Spinonite

That would be spine+kryptonite=spinonite. And I am referring to the amazing powers of my spine to render MRI machines useless.

Today I went to the back orthopedic surgeon. He's great. He pulled up my xrays and explained all sorts of cool bone/spine medical stuff. For those of you who have spent excessive amounts of time in doctors offices/hospitals, you know that it's really interesting to learn about what's going on in your body and why...(plus I've always had this medical geeky side to me...ask Claire, who was subjected to my excited ravings the other day about an article I read about antibodies...it was really cool though...really).

But I digress...

So the back doc said it's definitely my back, not my hips. He ordered a MRI of the lumbar spine to figure out what might be causing the pain. His two big theories right now are 1) turns out I have a congenital deformity in my spine (called spina bifida occulta- no, not 'spina bifida', according to the back doc, whoever discovered the occulta bit, he shoulda thought twice about the name). I already knew this from the hip doc who looked at the xrays. Basically it means that one of my lower vertabrae is weird- instead of the two ends meeting up, one end is actually on top of the other end (like, almost bisecting it), at about a 60 degree angle (I know you can't see it, but I am TOTALLY forming the shape with my fingers for you all right now :) ). Anyhow, lots of people (10-20%) have these types of occultas and it's not a big deal...for most people. As it would happen, I am a medical oddity in a lot of areas (hush) and thus, it may be causing some weird inflammation in my spine or something (although why NOW beats me...) or 2) that I could have a bulging disc....good news there is it doesn't look like anything is herniated (which matches the zero leg pain I have- the big red flag for herniated discs). So back MRI for me.

Once I again, so pleased with the design of the medical center, everything in one (okay one LARGE and spread out) location. I waited for about 3 hours there until my MRI appointment (praise God they were able to get me in today! I was not expecting that).

All the techs I have interacted with throughout this process have been so friendly and kind. Nothing different about today.

Tech Guy leads me into MRI room #1 (oh yeah, this story requires numbering...). The platform goes in the tube, the jackhammering starts, stops, platform moves out, Tech Guy realigns something, platform goes in, jackhammering, platform moves out while they reboot the machine (at this point, I inform him that the digital display above my head has an incorrect weight for me...I did not spontaneously gain 30lbs...), platform in...FAIL. Tech Guy informs me I have broken the machine. Oh quipy Tech Guy.

We walk to MRI room #2 (read, rinse, and repeat on the above, except without the me gaining 30lbs)...Tech Guy informs me I will be receiving a bill for 10 million dollars...

...they load me into a wheelchair (I'm in a hospital gown by the way) because they recognize that it will take me about 3 days to walk across the street to the OR where there are additional MRI machines...wheel me away...I think I looked a bit conspicuous in that wheelchair wearing silver sandals and holding a bright orange purse in my lap...or maybe not ::shrug:: MRI room #3 was a success. AND, they felt so bad about it taking so long that I got my parking fee waived. Saved $9! Nice.

I meet with the back doc on Tuesday to review the results. He said based on the findings, they will probably (hopefully!) be able to pinpoint the source and do a procedure where they inject pain reducing stuff (I wasn't clear if it was steroids or numbing potion) into my back. According to him, I am already on the world's greatest anti-inflammatory (I actually did not know that, I just know that it works...good to know my rheumatologist isn't holding out on me ;-) ), so there's not much else he can do at this point.

On other progress, they got me a close-to-my-office-building parking spot at work, so next week I am going to try going into the office for a few hours- I'm managing/tolerating sitting much much better than I was a week ago. PROGRESS!!!

Standby for more medical drama on Tuesday... ::close with medical drama theme song::

Hand

One of my amazing girls sent me a get well ecard this afternoon, and it literally popped up during a particularly challenging time for me today. In it were these verses for encouragement:

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" 2Cor 4:16-18

I love when you can see His hand move in your life. I love that He understands that we sometimes need those more tangible reminders of His presence.

::teary-eyed smiling::

In the finished pile...

So besides some telework and movies, my only other activity option has been reading. Here's what I've read in the past two weeks. Please let me know if you have other recommendations!

The 4 books in the Twilight series
Confession- I skim-read because I didn't like them. I don't like her writing style (it did improve somewhat as the series went on), there isn't really much of a plot, and Bella just bugs me. A lot. Sorry to all you fans out there, but at least I now know what everyone is talking about when they ask "Edward or Jacob?".

The Winding Ways Quilt (Jennifer Chiaverini)
This one wasn't the best in the Elm Creek Quilt books, but meets the "just some fun easy reading" description.

The Help (Kathryn Stockett)
This book rectified the damage done by Twilight's one-syllable-word sentence structure. Beautiful, rich writing that made the characters leap off of the page (cliche I know, but oh so true). I love putting a book down and feeling that I have learned something along the way. Thanks for the recommendation Lindsey!

The Great Train Robbery (Michael Crichton)
Kind of like Ocean's 11 meets The Italian Job. Quick read, entertaining, and I learned some random stuff about trains and dog-fighting. Another good recommendation from Lindsey.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
I know, this is a modern classic, but I never got around to it until now. I enjoyed it- love the voice she wrote it in- at first it was challenging to pick up the rhythm of the dialogue, but once I got it down, the story feels like it is singing at you.

The Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)
Sad, reluctantly funny at times, and a must read. I absolutely love how this memoir was written: honest and unapologetic "this is how it was". I had a hard time putting it down. Lindsey, I am sensing a pattern...

Currently reading: The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck).

Couches!

So, back in February, I bought a couch from craigslist with the intent of reupholstering it to put in my living room. Well...it's still sitting in my garage :). So I came up with a contingency plan "Musical Sofas".

Here's how it's going to go:

Sleeper sofa in TV room is getting moved to guest bedroom so guests actually have a place to sleep. Craigslist sofa is moving from the garage to TV room and will be covered with something more appealing than the current eyesore 1960s orangish brown tweed that currently graces it's cushions.

So what's going in the living room?

These!!!

I found these online at Macy's (on sale too! love it!). I love the vintage-y yet modern lines. They are super comfy too (although the cushions need to get a bit more broken in!). I have a coffee table in a box (see it in that back corner?), it's waiting for a rug that I ordered back in May (yeah...import issues apparently). I want to make sure everything "goes" in case I need to return the coffee table/rug (although I shudder to think of having to return that rug after waiting close to 3 months for it to arrive!). I'm still searching for throw pillows too...once the rug is in place, I'll be able to really "build" the room up, you know, things that make it more homey.

The medical saga continues...

Good news...I think...the hip orthopedic surgeon (after more xrays and much leg, hip, and back movement) thinks the labral tear in my hip is not the cause of my pain (I kinda agree with him, solely because my hips don't hurt, it's my lower back). He says a lot of people have labral tears and don't even know it. So...no hip surgery for now! He's referred me to a back orthopedic surgeon...not that it means I need to have back surgery (oh I shudder to think of back surgery...best not to think of it at all), but the back guy will have more insight into what seems to be causing the pain. I went to the said-referred back doc today, but he was MIA (well, not MIA, he's on vacation...bad schedule people...). So I am seeing him next Thursday (that is, if I can't get into a different back doc's office before then...I'm pretty desperate here...I mean, if a receptionist, nurse, or doctor just says, "how are you doing?" to me, I turn into bawling, sobbing Melissa. It's quite the feat...a soggy, mucus-y feat that is...).

Anyhow, after returning home after my longest-time-not-in-a-semi-lying-down-position, the only position that provides a slight lessening of my uncomfortableness (yeah, let's just say I was ouching it up quite a bit when I got home), I called my sports med chiropractor and praise God she got me in this afternoon (where Blubbering Melissa once again appeared). She read my reports, films, moved me around, and proclaimed that I definitely needed to see the back doctor, but, that did have some angry hip flexors that she would gingerly (her words) stretch in hopes of getting those to unangrify. So, I'm back at home, my soas muscle (main hip flexor) stretched, pulled, iced, a fancy "recommended by NASA" quality lumbar pillow at my back, and every other day appointments set up with her until I see the back doctor...and I still hurt the same.

Things to be thankful for:
1) Getting some good Scripture memory done (2 Cor 12:9-10). Owned.
2) Online shopping- my house is getting accessorized with the click of a button
3) Ability to do some work from home- just emails, telecons, working on a flight rule, but its helping to keep me sane
4) Reading- I've read 7 books in the past 1.5 weeks, perhaps I will make my New Years goal after all
5) Awesome friends and family calling/emailing to check in on me. Thanks all!

To be continued with the next doctor's visit...

Sanity helper

Making these invitations this week helped keep me sane with all my laying around. I rigged up a little table so that I could work on these in my now-well-honed "lie-a-bed" position.

Not quite expected...

Warning- potential medical TMI ahead- Warning

I was at home this past week due to some pretty bad pain in my lower back that's not allowing me to sit or stand for very long. This was following the end of a pretty bad flare up of my autoimmune disease that I have (Sjogren's Syndrome). I saw my rheumatologist on Tuesday and they did labs and ordered some MRIs and xrays. My doc was thinking at the time that the back pain was actually coming from my hips (this assessment was due to my reaction to the manipulations he did of my legs and my yelling and wincing and the fact that pounding on my back didn't hurt :) ).

I heard back from the doctor today and the scans show deterioration in my hips due to the steroids we use to treat my disease, which has caused some arthritis. I also have a tear in my hip labrum (this is the cartilage in the hip socket)- based on what I read, the tear is probably caused by the arthritis- but I definitely want to confirm that with my doc). He's referring me to a orthopedic surgeon, who I hope to get into on Monday. Based on the research I have been doing, the tear has to be fixed surgically. It is possible for the pain to lessen with a..."conservative lifestyle" (read "sedentary") but as you know, I'm not very sedentary :). It looks like most people are out of work for 2 weeks following the surgery and the recovery time is well...long...months of PT and such. So, I am going to talk with the ortho doc and see what my options are. I am also going to be talking with the sports med/chiropractor doc who helped me earlier this year with my ankle, because they treat tears as well, and see what the game plan is going to be. I also know that my rheumatologist wants to get this all taken care of sooner rather than later. So do I!

I'm trying very hard not to think about all the races I had planned for this fall. It's okay, there are other races. ::determined face::

I'll keep you all statused on how things pan out...but prayers for this flare to completely settle, for wisdom on what to do, for patience and trust in lieu of a raceless fall, and that throughout whatever happens, that I may glorify Him, would be appreciated.