Pain

Warning... this is a bitch fest post. Just got back from the Orthopedist. Got prescribed more Lortab which I hate to say I have to take daily or am completely useless. I expressed concern over this to the Doc and she told me basically that 90% of people get over this type of injury no matter what while the other 10% have to resort to more stringent pain management (ie epidural shots or back surgery). NO WAY am I having back surgery!!!!! That is just too F-in scary for words. I got the name of an acupuncturist. The Doc says she ( pin lady) is actually Chinese so she (Doc) feels more comfortable giving out her name as she has some distrust of Westerners practicing Eastern medicine. I was also ordered a Tens (sp?) machine for electric stim on my back in the privacy of my own home. This I am Very excited about. It almost makes up for all the sweaty butts I had to touch when I lived in VT and worked for a chiropractor setting patients up with the stim machine. Not quite, but almost.

Hubby and I went out Sunday and bought a real drafting chair for my studio. I have never been so enthralled by a piece of furniture. It has adjustable height (fits both the drawing board and work table!) AND adjustable back rest ( up, down, side to side) and foot rest. It beats the living hell out of the bar stool I've been using.

I am working days and nights to get ready for a conference in 3 weeks. I work until the pain pill wears out and then decide if it is too late to take another and keep on trucking or give it up and go to bed (with the heating pad). This probably isn't helping the back situation but what's a girl to do?

More later and a promise to be more upbeat!

Procrastination

I have a conference in LA at the beginning of August. There is a portfolio display and I am trying to update the thing. Yet what am I doing? Lurking. Checking out all the other blogs, reading Rumor Queen, etc... It doesn't help that people are starting to get this months referrals. I have to keep checking to see who has them, right? Anyway, I'm off to my studio ( room with litter box) to work some more. Just trying to stay more current with my postings.

The deal with my back

So for anyone who is interested in my Bootcamp story here it goes. Have you ever heard of an exercise called the " Parachute"? Well, what happens is one partner gets down on her hands and knees ( kind of like you would for leap frog but with a straight back) and the other partner lays on you. She puts her stomach on your back and then puts here arms and legs straight out like she's parachuting. This pose is held for one minute. Well, my back has caused me problems since college but has been fine lately. Still, when hubby said, "should you really do this", I chose to ignore him. I mean, who wants to be the wuss in front of all those people? Not me!! So I pair up with this girl who has a few ( 20 or so) pounds on me and off we go. I did the balancing first. It's harder than it looks. Also, all I could think is " I must be killing this girl". When we switch I immediately know that this was a BAD idea but what does one do? I already knew she was self conscious about her weight ( aren't we all) and I was not about to tell her she was too heavy and get off. I stuck it out. The conclusion is two herniated discs one of which is causing severe sciatica. Ugh. So no more Bootcamp. I am doing some swimming. Also a great thing about painkillers is that they dampen your appetite (lol) !