One little bit of bad news I failed to mention: I may still (and after all) have sciatica. A couple of days before my release, I noticed a bit of an ache in my left hip and upper leg. I asked the doctor about it and he said during my initial testing he did notice some swelling in that hip and some nerve activity. The ache has gotten worse with each passing day, but it’s not constant. It’s just like the ache I had the first time I wondered if I had sciatica 6 years ago. It’s currrently presenting me with the most physical difficulty and discomfort of my recovery. Getting out of bed is the worst. The jury’s still out and any treatments are far in the future now. At least I can get comfortable and pain-free for sleep. And at least I’m sleeping next to San Geraldo.
I texted our plumber at 9 p.m. Wednesday about possibly installing hand-held shower heads. He came over Thursday morning, said he’d see what kind of options would be best. He went to three shops and two hours later he returned and asked me what I thought, and installed them. This guy is a treasure. I plan to take a real shower at home today.
I went for a walk around 8:30 last night. It wasn’t much. It hurt at times. But it felt so good to be outside. I walked as far as our Fountain (that is not a fountain) of Nations. It’s either a very shallow wading pool or large foot- or dog-bath. Total distance covered: 190 meters / 623 feet / one-tenth of a mile. I hope to double or even triple that today.
A couple of special events slipped right by. Dudo and Moose had their 12th birthday around 1 July. And, Wednesday, San Geraldo and I marked 12 years in Spain.
Una pequeña mala noticia que no mencioné: es posible que todavía (y después de todo) tenga ciática. Un par de días antes de mi liberación, noté un poco de dolor en la cadera izquierda y la parte superior de la pierna. Le pregunté al médico al respecto y me dijo que durante mi prueba inicial notó algo de hinchazón en esa cadera y cierta actividad nerviosa. El dolor ha empeorado con cada día que pasa, pero no es constante. Es como el dolor que tuve la primera vez que me pregunté si tendría ciática hace 6 años. Actualmente me presenta la mayor dificultad física e incomodidad de mi recuperación. Levantarse de la cama es lo peor. El jurado aún está deliberando y cualquier tratamiento está lejos en el futuro ahora. Al menos puedo dormir cómodo y sin dolor. Y por lo menos estoy durmiendo al lado de San Geraldo.
Le envié un mensaje de texto a nuestro plomero a las 9 p.m. el miércoles sobre la posibilidad de instalar cabezales de ducha de mano. Vino el jueves por la mañana y dijo que vería qué tipo de opciones serían las mejores. Fue a tres tiendas y dos horas después volvió y me preguntó qué pensaba, y las instaló. Este chico es un tesoro. Planeo darme una ducha de verdad en casa hoy.
Salí a caminar alrededor de las 20:30 anoche. No fue mucho. Dolía a veces. Pero se sentía tan bien estar afuera. Caminé hasta nuestra Fuente (que no es una fuente) de las Naciones. Es una piscina para niños muy poco profunda o un gran baño para perros o pies. Distancia total recorrida: 190 metros / 623 pies / 20 por ciento de un kilómetro. Espero duplicar o incluso triplicar eso hoy.
Pasaron un par de eventos especiales. Dudo y Moose cumplieron 12 años alrededor del 1 de julio. Y, el miércoles, San Geraldo y yo cumplimos 12 años en España.
• Quizá se debería cambiar el nombre de Fuente de las Naciones a Baño de Pies de las Naciones. Piscina Reflectante de las Naciones habría sido apropiado.
I can see that your beard is coming back! I was sorry to read that you might have sciatica after all. I know it must have felt great to get out and go for a walk. I remember when I had achilles tendon surgery 12 years ago, the first walk I took, though a feeble one, felt liberating. Your plumber sounds like a dream!
mcpersonalspace54:
Ouch! I’ve heard horror stories about Achilles tendon recovery. You’re a superhero. I trimmed around the edges of the stubble yesterday to give beard its framework. so, one week and it’s starting to look like a beard again.
The recovery took three long months. To this day I still feel numbness in my toes.
mcpersonalspace54:
Probably good that toe numbness is the only reminder. What an awful thing to have to experience.
It sure wasn’t fun. The surgeon told me that I’d never run again. Well, I’ve proved him wrong on that!
Bummer about the sciatica. “Footbath of Nations” made me smile!
Debra<. I'm tempted to make my own sign for the fountain but I know one of our tourist cams sees that spot
I’m sure all those nations are proud to be commemorated with such a magnificent water feature.
Glad to hear you’re on the mend, even if the pesky nerve business is still a problem. I’m sure when the surgery heals, it will get a lot better. Jx
Jon:
I don’t want to say it too loudly, but the sciatica eased a bit over the last 12 hours. Getting back to the gyn… in less than a month… will help. Upper body work makes a huge difference even at a basic level. That “fountain” is ridiculous. Fuengirola doesn’t have a great track record with public art.
Home and walking in a week, fantastic. J introduced me to hand held showers – 30 years ago. When we did the remodel we had rainfall shower head/handheld combos installed. I don’t know how we ever lived without them. Keep walking a little more at a time.
David:
We installed hand-helds and then had problems with leaks, so the plumber removed that component months ago. We didn’t know our plumber at the time and he didn’t like what we had installed. He added on completely independent ones that are excellent. Great shower yesterday! It is so hard to remember that I just spent only my third night at home, and only a week ago I was beginning my recovery. Patience.
It’s a slow process with the added nerve issue, so please be a patient patient (winks). My friend is ICE always has been and always satisfies me. LOL Short excursions and mindfulness is the answer. Thinking about so please heed my healing vibes from across the ocean.
Ron:
Ice does nothing for my sciatica. I’ll stick with your healing vibes.
Give it time…….I know, but in the meantime……hang in there.
Happy Kitties Find A Home Day!!
12 years in Spain!
Jim:
That was kitties’ birthday. We didn’t find each other until 10 months later.
Hand-held showers for the win! We short people appreciate them… but, they seem more convenient to me, in every way, since you can also hang them for a regular shower setup.
Happy celebrations of kitties and Spain years, and being home! and having Jerry, and walks!
Judy C:
I always think of you as tall. We should have gotten basic hand-held showers when we redid things. But we wanted to be fancy, so did kind of a large rain top and then a hand attachment down below. They weren’t as good as what you did and we had leaks that caused us to ask the plumber to remove them. Had he been our plumber at the time of our first installation, he never would have done them. So, now he installed separate units to the shower stem. It’s wonderul
That’s a bitch about the sciatica. Just take it one day at a time and keep on walking. When my husband had back surgery years ago, they told him that was the best thing he could do (along with some exercises they showed him).
Are Dudo and Moose littermates or was that just their “gotcha” date?
Kelly:
I’m not allowed any exercise for over 3 weeks more, but i do at least do some flexibility movements which feel great. Walking is so much harder than I though it would be. But it makes me happy. Dudo and Moose are littermates. That was their birth date. Sadly, they were in a sad shelter for 10 months before we found each other. I found them online. There were other more colorful and younger specimens, but they were so adorable and it broke my heart to think they were living in a miserable cage in a miserable shelter for all that time.
Oh no! Sorry about the sciatica! I was so happy to think you’d be rid of it for good after your surgery. Maybe it will subside once you’ve more fully recovered.
Here’s a weird coincidence — today is OUR 12th anniversary of moving to London! You arrived in Spain just a few days before we got here!
Steve:
Congatulations on your 12 years in London! So many funny coincidences in life. Sciatica has been improved in the past 12 hours (dare I say it aloud?). I didn’t need SG’s help getting out of bed this morning! That didn’t stop me from letting him make my breakfast, however.
Sorry to hear about the sciatica, but good on your for Baby’s First Post-op steps.
Happy Birthday to those two handsome boys, and to the cats, too, for their birthday!
Bob:
I need to get out in the sunshine but the heat and humidity hits hard. Thank god for the AC! The handsome boys and the cats thank you (oh blech).
All that and your beard is growing in already!!!!!
Mistress Borghese:
After my shower yesterday, I shaved around the edges of my stubble to give it definition. It’s looking more beard-line. Another week and I’ll like it.
Slow and steady wins the race…. Happy Birthday to Moose and Dudo! Are you (SG) making them a cat appropriate birthday cake? I bet they love wearing little party hats too, LOL!
Tundra Bunny:
But fast makes the race ends sooner. No cake for the cats. They wouldn’t approve of whatever SG made. Oh, yeah, they’d love party hats… and costumes.