My Wrist Saga

This will be a short update because my wrist is hurting even worse today, which makes it hard to type. I was awake until almost 3 a.m. last night trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. I am one of those people that won't take meds for something unless absolutely necessary. However, I think some Advil may do me good and is worth a try. Perhaps playing Guitar Hero with my sister yesterday was not such a great idea? (Although, I only played 3-4 songs!) On a positive note, I have not yet gotten booed off the stage, and that is while playing with an injury!!! Everyone better watch out when my wrist is better.

Well, anyway, I'm off for more x-rays tomorrow!

*Got the results.......not broken (although I figured that because I was using my hand just fine before the results came in). It was just a bad sprain.

Newness

New year. (Hope you all have a great '08)

New month. (It's January!)

New stories. (Eventually!)

New pictures. (In a bit.)

New problems. (See below.)


Okay, first let's get the problem out of the way. It's not a major problem, though...just more of an inconvenience. As some of you know, I hurt my wrist last week on Thursday when I tripped going down my basement steps. Stupid slippery slippers. Anyway, I am always trying to be so careful because of my back (herniated disc, remember?). So when I started to lose my balance, I tried to sit back on a step, but realized there was way too much momentum going, and "sitting" was not going to happen.....therefore, I tried to brace myself by leaning my left hand down against the step so my back wouldn't hit...and then, just owww.

Unfortunately I came down on the outside edge of my left hand, so there's a bruise there. From the picture, it would be the Carpals/Ulna area of my left hand & wrist. It was very swollen at first but that went down a good amount after icing it. I've also had some numbness, swelling and tingling through my fingers. I went to see my doctor on Friday morning and he ordered an x-ray...he briefly looked at it and said he didn't see a break, and that it was more than likely a bad sprain. But, then I got a call today that they want me to come in for some more x-rays because, after looking at it more thoroughly, they can't say there's definitively not a break or crack there. The strange thing is that I am really not having any serious pain...so hopefully having more x-rays is just a precaution and will not mean something worse.

Thank you to Patrick, my personal Physician Assistant, for wrapping it up so nicely for me to drive home from his house the other night :o)


Onto the new pictures...

Pictures and Video from Wii Night @ Patrick & Kendra's:




The Video!

Another Update on Logan

Much has changed since my last post. What the doctors initially thought to be an infection was actually a tumor. The mass they removed from her brain is an anaplastic meningioma. Anaplastic means it's malignant...and it's on the World Health Organization's Grade III stage of Cancer, with IV being the worst.

Apparently, this type of aggressive meningioma is very rare in children. Not all meningiomas are malignant...in fact, most are benign. Unfortunately, however, in Logan's case, it is malignant. Her oncologist only found 19 reported cases of this in children worldwide since 1971.

Logan and her family have a tough road ahead. In mid-to-late August, she will begin 6 weeks of radiation, going 5 days a week (Mon.-Fri.). Needless to say, she will need all the strength and bravery her little 6-year-old heart can muster.

As I say goodbye for the summer to her two sisters at camp next week, I will probably find myself thinking of them often. Please keep Logan and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

One more thing...just wanted to share this song. Logan's mom said it has helped her in getting through this...so, this is for Logan...

John Mayer's "The Heart of Life"


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Blah...

In addition to being so crazily busy this week with freelance writing, I got the FLU. I got through most of the week without it...which is good because I had to tutor a few nights, an interview on Thursday morning, and a tight writing deadline. However, I went to work on Thursday afternoon not feeling quite right. That night when I came home I knew something was up...I was aching all over and had the chills. A temperature check showed I had a 100-degree fever. Ugh.

I called out of work yesterday morning and spent a good part of the day home alone in bed. Although the fever is gone, I am still dealing with stomach pains and not being able to eat much but toast, soup, and rice.

Unfortunately since I am in close contact with kids who think nothing of coughing in your face when you're sitting right next to them, I am always going to get these annoying little bugs. I think I need to take double doses of vitamins! Where's Dr. Oz when you need him?!

Let Me Whine About My Spine

You may remember me talking about the lower back pain I've been having. I posted about it a few times in February; I talked about when it started and the testing I went through. I recently went back to see my Primary Care Physician because I'm still having stabbing pains on the lower left side of my back, as well as weakness and pins & needles in my left foot. So, he referred me to an Orthopaedic Specialist, who I saw today. I brought my MRI scans with me and it turns out I have a herniated disc and mild arthritis in the same area. At least this explains why I haven't been able to do anything overly active for the past 5 months without being in pain!

Isn't it lovely? So, now I am taking a prescription Anti-Inflammatory and will be going to about 4-5 weeks of Physical Therapy with the hope that it will help. Apparently, the disc that is herniated is at the L5-S1 area (L=Lumbar spine, S=Sacrum):


Because I'm so fascinated by this, I took some pictures of my MRI scans to email off to Patrick (my favorite Physician-Assistant-To-Be) and Erin (my sister who just happens to be an Athletic Trainer). Below are a couple of pics...Isn't my spine so cute?? Ha ha!

The arrow is pointing to the protrusion, or the herniated disc:

This is a view of my spinal column from above. In the second
view, I put a question mark, because I'm not sure if this is the
correct scan showing the protrusion (there were so many to
look at!). But, it's cool nonetheless:

Hopefully a Step in the Right Direction

As I've posted previously, I have been having pain in my lower back and down my left leg, I thought maybe due to shoveling snow. However, I'm still not quite sure. I also think it could have happened when I slipped getting out of my grandfather's truck the day after the storm hit. The darn thing is so high up that, having short legs, I couldn't reach the ground...my foot got caught on either the door or the step, I don't know... and I pretty much fell right out of the seat with my foot still caught! Yeah, yeah, I know...I would have laughed at me too.

After seeing my doctor for the second time this past Monday, I had an X-ray on Wednesday and then, yesterday morning, I went for an MRI to try to find out why I am still having this pain. I think that is what is confusing me so much about this...why is it still there?? I've had plenty of muscle pain before...it doesn't feel like that. I was a ballet dancer for six years...I've gone through the nights waking up with a charlie horse in my calf, after dancing for an hour-and-a-half on pointe. This is not the same. I am experiencing weakness in my lower back and left leg that physically stops me from being able to stand or walk for too long. I have pain in the arch of my foot that tingles and tightens up my toes. Even sitting for too long without my feet elevated leaves me sore. My cousin tried to tickle me at breakfast this morning and I wriggled away in pain. This just thoroughly sucks and I can't wait to find out something... anything...just so I know what is causing this and how to fix it. My doctor says he definitely thinks I have a pinched nerve somewhere, but I'm not so sure that explains all the other pains.

Onto the experience of the MRI, though...if you've never had one, it's quite an experience. I am mildly claustrophobic but, decided I would stick it out in the "tube" anyway. They did have an open MRI machine on site, but I didn't see that as necessary unless I really couldn't handle the tube. The radiologist was so very nice and put me at ease. He even gave me headphones so I could listen to my choice of radio station during the testing. Basically, then I had to lie down on a long, stretcher-like table...I was then slid into the tube head-first. That is the freakiest part though--that initial feeling of sliding in...feels like you are sliding into a coffin. The tube around you is only but 6 inches from your face. Once I got in there and took a quick glance at the inside, I shut my eyes and didn't open them again until it was over. During the test I heard extremely loud noises in the tube...buzzing, banging, knocking. If you can get past all of that, it's really not a big deal. Oh, and they do give you an "emergency ball" to squeeze if you need to alert the radiologist for any reason. Keeping my eyes closed was a huge help because I just focused on what I was listening to and didn't think about being closed in...and before I knew it, the 25 minutes was over and I was done. If I ever had to have another one, I definitely wouldn't be as apprehensive. This week, I'll be getting my X-ray and MRI results back, so I'll keep ya posted.

UnHappy Valentine's Day to Me

Not only is it Valentine's Day (which already sucks when you don't have a valentine) but I have to spend it in pain, and virtually immobile. Somehow, this does not seem fair. Unfortunately, I now have a pinched nerve in my back which is causing this pain. I've never had it as severe as this...I've had back problems for quite some time now, due to being in unfortunate car accidents, but this is something very different. Usually, I just experience bad aching in my lower back, which I've learned to manage after going to physical therapy. This, however, is actually a sharp pain that stretches from my lower back down into the back of my left leg. I am worried that it could be my sciatic nerve, because it's stopping me from moving certain ways and makes me feel as though my legs will give out when I stand.

I really didn't feel anything until Sunday night when the shoveling was done. Honestly, I don't think it was the shoveling that did it, though. I think it was from trying to pull the snowblower up our driveway, or from lifting something the wrong way. I can't really be sure. It wasn't the kind of thing where I was doing something and all of a sudden, I couldn't move. It was just something that came on after heading inside for the night.

After speaking with my sister, who is an Athletic Trainer, she advised me to keep putting ice on it, to not lift anything, and to sit and sleep with a pillow or two under my knees. She also wants me to do some light stretching. I'm kinda surprised that this is happening to me now. I would have expected something like this after I was injured in an accident a few years back...but not now when I've been exercising 5 days a week and keeping up with exercises from PT specifically for my lower back. I just don't get it. I'll most likely be going to the doctor if this doesn't get better soon.

Well, anyway, enough complaining for me. I am going to go find myself some chocolate and peanut butter and try to find something on TV that has nothing to do with V-day.

Oh yeah, here are some pictures from our recent party at Tom & Jon's place. Enjoy!
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The Good and The Bad

Penn State Takes Orange Bowl Victory

What can I say? I'm proud to say PSU is my alma mater. I stayed up for the entire game last night...it was impossible to sleep because I was so riled up from all the excitement. I'm not going to recap all the highlights for 2 reasons: 1-I am not known to be a sports whiz, and 2-There are many sports writers out there that have already done that job well enough.

I do want to say though that I thought both teams fought the good fight. However, the multiple missed field goals by both teams' kickers were unbelievably frustrating. The last time Kevin Kelly missed a field goal, I punched my thigh so hard, I nearly saw stars.

The fact that it went into triple-OT was mind-blowing, which made it all the more frustrating, yet exciting...so many ups and downs. It also took me awhile to get the rule changes in OT because, well, again...I am not a sports aficionado...plus anyone I could ask had already gone to bed. I managed to figure it out on my own though...I catch on quickly!

After the game, Bobby Bowden had nice things to say about JoePa and the Lions, which I thought was very respectable. I've gotta comment though...I don't know the name of this one guy on the Seminoles' sideline...he was one of the team coaches or something, wearing a headset. Every time they showed him on camera, I was distracted by his frog-like gum-chewing...I kept waiting for his tongue to lash out of his mouth to catch a passing fly. I know, I know, that's horrible to say...but, I notice things like this...I can't help it! There now, I feel better. Congrats JoePa and PSU!

(Frank, looks like it's time to get rid of that Florida State gear and throw on some Blue & White!)


My First Bad Day of the New Year

Yesterday was a bad day...although, yes, I have had much worse. The only thing that went right about the day was that PSU won the Orange Bowl, which did make me feel better! Anyway, I'll spare you all the details, but what I will say is that I haven't been feeling so hot since last Friday. I've had a head cold and cough, which made me feel even worse by Sunday. So, this week hadn't started off great as it is. I've been very sleepy, probably from the cold meds I'm taking, which makes we want to do nothing all day. So, imagine my feeling when I had to go out yesterday, when I didn't want to. Regardless, though, it was necessary. Basically, it involved a lot of waiting around on my part (or chauffeuring as I call it), when I all I wanted to do was be at home, as well as my annoyance at my sister's irresponsibility. That led to getting in an argument with her and with my dad, for something indirectly related to the whole thing. It was one of those days I felt like crawling into bed and starting it all over. However, I did manage to get an apology from my sister and patch things up with my dad. Now, what to do about those New Year's Resolutions? I'm thinking I need to bring "Move Out" to the top of my list...