down to sleep on the new bedding my Dad and his wife
bought me for my upcoming birthday!
It arrived Thursday, sans the mattress, but I figured I'd
try it out on my double even though it's meant to go on
the queen, that should be here in a few weeks.
The outfit is described, "This vintage inspired ensemble
has intricate stitching and features a romantic blend of
pink blush hues with coordinating paisleys and stripes".
Pale greens and tans too, with roses everywhere.
Compared to the solid forest green L.L. Bean down comforter
I've had on my bed for 7+ years, this set is really pretty
without being frilly.
I love it!
Even came with "accent" pillows :)
How girly, how cool!
Thanks dad!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Friday, April 6, 2007
DDD
Degenerative Disc Disease.
Well, that's not going away.
Me either, so now I go to the PT guy on Monday, get
evaluated, and we work on core strength and balance.
I have nothing that any needle, scalpel or chiropractic
manipulation will cure.
No, I have to go about it the hard way, I have to change.
Not only my muscles, but I need to learn to skate all over
again, in a different way, just when I was getting good at the
old way.
There's that word again!
Old.
Ack!
Will it ever stop?
No.
So, Doctor diagnoses me, I ponder the diagnosis, and then
decide how I want to play this game.
Yesterday was good for me.
Want to feel young? Check out all the crippled elderly folks
at a rehab center..
I learned that a Physicitrist's job is to check out what you
have going on in your body, and he puts a name to it. Then
he passes you along to the next guy.
Dr. Boetel told me that I have no nerve damage, just an old,
damaged back that I have to live with. And it won't get better.
It will be an ongoing issue, just like now.
Does the shape and condition of my back have anything to do
with my balance issues?
It's very likely.
So I'm a klutz, but I have an excuse. LOL
Anyway, I called my coach after my visit to let him know
what was going on and he devised a fiendish plan of torture
to "make" me learn to lean over the wheels on my left boot.
It works, I'll give him that.
(That man is always thinking of the skaters on his team and
how to make them better)
This new "plan" works things that aren't used to working
and they bitched about it when I rolled off the floor last night
and all the way home.
Liked skating the other way better...
I like donuts too but they aren't good for me so I had to give
them up.
But giving up the way I skate around a 100m track for a new
one, might be more difficult than giving up donuts..
Well, that's not going away.
Me either, so now I go to the PT guy on Monday, get
evaluated, and we work on core strength and balance.
I have nothing that any needle, scalpel or chiropractic
manipulation will cure.
No, I have to go about it the hard way, I have to change.
Not only my muscles, but I need to learn to skate all over
again, in a different way, just when I was getting good at the
old way.
There's that word again!
Old.
Ack!
Will it ever stop?
No.
So, Doctor diagnoses me, I ponder the diagnosis, and then
decide how I want to play this game.
Yesterday was good for me.
Want to feel young? Check out all the crippled elderly folks
at a rehab center..
I learned that a Physicitrist's job is to check out what you
have going on in your body, and he puts a name to it. Then
he passes you along to the next guy.
Dr. Boetel told me that I have no nerve damage, just an old,
damaged back that I have to live with. And it won't get better.
It will be an ongoing issue, just like now.
Does the shape and condition of my back have anything to do
with my balance issues?
It's very likely.
So I'm a klutz, but I have an excuse. LOL
Anyway, I called my coach after my visit to let him know
what was going on and he devised a fiendish plan of torture
to "make" me learn to lean over the wheels on my left boot.
It works, I'll give him that.
(That man is always thinking of the skaters on his team and
how to make them better)
This new "plan" works things that aren't used to working
and they bitched about it when I rolled off the floor last night
and all the way home.
Liked skating the other way better...
I like donuts too but they aren't good for me so I had to give
them up.
But giving up the way I skate around a 100m track for a new
one, might be more difficult than giving up donuts..
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Compensation
Haven't been skating so I've been eating crap instead.
All the stuff I normally stay away from, for the most
part, I've been busy "stuffing" in my mouth.
Pain management of a sort I guess.
This thing with my back is good.
Coming to a head the way it has, going to the Doctor,
getting X-rays, and this morning going to see a Physicitrist.
As anyone who has read my blog knows, I have been
struggling with my increasing age, and with the blatant
signs that I am not a youngster anymore.
Almost all of this is ego.
I don't like what I see and have been fighting it.
Fighting against who I have become.
Guess aging gracefully is going to take longer than I thought..
LOL
I've been feeling depressed this week, yet now, I'm in the
process of getting a clearer picture of what I have and what
I can do about it.
With the possibility that I won't be able to skate, (very
doubtful) I've had to clarify my goals so I can tell the
Physicitrist exactly what it is I want, and need to do.
Defining my goals again has put some of the wind back
in my sails.
Defining what I want to "do", has taken the focus off
what I can not control, the passing years and the effect
they have had on my body.
It's about the doing.
It's in the doing I find satisfaction.
All the stuff I normally stay away from, for the most
part, I've been busy "stuffing" in my mouth.
Pain management of a sort I guess.
This thing with my back is good.
Coming to a head the way it has, going to the Doctor,
getting X-rays, and this morning going to see a Physicitrist.
As anyone who has read my blog knows, I have been
struggling with my increasing age, and with the blatant
signs that I am not a youngster anymore.
Almost all of this is ego.
I don't like what I see and have been fighting it.
Fighting against who I have become.
Guess aging gracefully is going to take longer than I thought..
LOL
I've been feeling depressed this week, yet now, I'm in the
process of getting a clearer picture of what I have and what
I can do about it.
With the possibility that I won't be able to skate, (very
doubtful) I've had to clarify my goals so I can tell the
Physicitrist exactly what it is I want, and need to do.
Defining my goals again has put some of the wind back
in my sails.
Defining what I want to "do", has taken the focus off
what I can not control, the passing years and the effect
they have had on my body.
It's about the doing.
It's in the doing I find satisfaction.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Old Thoughts
Like those "really" old people who compare their aches
and pains.
That's me and I have to stop.
Boo-boos aren't that interesting after the bloods been
cleaned up, and my issue didn't even include blood.
Last night I was feeling sorry for myself. It was a
beautiful evening, my Team was gathering to skate
outdoors, and I wasn't going.
I need to be out there skating.
Because if I'm not it's too easy to find chores to do at
home and make excuses.
There is a certain mind set I need to have to skate my
best, and with my skate bag in a corner, and six paper
X-rays of my lower back in my hand, I start thinking it
might be better to take up gardening.
It's fascinating to me to see the bones in my spine though.
I turn each picture and lay it against my stomach trying
to get a feel for where exactly the curve that's not supposed
to be there is, and where the one that's supposed to be
there isn't.
Never thought about my back much except when it hurt,
which lately has been often, and now it's like a bad secret
has come out from under wraps and I want to know all
the details.
When my son saw the X-rays, first words out of his mouth
were, " I bet that's from when that horse fell on top of you".
Maybe, maybe not.
Doesn't matter, done is done and now I have to figure out
how to maximize it's usage without making me a cripple.
So I've been going over in my mind what to tell this Doctor
tomorrow, how to explain what it is that I do and what I
want to do.
At first in my minds eye I was describing myself as a fit
inline speedskater, who raced regularly and was going to
Nationals in 3 months.
Then I recalled the reflection I saw as I stood in the middle
of the small changing room at the imaging center last Friday.
Why they have a huge mirror in there is beyond me, but
as I took my street clothes off to put on the gown, I glanced
in the mirror and what I beheld was a stooped over, lumpy
version of me.
I was a pudgy old lady.
Almost cried right there..
My illusion of being fit flew out the window.
I want my illusion back!
and pains.
That's me and I have to stop.
Boo-boos aren't that interesting after the bloods been
cleaned up, and my issue didn't even include blood.
Last night I was feeling sorry for myself. It was a
beautiful evening, my Team was gathering to skate
outdoors, and I wasn't going.
I need to be out there skating.
Because if I'm not it's too easy to find chores to do at
home and make excuses.
There is a certain mind set I need to have to skate my
best, and with my skate bag in a corner, and six paper
X-rays of my lower back in my hand, I start thinking it
might be better to take up gardening.
It's fascinating to me to see the bones in my spine though.
I turn each picture and lay it against my stomach trying
to get a feel for where exactly the curve that's not supposed
to be there is, and where the one that's supposed to be
there isn't.
Never thought about my back much except when it hurt,
which lately has been often, and now it's like a bad secret
has come out from under wraps and I want to know all
the details.
When my son saw the X-rays, first words out of his mouth
were, " I bet that's from when that horse fell on top of you".
Maybe, maybe not.
Doesn't matter, done is done and now I have to figure out
how to maximize it's usage without making me a cripple.
So I've been going over in my mind what to tell this Doctor
tomorrow, how to explain what it is that I do and what I
want to do.
At first in my minds eye I was describing myself as a fit
inline speedskater, who raced regularly and was going to
Nationals in 3 months.
Then I recalled the reflection I saw as I stood in the middle
of the small changing room at the imaging center last Friday.
Why they have a huge mirror in there is beyond me, but
as I took my street clothes off to put on the gown, I glanced
in the mirror and what I beheld was a stooped over, lumpy
version of me.
I was a pudgy old lady.
Almost cried right there..
My illusion of being fit flew out the window.
I want my illusion back!
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Ain't No Big Thang
Scoliosis and moderate degenerative changes in my
L2-L3 through L4-L5. Some disc space narrowing
and sclerosis of the endplates at the same level, but
I have well mineralized bones.
Translation means, I might be a little crooked and I
might have osteoarthritis, but I don't have osteoporosis.
I'll take my blessings where I find them.
Osteoarthritis is common in women 45 and up. After
all the farm work I did, after all the horses I got bucked
off of, after having one mare fall over backwards and
land on top of me, laying me up for months, it just doesn't
surprise me. My lower back has been well used and abused.
Add to that all the falls I've taken on skates in the last
three years, 99% of the time landing on my ass, and you
get the picture.
I could have lived without the gallstones they found on
the X-rays..
What they heck, they haven't bothered me so far, perhaps
they never will.
Called my Dad on the way home from work to let him
know the results, and that's when I found out that he has
scoliosis too.
It's a family affair.
Now I've known since I found him two years ago that his
hips bothered him, but he never shared about the other
thing.
All makes sense, these on again, off again issues with
my lower back, including horrible Sciatica, which thank
you Jesus I haven't had in a long time. And it's going to
happen again.
Small stuff though.
So much better than being dead.
I can deal with it.
My appointment with the Physicitrist is in two days,
we'll go over the report, see if there are any limits to what
I can do, and I'll find out how to strengthen that area and
make the best out of what I've got.
My Dad, God bless his 76 yr. old heart, wanted to know
if this meant I wouldn't be going to Omaha now.
Nationals.
"Is that such a good idea?" he asked.
"Dad, I'm just starting to skate good, I'm not going to stop
now".
L2-L3 through L4-L5. Some disc space narrowing
and sclerosis of the endplates at the same level, but
I have well mineralized bones.
Translation means, I might be a little crooked and I
might have osteoarthritis, but I don't have osteoporosis.
I'll take my blessings where I find them.
Osteoarthritis is common in women 45 and up. After
all the farm work I did, after all the horses I got bucked
off of, after having one mare fall over backwards and
land on top of me, laying me up for months, it just doesn't
surprise me. My lower back has been well used and abused.
Add to that all the falls I've taken on skates in the last
three years, 99% of the time landing on my ass, and you
get the picture.
I could have lived without the gallstones they found on
the X-rays..
What they heck, they haven't bothered me so far, perhaps
they never will.
Called my Dad on the way home from work to let him
know the results, and that's when I found out that he has
scoliosis too.
It's a family affair.
Now I've known since I found him two years ago that his
hips bothered him, but he never shared about the other
thing.
All makes sense, these on again, off again issues with
my lower back, including horrible Sciatica, which thank
you Jesus I haven't had in a long time. And it's going to
happen again.
Small stuff though.
So much better than being dead.
I can deal with it.
My appointment with the Physicitrist is in two days,
we'll go over the report, see if there are any limits to what
I can do, and I'll find out how to strengthen that area and
make the best out of what I've got.
My Dad, God bless his 76 yr. old heart, wanted to know
if this meant I wouldn't be going to Omaha now.
Nationals.
"Is that such a good idea?" he asked.
"Dad, I'm just starting to skate good, I'm not going to stop
now".
Monday, April 2, 2007
Pay The Piper
And so I did last night and this morning.
Sleeping and getting out of bed was a struggle,
but since I got to skate at Sundays practice it
was worth it.
Hadn't planned on participating when I got to the
rink. What I'd had in mind was more of a roll around
to see how things felt.
I'd only missed one practice yet felt like I had been
away longer. It was good to see my second family
again and several members inquired as to how I was
feeling.
With caution I tested my limits wondering if at any
moment I'd seize up and that would be that. Tender,
sore, weak, yes, but I was able to make the moves
without extreme discomfort.
So, next time the pace line formed up for a little "catch
the pack", I got on the back. No catching for me but I
was happy to be back in line.
Only towards the very end of the drill did my lower
back want to give up on me, so not wanting to push
my luck, I called myself out and rolled right towards
the wall.
Later Bob took me aside and gave me some
instruction on leaning the wheels of my left boot over
to the left.
Not something I come by naturally and one of the
reasons he feels my back going out.
Recently I've moved up a notch in speed and keeping
that left foot upright while the rest of my body tries to
lean to the left is causing back strain.
Between Bob and the Physicitrist, I'm sure we'll
figure it all out and I'll be skating better than ever in the
weeks and months ahead.
Yesterday was Coach Bob's birthday and we had
birthday relays, cupcakes and the off key singing of
"Happy Birthday" to honor his special day :)
We are fortunate as a Team that not only is he great guy,
and fun to be around, but he is the best coach in our League
if not the whole East Coast.
Thanks Coach for all you do for us!!
Sleeping and getting out of bed was a struggle,
but since I got to skate at Sundays practice it
was worth it.
Hadn't planned on participating when I got to the
rink. What I'd had in mind was more of a roll around
to see how things felt.
I'd only missed one practice yet felt like I had been
away longer. It was good to see my second family
again and several members inquired as to how I was
feeling.
With caution I tested my limits wondering if at any
moment I'd seize up and that would be that. Tender,
sore, weak, yes, but I was able to make the moves
without extreme discomfort.
So, next time the pace line formed up for a little "catch
the pack", I got on the back. No catching for me but I
was happy to be back in line.
Only towards the very end of the drill did my lower
back want to give up on me, so not wanting to push
my luck, I called myself out and rolled right towards
the wall.
Later Bob took me aside and gave me some
instruction on leaning the wheels of my left boot over
to the left.
Not something I come by naturally and one of the
reasons he feels my back going out.
Recently I've moved up a notch in speed and keeping
that left foot upright while the rest of my body tries to
lean to the left is causing back strain.
Between Bob and the Physicitrist, I'm sure we'll
figure it all out and I'll be skating better than ever in the
weeks and months ahead.
Yesterday was Coach Bob's birthday and we had
birthday relays, cupcakes and the off key singing of
"Happy Birthday" to honor his special day :)
We are fortunate as a Team that not only is he great guy,
and fun to be around, but he is the best coach in our League
if not the whole East Coast.
Thanks Coach for all you do for us!!
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