2 posts tagged “muscles”

I went over to Mom and Dad's today, so that I could cook some meals for him and so that I could do a little of the laundry for Mom, before she gets home.

BFF # 3 went with me today so that I would have some help. It was fun just the two of us getting to hang out. I made two different meals for dad and then after he had some dinner I put it all away in the fridge so that he could just fix a plate later this week for lunch or dinner. Since Mom's back has been bothering her so bad she can not stand at the stove and cook, so Dad has been existing on frozen dinners and going out. He has found some dinners that he really likes so he does not seem to mind so much, but I just thought it would be nice for him to have something home cooked.

I did not get a chance to go and see Mom since I was busy cooking two different meals and doing some laundry, as well as doing some of my own errands before I went in. I did talk to her a couple of times on the phone. My sister called me after visiting with Mom to give me a progress report.

The got Mom up and had her sitting up in the chair while she tried to eat her meal.  She only felt up to eating her tomato soup. When they opened the lid on her open faced roast beef meal the smell made her nausea. Not because it was bad but because of a side effect from the anesthetic. My sister had told me about something similar happening to her after she had surgery not too long ago.

Mom decided that while they had her up it would be a good time to get them to take her to the restroom before she got back into bed. Just the walking (with a lot of help) to the chair to eat and then the bathroom and then back to bed, gave her muscle spasms and made her very achy. They gave her some muscle relaxers for the spasms and some more pain meds. Other than that she is doing just fine.

After the last time I talked to Mom I knew I was not going to be able to go see her for the night because I was still cooking and she was sounding pretty tired from the muscle spasms and the pain meds.

I probably will make another trip in tomorrow. I might make another meal and do more laundry. Plus if Mom gets discharged tomorrow sometime I have been elected to be at home with her (my Dad is not a patient (no pun intended) person and my sister has to work. That is okay though that is why I made sure to use up one of my vacation weeks this week rather than try to get a new job from the Union hall and then have to ask to take off.

Okay I need to do some catching up on here. Yesterday I almost got a job. Yeah almost. I took a 10 day call from the Hiring Hall and went to the company's office to interview basically. The contractor has a right to turn down anyone the Hall sends to them without much of an explanation (this is part of our union contract). If the contractor turns you down and you have never interviewed with them before they are obligated to give you 2 hours of pay for showing up and being willing to work. Well with all that said, the contractor turned me down, because out of the 10 days I would have to miss one for a court date. Because he is calling for 10 day hits/calls he wants his full 10 days, it is his right. So no work but 2 hours of pay for me yesterday.

10 day call - a 10 day call is a temporary call for workers needed no more than 10 days. This is the cut-off point for temporary calls. If a worker takes a call for a 10 day job they do not loose their place on the Hiring Hall list. If a worker takes a permanent/long term call they are removed from the Hiring Hall list and must start all over on the list when they are once again laid off.

Today I woke up with a very very bad neck pain. I can only assume that I slept wrong causing nerve(s) to be pinched.

I know from past visits to multiple different doctors, that I have a 'mildly' (radiologist wording in reports) compressed disc between C5 and C6 in my neck. I also know that I have the beginnings of degenerative arthritis in my vertebra, as well as small bone spurring (fortunately not in the direction of my spinal cord). Because of this I am constantly in some form of pain, be it mild or severe. I seldom recall any time that I was without pain. So I am used to enduring the mild nagging pain, but when the pain prevents me from turning my head and causes numbness down my arms when moving my head certain directions, I know it is time to seek help.

I managed to get a chiropractor appointment with a doctor in my town that I have not gone to before. The doctor that I have gone to in the past no long has any Saturday hours and also is semi-retired, being only available 3 days a week. This new doctor was very helpful; willing to wait for me to get their to be his last appointment of the day, listening fully to everything I said and not brushing anything aside, respecting the fact that I have been to numerous doctors thus I am not uneducated about this aspect of my health.

After listening to me as well as noticing my body language the doctor started me out face down on the table and used a massager on my back and neck muscles first to help facilitate his next step. After a very pleasant couple of minutes of massage he began checking my back for needed adjustments. He found plenty (not surprising). So I sounded like Kellogg's Rice Krispies while he worked his way up my back. He did some small adjustments on my neck while I was laying face down then he had me roll over so that he could turn my head better for some more adjustments.

The doc did some nice work and I did feel some mild benefit, unfortunately with any kind of problems with a combination of spine and muscle issues it takes a while for the pain to subside even though things have been put back in place.

The doc told me that even though I was still young (39), with my history I needed to take a more active roll in retarding the progression of my arthritis and disc compression. I agreed with him and said that I had suspected that I would be needing to start going to a chiropractor on a more regular basis, especially since I am a construction worker and a bit of a tom-boy (hmm is it tom-man when you are an adult and heterosexual?). I have already made appointments to see the doc again on Monday afternoon and Thursday afternoon. I made the appointments in the late afternoon in case I get a job this week. I do not want to have to leave work early my first few days of employment. I also got out my glucosamine/chondroitin & MSM supplements and put them where I will remember to take them on a daily basis, as I should have been doing all along. (Hey now me and the dog can be on the same meds, LOL! - one of my dogs has arthritis too)

I had intended to get some more house repair/renovation/cleaning work done this weekend, but now I am not so sure that is going to happen. I am going to have to find a way to prop myself so that I am not pulling the neck muscles the rest of the evening. I have already taken a nap surrounded by pillows and dogs so that I could not even think about moving in the wrong direction while I slept, so I am not tired anymore. I guess I will have to find that neck pillow I have so I can sit here in my high back chair and try to watch some television and read blogs.