Geek Habitat

6:50 AM: Today marks my first PT session in 6 weeks that I’ve missed or cancelled (my session was scheduled for 9:30 AM). I was really hoping I could drag myself in this morning, but that was contingent on my back pain diminishing somewhat from yesterday’s levels. Instead, my lower back continues to scream in pain, and my neck cramp is slightly less severe. Repositioning in bed, sneezing, or bending my upper body are definitely un-fun things to do right now! I can’t imagine going through my 1 hour of PT exercises in this pain, today. Perhaps I was a little stupid to do my PT exercises on Wednesday despite a cramp in my neck, but as I got warmed up I honestly stopped feeling it.

The muscles in my lower back and neck are in agony today. It actually started on Tuesday morning when I woke up with a “crick” (cramp) in my neck. My neck muscles remained knotted through PT on Wednesday, but they didn’t prevent me from doing any of my exercises or walking; in fact, as soon as I got on the elliptical trainer, I forgot about the issue entirely. Today, however, I have the continuing neck cramp and a serious lower back cramp, causing me to wrap my mid-section in a 6″ wide ACE bandage just so I can walk and drive. The pressure of the bandage against my lower back seems to allow for a little extra movement, though turns and crouching to reach the floor are still “flinch-worthy.”

PT has definitely stepped up in intensity this week, and I can feel the results. Between that and the weather taking a turn for the worse today (rainy & chilly during the day, and 35 degrees tonight?!), I have developed a slight achiness across my knee; it’s nothing significant, but certainly noticable after weeks of being symptom- and pain-free.

9 AM (Before PT): I’m still sore from gardening on Saturday; my lower back, upper arms and thighs are reporting in with some complaints. Due to my lack of energy late last week, and my demanding weekend, I am as nervous about PT today as I was at my first PT session. It’s the fear of the unknown, with the unknown being, “Just how much is this going to hurt?” I’ll find out soon enough! I don’t think I’m going to like any of the black (high resistance) Therabands today…

What a difference 5 weeks makes! I spent most of today planting new flowers and shrubs in our front yard (salvia, rosemary, green cloud Texas sage and cigar plants) and raking fallen oak leaves from our lawn. I’m quite sore, but in an all-body rewarding way, knowing I accomplished a great deal and will have a beautiful garden to enjoy in the coming days and months. I also got a nice ego boost while talking to our neighbors; they seemed quite surprised when I explained I’d had surgery just 5 weeks ago, and now have three titanium screws in my leg. (Yes, I still like saying that! Geek.) The fact that I can work for hours in the yard is an excellent indication of my recovery, and it makes me smile.

I have to admit I feel like someone unplugged my power cord this week and I’m running on low battery power. Every PT session this week has whipped my butt, and while a lot of it has to do with progression in difficulty of the various exercises, I don’t feel like I should be this exhausted during and after each session. My beet-red face is pretty normal during exercise, albeit annoying. Like I said in another entry, this gal doesn’t just perspire during exercise, she sweats!