Thank you to everyone who has been praying for -- and asking about -- my back. This is an old injury that started when my kids were just little. After years of hunching over drums, pianos, and soundboards, my back had taken a pretty good beating. Then came the one-two punch. I lifted Megan out of the backseat of the car when she was a sleeping toddler and when I attempted to straighten up with her in my arms, my back refused. Ouch. Then, after recovering from that incident, I was roller skating with the kids and I saw James take a tumble. My paternal instincts took over and I quickly looked back over my shoulder at him, straightening up quickly, and my feet flew right out from under me. Ka-boom. I hit the wooden floor of the skating rink, knocking all the wind out of my torso, and crunching my back as I hit flat on ground. That little error in judgment landed me in the emergency room.
Let's see, after that there was the time I jumped the fence behind my house on Halloween (to get the car and go retrieve my kids and the neighbor's daughter at the back of the neighborhood). When I landed, my back wrenched. Not good. And weeks later I helped a friend lift a very cool three-wheel bike (the big, adult sized bike) into his van. Spinal crunch. And then more recently it's simple things like banding forward and standing up too quickly that can leave me writhing in pain.
These days, the pain that was once isolated in my lower back has moved northward and occasionally my whole mid-back, through my lats, seizes up. When that happens, it's all ice packs, heat, and Tylenol. Or, when it's really bad, steroid shots to reduce the inflammation. Oh, and I'm a big fan of Lidoderm pads. I've also employed physical therapists, LMT's, myofascial release techs, various rubber balls and rollers for stretching, I've joined a gym, lost 24 pounds, strengthened my core, anything and everything I could think of in order to improve my posture and maintain a healthy back. In fact, that's what life is all about these days - maintenance.
So, I finally reached the point where I knew I needed medical attention. Last week my doctor (a good man I've known for 21 years) sent me to an orthopedic specialist. And today I underwent an MRI. That was different. It was like being force-fed into a toothpaste tube -- with the additional treat of 20 minutes of bizarre noises, buzzes, whirring sounds, and loud thumps that were really rather unsettling. But, overall it was painless and blessedly uneventful.
Next Monday I'll meet with the ortho to go over the results of today's tests. And Tuesday I get my throat roto-rooter'ed. But that's another story. I'm grateful for the amazing advances in medical science I have access to. But, I'd prefer to just visit for a bit and then get on with my life.
Now, I told you all that to say this: I am WWAAYYY behind in my email correspondence. That's not surprising. It happens. But, I'm at the point where sitting in front of the computer for extended periods is just more than my back can handle. So, if I currently owe you an email, I'm very sorry. I know I'm late. And I do intend to get to everyone eventually. I'm just not able to handle the daily volume I used to be able to work through in one sitting.
You all have asked some great questions and I'm really looking forward to replying. But, there's a conflict raging in my body between what my head would like to do and what my back refuses to participate in. So, I'm begging for your patience.
Keep praying. Hopefully, once the ortho identifies the problem, we can move on to finding an appropriate therapy or procedure to cure the cause.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love and and support. Keep the good words coming! Keep sending the emails. You're never bothering me and I do so enjoy reading your responses and encouraging words concerning the work and ministry of GCA.
As always, to God be the glory.
