Look Mom!

Yesterday was the first time I EVER went to the dentist and had them say "No cavities. Your gums are healthy and you have a very clean mouth. Keep doing what you're doing."

What am I doing???? I don't know! The only thing I can figure out is that I have cut waaaaaay down on eating sugar. I hardly eat it anymore. \

I also use Listerine. But I still don't floss my teeth. EVER. Yet they said it looked like I was a "good flosser".

Ha... I fooled them!! LOL

I'm so glad to get a good report though. Yay.

I figure the reason I have no cavities is because pretty much all of my teeth are FAKE! LOL. Crowns and veneers make up 90% of my teeth. LOL.

But a couple years ago they told me I had gum disease so it's nice to know that is gone.

Hush Little Baby......

I stopped at the grocery store tonight to pick up a couple things on my way home from work. When I left the store an elderly man and woman were standing in front of the automatic doors looking at something on the ground. When I exited the store, I saw a little bird twirling around in circles and sqwacking like it was in extreme pain. (almost sounded like me when I herniated my disc).

The man seemed impatient to get in the store and didn't give a fig about the bird. The woman, however, seemed very concerned but didn't know what to do for it.

"Do you know what to do for the poor thing?" she asked me, "should I pick it up?"

I said, "He will probably be ok in a bit. Probably just winded."

I walked to the car and I could feel my mom (who loved birds so much, her casket had them embroidered inside) tell me "Michelle, you go back right now and pick up that bird and hold it for a few minutes!"

So......... I put my bag and purse in the car and walked back to where the lady was still looking at the bird. She had a Kleenex in her hand but she wasn't sure how to pick the thing up. It now looked like it had a broken leg because it couldn't stand up at all.

I have held many a bird that managed to conk itself silly on my mom's windows so I knew how to do it.

I swooped it up in my hands and began to talk very softly to it. The poor thing was absolutely terrified and in pain... and it did NOT want to settle down at all. Still I cooed softly to it, and prayed a little prayer that it could be well enough to fly.

It managed to wriggle out of my grasp and flew about 2 feet and then landed right in front of the automatic doors which were opening... and the door smacked it and then the person coming out almost stepped on the poor thing!

It rolled itself into a corner and calmed down a little bit.

I couldn't reach it because I couldn't bend (herniated disk and all).

I thought about leaving.... but felt prompted again to give it another try.

Just then the poor thing started sqwacking up a storm again.... oh it sounded so pitiful like it was either screaming in pain or screaming for help. It rolled towards me and I gently picked him up again.

The old lady had come out with the store manager who had a box in her hands. The lady wanted them to call the Humane Society, but the manager and I knew that they would do nothing for this poor little bird unless it was a rare bird or exotic or something.

I held the bird a few more minutes, praying for it to be ok, and suddenly I could feel not one, but BOTH little legs kicking at me inside my hands. I told the old lady and the manager that I thought it would be ok.... but that it needed to be let loose where it wasn't so busy.

The manager said she would take it to the back of the store where there wasn't anybody, so I put Arthur (he looked like an Arthur) in the box.

As I walked back to my car, I didn't know if I helped the bird at all, but I knew Mom was happy I had at least tried.

Big Owie

If you have never experienced the pain of sciatica or a ruptured, herniated disc... consider yourself lucky. It is PAINFUL. Worse than the neck pain I had from my whiplash. Worse than childbirth. It is an unrelenting pain that cannot be relieved no matter what position you get in. Its a stabbing, searing, horrible pain that shoots down the nerve over and over and over.

That's what I'm dealing with right now. George and I went on vacation to Vermont last week with high hopes of painting my dad's house, and cleaning the inside. On our third day there, I was picking up huge bags of trash to carry out and my back tweaked and it hurt. I thought "Oh, I just have pulled a muscle". But then I sat down on the floor to clean a bottom shelf and immediately I was seized by horrific pain. It took my breath away. And then... I couldn't get up. I couldn't move. All I could do was scream "OW OW OW!!!"

My sister came over to the house to help that day and she had me lay on the couch and put ice on it. Gave me 800mg Advil. She thought I should go to the hospital and get it looked at and I know she was right but I kept hoping it would "go away" and get better.

I couldn't even drive back to the hotel. George had to. I could not sleep at all the whole night because no matter what position I tried, sitting, standing, laying, propping pillows, every position hurt HORRIBLY. I cried all night. I knew that I must have done something very wrong to my back to hurt that bad.

The next morning I had George take me to the emergency room in Brattleboro. They gave me pain medication and told me I had "sprained" my back and should go see my doctor when I get home.

I came home and it didn't get better. So Monday I went to Dr. Byrd who is my pain doctor for my neck. He cured my neck pain. He sent me for an MRI. The results showed I have a herniated disc and another one that is bulging and ready to rupture.

So... it wasn't all in my head.

And it wasn't a SPRAIN either.

Tomorrow I go in and get an epidural injection of steroids in my L4 L5 area of the spine. I hope it will help. When I got the epidural for my neck it hurt worse than the everyday pain for about two weeks and I was sorry I did it, but then it got better. I hope this one works. I missed half a week of work this week and i don't have anymore sick leave.

So........ anyhow.......... that is that. I want physical therapy once this gets better. I need it. I have to build up the muscles so this doesn't happen again.