 13 months later, I spend at least 90 minutes, sometimes 2 hours or more, and I've been up to setting 7, though lately, with my soreness, I backed off one setting so I can go longer rather than faster.  And it helps.  It's keeping all those lower joints "loose", which I'm sure helps a lot with the arthritis.  To be honest, if it wasn't for this damn back issue and the havoc it's wreaking on my body, I would feel like a million bucks!

Now, on to other-than-health stuff!  I focus way too much on that right now! 

I got the Christmas decorations upstairs, thankfully before the stair-lift broke down!  The damn thing quit working about a week ago - since Mom died, it's been my "dumb waiter" for moving things up from and down to the basement.  And boy is it handy!  I can't go downstairs with an arm-full of stuff anymore because I need to use the rail for my unsteadiness.  So it has become a necessity, more or less.  Especially with the kitty litter!  That shit is HEAVY!  (No pun intended...)  I had to struggle a bag of used litter up the stairs a couple days ago using the "set it on a step, go up two steps and move it up" method to get it to the top of the stairs.  What a hassle!  They can't come out until the week of Xmas to fix it, so until then... I'm stuck doing it the way other old folks do it, I guess.  This, of course, makes me appreciate the fact that I have the thing at all!  It does make me feel good to get use out of it, though.  I had it installed for Mark, and he used it all of one time before going into the hospital, and then the home, never returning home to use it again.  Then Mom used it for the year she lived here.  I've never wanted to use it as it's intended for two reasons... I don't want to become that old person that needs a stairlift, and to be honest, I'm a little afraid of it.  As heavy as I am (yes, that's improving, but still...), I have this fear that it will break and I'll fall down the stairs.  I'm sure it's an unfounded fear because I think I read that it has a 350 lb. capacity, but whatever keeps me off of it is ok by me!

Anyway, back to my Christmas decorations.  I got rid of most of them years ago, but I like the festive feel of having a few things put around.  I usually put them out around the first of December, then put them away mid-January when the days start to feel a little longer.  I think it's a great distraction from the bitter cold and dark of winter.  So here are a few photos for posterity - for the future times when I may not be in a place, time or condition to decorate, so I can look back with fondness.  In my dining room (where I put most of it as that's where I spend most of my time at the table...), on the armoire...

That second pic is a jewelry tree that Mark's mom made.  She told me she had made it years before she gave it to me, and in fact she said she worked on it for years and years, using mostly old jewelry, like broken chains, half of a lost earring set, probably things she got at garage sales or thrifts stores... It's fascinating to just sit and look at!  There's even a teeny-tiny pic of Mark when he was a boy on there!  Every year when I get it out, I spend some time just studying it and appreciating all the work that went into it.  And I'm so honored that she gave it to ME!  There were things she wanted me (and Mark) to have when she died.  She had a little notebook with the names and things she wanted to be passed on.  But when she died, Bernie couldn't deal with it and none of that stuff was ever distributed.  When he died nine years later, his family got everything and either they didn't find her notebook or didn't care to honor her wishes.  

On the China cabinet...

I love plush Christmas trees and I'm always on the lookout for a new one.  We were able to put up Christmas trees at one time, but the cats I had then were older and not interested in them.  I discovered when I had younger cats that a traditional tree does not work with cats, so these are my version of a tree!  Can't fit much under them, but gifts are a thing of the past for me.  We quit doing that years ago.  I only get stuff for Merry's grandkids now...

I have my metal tree grove on the wall...

The butterflies have been there since Mom came to live with me, but I add the holiday ornaments and pinecones for the holiday feel.

Doorway to the sunroom...

Those side garnishments are old Avon pieces that I've had for years.  A couple years ago, I spruced them up a bit with some mini tree ball ornaments. More plush Christmas trees...

I just got the two white ones from an Etsy crafter.  

And here's a nice bowl of ornaments I put right by the front door...

So nothing fancy, nothing that takes too much time to put out.  Just enough to give me a month of festive distraction from the dead of winter!

Speaking of winter, I'm in for the count this weekend!  Today's high is 13 and it's supposed to get down to zero overnight.  Yikes.  There was a time when I didn't mind the cold, but I'm growing to hate it.  If I was an adventurous soul, I might consider moving to a more temperate climate.  I would still want the change of seasons, but it would be nice to be someplace where it was less extreme...I don't mind the 20s, but anything under that is just too much for me anymore.

Oh, one more pic I wanted to share.  I got this really nice insulated coffee mug from my Florida bud, Marco, for my birthday...

I love it because it's the perfect size - my old insulated mug didn't fit under my Kuerig without removing the base.  And the sentiment is so sweet... and the color, one of my favorites!  My gift to myself...

I'd been wanting to replace a little end table that sat here (dining room) for a while.  I found this on the NFM website and they were having a sale - most things there are already well under SRP, but most furniture was discounted additionally, then I had a flyer that let me take another 11% off, so it brought it down to about $275 w/tax.  This was one of the very few solid wood bookshelves they offered.  It's made of sheesham wood, which I had never heard of until I found this piece!  It's absolutely gorgeous with its highly contrasting colors!  I just love it.  And it's SO solid.  Of course, as I usually do, I looked around the internet to see if I could find it cheaper and boy was I surprised when I found it on Wayfair for $450 with a SRP of nearly $900!!  I felt like I got quite a deal!

And that's about all I have to talk about today!  Plants are maintaining, but nothing new to report.  Hopefully, I'll have good things to report about my back very soon!