'Twas the Week Before Christmas . . .

. . . and all through the house, not a creature was stirring - especially Linda!

I had planned to work Monday (12/19) through Wednesday (12/21), and then travel to Temple, with Dan, on Thursday and Friday; on to Spring on Christmas Eve day. But my plans had to be altered a bit. On Friday, 12/16, I did a mass-mailing project, at work. Even as I was doing it, I knew I shouldn't be. Whenever I do a lot of repetitive motion using my arms, back and shoulders, I end up with muscle spasms beneath my left shoulder. They are very painful, and usually last for a week or so.

Sure enough, over that weekend I ended up in the Urgent Care Clinic, begging for some muscle relaxants or something to stop the pain. The doctor gave me muscle relaxants and high-dose Ibuprofen. I took them Saturday, Sunday and Monday without any relief. I went to work on Monday, as planned, but by the time my 12-noon quitting time came, I knew I had to return to the Urgent Care. This time the doctor took some x-rays. They revealed some bone degeneration in my spine, which was probably causing a pinched nerve. At least I know, now, why this "animal" returns once or twice a year to plague me. I told him that we were supposed to be traveling, by car, for Christmas, and that there was no way I could do it with the level of pain I was experiencing. He gave me some pain pills to add to my others. Almost immediately I started feeling relief. I stayed home from work on Tuesday and Wednesday, using alternating heat and cold and my meds, and by the time we were ready to travel on Thursday I was quite comfortable!

I usually leave our home sparkling clean when we travel, so that we come home to a nice, relaxing, tidy place. But this time I was so consumed with pain relief that I left the apartment looking like a cyclone had passed through. But that was okay, because the important thing was getting to Texas to be with Chris, Kelsey and the children for Santa's big day.