A Wiggly Four Legged Distraction

Last Wednesday night I totally mucked up my back.  As is typical, I have no real clue what I did except for I had been feeling really great the past month and I am pretty darn sure that there was some overdoing it involved.  Since Wednesday night, I have been dealing with the pain and stiffness and trying to heal from whatever ridiculous thing happened.  I have also been feeling pissed and sad and frustrated but yesterday the most amazing distraction arrived. 

No, it can't cure my back problems. 

No, I didn't buy it off a late night infomercial. 

No, it is not just a boatload of Vicodin, a Diet Coke and a pile of dark chocolate (even though I have to say that all sounds pretty good right at the moment).

It IS a 12 pound, four-legged bundle of energy.

Meet our newest family member. 

Kevin and I were up in Beaver Creek for a long weekend and when we got home Monday afternoon, there was a call from Vizsla Rescue saying that had gotten in a male puppy.  He was taken by the state of Kansas from a hoarder.  Kevin and I drove an hour and a half north of our home yesterday afternoon to pick him up from his foster mom.  He is super sweet and his puppy dorkiness has been making us laugh pretty regularly since bringing him home.  The kids are totally over the moon about him and last night we all picked a name we liked, put the names in a hat, and drew one out.  Ethan's choice of Tucker won the draw.  Ella seems to like him alright so far and has already gotten him chasing her around the yard and wrestling in the house.  I have a feeling her lessons in counter-surfing and forbidden furniture sitting are next. 

A Pincushion Update

from here



On Tuesday last week, I tried acupuncture for the first time.  After having needles placed in my hand and back, it relieved some pain but made me horribly sore everywhere on Wednesday. 

On Friday, I went back for my second appointment.  The acupuncturist wanted to needle me, as he calls it, in my back again but I was nervous about that after Wednesday's soreness.  He said he could achieve the same effect needling only my hand and a spot between my nose and upper lip.  He said the spot in the face is a very powerful spot for back pain.  Despite being nervous about having a needle in my face, I thought that seemed better than having it near my nervy disc.  I agreed but told him that if I felt that needle on my teeth at ALL, he could expect see a grown woman running around the room yelling, "get it out! get it out!" over and over again. 

Duly warned, he went to work.  Before placing the needles, he felt around on my back asking about which areas hurt when touched.  Then he placed needles in my hand and the one in my face. 

While I sat there, he asked me about what my diet is like.  I described what types of foods I eat and then he pinched my upper arm and my waist and said, "your fat layer is not good".  He went on to say I need to eat more sweets and greasy foods to increase my fat layer.  That made me laugh especially since I got the sweets category covered and the term "fat layer" made me feel like I should be barking for fish and balancing a ball on my nose. 

After having the needles in about 15 minutes he felt around on my back again.  Before the needles, I had about 10 different areas near my spine where there was pain when touched after the needles being in, there were only 2 where I felt any pain.  So bizarre. 

After my appointment, I felt great and continued to feel great the rest of the day.  I felt normal and it was an amazing feeling to be free of any pain or discomfort. 

Sadly, by Saturday afternoon, pain and discomfort returned and I spent the weekend in a bit of a funk feeling like there is no hope for me escaping the pain that is my life in this body.  Kevin reminded me that my discomfort and pain returning does not mean it will always be there and I think I will certainly give the acupuncture a few more tries and see if that amazing freedom I felt Friday can be something that lasts longer.