I am in sufficient pain and of such restricted mobility that my temper has no fuse at all. Every minor annoyance or household mishap triggers anger bordering on rage. This is nothing I am proud of. It's annoying. It's embarrassing.
One of those remote-grabby things is on its way to me, along with a front-porch delivery of bottled water. I have a 24-pack, but it's in the back hatch of my car, on the far side of the garage, and I can no more carry it in than I could fly. Getting those should help with some of the frustration: I'll be able to pick things up from the floor without a heart-pounding series of scary moves to get down to floor level and, far worse, back up. And Indianapolis city water is nothing to write home about. It's okay fresh out of the tap but carries the faintest aroma of wet dog after it sits a spell. (It has been this way for years, no matter how well our reservoirs are doing. Is it that hint of canal water? The scattering of city wells? Some purifying chemical or process? Our water company draws on a variety of sources and they do honest work, but it's a bulk business, not a boutique bottler. It's clean water and plenty of it.)
Just took the second muscle relaxer pill and the first anti-inflammatory. The latter is some turbocharged prescription-only relative of naproxen, so I had to wait for the previous dose of aspirin to time out; you can't take both at the same time. Fortunately, acetaminophen is still okay, and I'm watching the clock for my next dose. Such excitement!
First commenter to suggest horse-paste, moxibustion or a chiropractor gets punched in the face as soon as I'm feeling better.
Update
1 year ago
9 comments:
What about Woo Brand certified organic, all natural Snake Oil blessed by a MAGA certified televangelist? It's available for a reasonable monthly payment, but you can get a substantial discount if you signup for my downline sales team. (/jk)
Reminds me of the old joke about if you're lost in the woods, just loudly mention a chronic aliment. Dozens of people will jump out to recommend some sort of medical crankery.
That back pain stuff is nothing with which to kid around. I do hope your new medical regimen helps you. All I can do for you is to wring my hands.
Does your grabber have opposing suction cups or a pincer ala cheesy 50's sci-fi robots? Mobility-impaired folks who have dropped a compact disk or coins or, gawd forbid, a cell phone or credit card, will throw money at you when you invent a practical grabber with a powered outward-facing suction cup. Like a Dalek, but useful. Also, a low-tech dressing stick with an L-shaped hook on one end can be quite handy. Use the grabber to pick up the dropped stick and vice-versa. Bonus points if the pincer grabber has an embedded magnet and the L-hook is ferrous. Get better!
The grabber's not here yet, but it's the pistol-grip type with a simple pincher claw at the business end. And I bought a set of cheap 16" spring-loaded kitchen tongs -- they'll do most things, with lower complexity and better tactile feedback.
I was taking the turbocharged naproxen after I tore up my knee. That stuff is murder on your stomach, and I'm not used to eating much of a breakfast, so bigger breakfast, then pill, interspersed with the arthritis-strength acetaminophen in the middle of the day. I hope your back heals up soon so you can levy retribution on the horse-paste people :)
My grabber is like yours, but has an angled bit at the front for pulling things to where they can be grabbed with the pincher. Business end is magnetized (jar lids on the floor! ). One of the best things I ever bought. Also, a long handled plastic shoe horn-about 2 1/2 feet long, also helpful. As are velcro-closing footwear-no laces to bend over to tie.
Aw, retribution is overrated; I was just heading them off at the bogosity.
I'm certainly grateful to live in a time when grocery delivery has returned, though with gas prices high and fluctuating, I keep increasing the tip.
(And I did get a bottle of tangerine-chili olives, which I had not had before -- quite a treat! Though one in which I must take care not to overindulge: they're not as salty as most olives, but....)
Been there. Ice, muscle relaxers, pain meds, and time helped. But a steroid shot to relieve gout symptoms ironically helped the most.
Mike V: Because of your wording (perhaps intentionally), I'm not clear on whether your pain was caused by gout or whether the treatment used for gout worked for your other problem. If you don't mind, would you please clarify? I know that gout is painful, having had my first bout with it 2-3 years ago. The pain was so bad that I passed out from it. My kidney doc prescribed a medication for me, and I've had only one bout since then - listed as possibly resulting from starting the medication itself.
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