update on my owie

So my MRI showed that I do, indeed, have a herniated disk. Or disc. Still not sure how it's spelled. Anyway, it's the disk between my L5 and my S1 vertebrae. If that means anything to anyone. Apparently, 90% of people who herniate a disk herniate this same one! I'm a bit surprised at myself, honestly. The illnesses and injuries that I sustain are usually atypical!

Anyway, the good doctor recommends lots of rest, painkillers, steroids, and when I'm up to it, some gentle stretching and exercises. He says it's not bad enough for surgery. YET. And I quote. So I've decided to be a very good girl and do all the resting required of me because back surgery appeals to me NOT AT ALL.

However, I must record a slight complaint. The back pain is quite wretched, yes, but I could put up with it easily enough if it weren't for all the accompanying inconveniences. For example: I can't bend to dry my legs after a shower. I need assistance with underwear, pants, socks, shoes and getting out of the bathtub. If I drop something, I stare at it for a long while, pondering a painless way to retrieve said object, and then usually decide to live without said object. If I turn, bend, move, or even gesture in just the wrong way, pain shoots through my back and my face reflects it in this automatic grimace-face-thing that I can't control. So now I probably appear to have a twitch disorder. Lovely.

I guess the good thing is that lying around prone for hours at a time requires some form of entertainment for this restless mind. And I can tolerate only so much TV/movies, and I like to read books in chunks, not straight through in one sitting. And I've done every crossword in the house. So what's a laid-up girl supposed to do??? SUDOKU. Yes, I'm now addicted. I used to pooh-pooh the latest trend in brain games as "too numbery" for me -- I like to stick to letters and words, more my forte -- but I decided to give a puzzle a whirl and I finally solved my first one last night. Which is only going to feed this addiction, since I now feel capable of something numbery! Yee-haw! And in the interest of sharing (ie, trying to get others hooked on my latest craze), here's a website where you can generate a PDF of up to 4 puzzles on one page, print it off, snuggle in bed, and work your little grey cells!