...And?

For all intents and purposes, I've been gone for weeks. The primary reason for my absence was/is an inability to find a comfortable position to sit and blog. The pain from my herniated disc has gotten markedly worse since my initial MRI in July, and sitting and typing is really, really uncomfortable. Previous treatments have yielded no relief. Next is another MRI (Yay! It's going to cost $500!); hopefully, it will provide the orthopedic surgeon the information he needs to make me less miserable. Cross your fingers!

In the meantime, school starts tomorrow and my internship at Planned Parenthood (not the Southern Tier AIDS Program; I am so behind on updates!) starts Tuesday. Not surprisingly, I feel totally unprepared.

Maybe looking at baby Frankie trying to eat me will make me feel better? Let's try.

Comeback Kid

I've been removed for a bit. Too long. So much is going on. The last couple of weeks of school were way more excruciating than I expected, and I've had a lot of additional trouble with my back. Most recently, I've been so uncomfortable that I couldn't find a comfortable sitting position that lasted for more than a few seconds. Friday, I had Cortisone injections in my lumbar spine to try to treat the pain related to my bulging disc.

I am finally starting to feel a bit better, and I hope to be able to catch you up on the following things:

• the update on my Spring 2011 internship
• the results of our Local Christmas Experiment
• Olive the dog?
• more?

Don't go away. I'm coming back soon. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Olive's first snowball.

Pain in the Back

I am a chronic back pain sufferer and I have been for years. At least four and a half years of moving dead bodies and now nearly six months of moving live bodies definitely doesn't help the situation.

So, I've been in physical therapy for nearly two months and I've had minimal relief from this back pain and specifically right shoulder pain. I went back to the gp today and I hoped I'd get a referral for some acupuncture. Instead, my gp wants me to head to the orthopedist.

Perhaps a boob reduction is in my future...?

Cross your fingers.