I am feeling better. The pain dr. gave me 2 HUGE cortisone shots, one by my spine, one in my hip. They were, to say the least, painful. But he used a sonogram to direct the needles, and hit the right spots, and lo and behold, I can walk upright for short distances without a cane. I can’t begin to tell you the relief I feel without that excruciating pain.

He told me that it’s basically all arthritis, in my spine and hip. The shots are relief, they are not a cure. He wants me to go to a spine dr, and to get some more x-rays of my hip. I have some herniated disks, and some scoliosis, though it’s not real bad. He thinks of the spine dr can give me an injection right into my spine, it would be very helpful to me. He said my hip is a mess from the arthritis, which is why he wants more x-rays. Whatever. I can also resume PT, now that the pain is dramatically lessened. Don’t get me wrong, it still hurts like a bear when the tylenol or ibuprofen wear off, but nothing compared to what it was. He didn’t want to give me any pain killers, saying they wouldn’t help. Dan was with me and informed him that I’d been taking half of a leftover hydrocodone from his shoulder surgery and it really helped. So the dr. gave me a script for qty 7, 5 mg pill. Wow…. Drs are so afraid to prescribe opiates, and I get it, but since I have no history of using them, have never asked for a painkiller in my life….you’d think they could figure out that I really need them. Whatever. Maybe I won’t need them. That’s my fervent hope.

Daniel has been my hero through all of this. Doing almost everything for me, because I couldn’t be on my feet for more than a minute or two. He never ever complains, though when I held out my glass of water for a refill and said nothing, he did say, “You’re getting a little too comfortable with that! Not even asking for me to refill it.” But then he laughed, and smiled, and went in the kitchen to fill my glass. Yesterday we drove to my house to pick up mail and a few other things, but I still am staying at his house, because I’m afraid to be alone with this. However, I did manage, yesterday, due to lack of pain, to do some laundry, unload the dishwasher, and make breakfast. It was nice for a change, to be helping out. It’s also really nice to be able to stand up and give him a real hug. Such a blessing in my life. I know that I have under-appreciated him in the past. I feel bad about that, but also know that going forward, he will never have to question me.

I began to write a political post the other day, just to put my thoughts out there. But never finished it, and now, idk, there’s so much already being said, that I don’t feel like repeating what people a lot more invested and involved have said. Most people know where I fall on all those issues. I am anxiously awaiting November 3, when hopefully we will kick the orange child out of the white house and have some return to normalcy.

Normalcy, not even sure what that is any more. But hopeful that it is a trend toward less pain, more love, more kindness. Love and light to everyone.