More about me and my back, joy

Hey. Whew. It's Monday. I'm nervous. Off to work again today.

However, today I woke up with my back feeling better than it has in the morning for a while. I took my high-power painkiller before bed, which seems smarter than before work, since now I'm in a better place before the day even starts.

I also have completely changed how I'm doing my mornings. See, I was getting up, coming out to the living room, lying down, doing lots of stretching, then showering, heading to work by bus. Along the way, my back would get fucked up. I thought, well, that's not been working. So, today I got up, showered, went for a walk, came home, stretched, now I'll eat, then I'll scoot to work, and we'll see if the change in routine helps too.

Plus, I'm finally able to do some situps and pelvic thrusts -- hugely important to getting over this. I'm stabilizing from the inside out.

Taking the time off without pay (well, without pay for several weeks) was a really wise choice, I think. I believe it's all going to sort out, I'm working on the money thing with creative solutions, I'm hoping everything sorts out. But it feels like the end of the worst chapter of all this. Things feel different inside my back, it's promising. I'm certainly more stable and not going out of joint as harshly as I had been, and my fluctuations are less severe -- I still go wonky but not as badly.

I can handle some pain. I'm tough. I can get through this.

Still gotta chat with the bank, finish a bunch of paperwork on my diability claim, and all that, but I'm hoping this week goes as well as I have my fingers crossed it will.

Last night, also, I started coming down with a cold during the afternoon. I decided to do the pouring-warm-saltwater-up-nose trick I saw on Oprah and my head's as clear as a summer day today. WHEW. Because THAT would've been just what I needed -- a cold, all that coughing fucking my back up again...

But I think I'm past that, too. Whew. Anyhow. Better place. Let's hope this holds up.