Look at me now!

A few weeks ago I was not doing well, but things are much better now. Back then I was suffering from a lot of back pain and aches. I was stumbling a lot and couldn’t sleep. My energy was crashing often due to the pain. Thankfully though, I made it to my appointment with my pain management doctor and received another epidural in my back. I feel so much better now.

This epidural kicked in after about 3 days. I suddenly was having an energy push that made me feel like the energizer bunny. Knowing it was closed to my IVIG, I did my best to restrain myself from doing things like weeding the garden and other labor intense things.

I did resume some of my exercises but not all of them. I am walking again and slowly going further, though still have not reached the precious 1 mile yet. (I must say that the heat has significantly reduced my enthusiasm and motivation. ) I have not been doing my physically therapy exercises lately either. The reason is that the pain was too severe for my to do them before my epidural. Since then, I have cancelled my gym membership so that I can join a new one. At the new gym I hope to be doing exercises in the pool.

A week after my epidural I had my IVIG. This gave me a huge bump in energy as it usually does. But this time it combined with my steroids from my epidural and I felt like wonder woman. (watch out bad guys) It was difficult, but I continued to restrain myself for another day.

The day after my IVIG I had my sculpture class. We are now working on our metal sculptures. For this project, I have decided to go to the junk yard and collect items to use in my project. I was able to get a bunch of tent stakes that were all bent out of whack. After telling my instructor my ideal for my project, he stated that I could straighten the tent stakes using the forge.

Use the forge? As in forging? I had never done that and I was so excited to learn how! So he lit up the forge and told me what to do. Then away I went. I had some difficulties with my small hand in the gloves and the tools being so big, but otherwise I had fun. I went whack-a-mole on those tent stakes and straightened them up. During this time the heat was intense. I was sweating like crazy and even had a bloody nose. I still pushed on and finished them all in about an hour.

Afterwards I was so excited! I knew that even a yesterday I would not have been able to do that! And most especially, two weeks ago I would not have the ability to do that kind of work. This event showed me how my hard work is paying off and that my treatment plans are right. I am again able to walk, pain is minimal, infections down, and energy is up. Not only can I go to school, but I can forge!