Immobulus!

I was doing so well yesterday. I had a struggle getting dressed, but my good friend K was picking me up for lunch with our good friend M, so I was determined not to give up.  Getting into K's van was a bit of a struggle, but we made it work, thanks to K's close curb parking abilities.  When we sat in the restaurant, I was afraid it was going to be a very short meal, but a table change later, I was able to achieve relative comfort. I thought I might be on to something with the combo and level of pain meds and ibuprofen I had before coming. Great lunch, catching up with M, who recently moved from our area. Getting back in the van was less painful, and I came home to a wondrous sight: weeds being uninvited to live in my front yard!

J's daughter, A, who, along with her sister who sang to me the night before, had organized a crew of young women to de-weed my front yard!  There, working hard were J, her two daughters, A and B, my other friend S, her two daughters, B and H, and four other hard working young women, along with my son. My sister came by just as we drove up to return my wheelchair, so I decided to give it a try, and sat in it on the porch and watched the work and chatted with my friends.

The wheelchair turned out to be quite comfortable, which is good, since my plan is to take it to my doctor's appt Thursday, at which office I've never spent less than 2 hrs, because I am sure I wouldn't last 10 minutes in those standard lobby chairs. I actually felt pretty good after my sit, especially considering I haven't sat for more than 5 minutes at a stretch in a month prior to this day!

When the crew wrapped up and headed out (the yard looks great, and I no longer have "worse yard on the block", at least for the time being! Thank you A and crew!), I went in for a lie down on the couch.

I lay for a while, petting cats and watching SG1 with my son, then attempted to rise to use the restroom. My body was having none of that.

Pain, muscles seizing, Charlie Horses, extreme pain, crying out and even with help barely made it to the upright and on my feet position.

It hasn't got much better since. It feels like I may have torn a muscle on my ribs where it was already hurting. My lower back and hips are worse than ever, making routine personal hygiene (think toilet paper) nearly impossible. I have given up the sofa, which was supposed to be my savior, and getting in and out, especially out, of bed is excruciating and almost impossible.

Ironically, once I am upright, walking, though aided, is relatively pain-free! My middle just does not want to bend at all. I managed to get out of bed this morning, and sit for a while in the wheelchair.  Then, knowing that I have a blood draw scheduled this afternoon, attempted a shower with the shower chair that was recently lent me. That didn't go so well. Turns out the chair is too big for my shower with me in at the same time. All I managed to accomplish was wetting my hair and knocking the shower door off its tracks. Now I'm back in bed in my towel, knowing that it's going to be horrific getting up and hoping Brad gets home from class in time to help me get to my blood draw.

The body is worse and worse by the day. Pain has a strong foothold and shows no sign of retreat. Just when I think it can't get worse, it does. I'm feeling at the end of my rope, and nothing with which to tie the proverbial hanging-on knot.