ouch!

hidy ho, boys and girls! as you may have noticed, i've been MIA most of this month, and i owe it all to my herniated disc. yes, i have a herniated disc, and take it from me: it blows. not only does it hurt like a mofo - nothing like shooting pains down the outside of the left leg from the nerve the bulging disc is pinching! - but it takes about six to eight weeks to get better. can you believe that? couldn't i have managed to injure myself in a less time-consuming and debilitating way?

i'm at week three, so i'm looking at another three to four weeks of recovery time. what have i been doing? well, i missed most of the past two weeks of work and will soon be starting a short-term disability leave. i have become well-acquainted with the tried and true ice pack, and when i just can't stand it i take a painkiller, though i try not to unless i'm really dying because those things scare me. getting addicted to percocet is the last thing i need. the activity that kills most, besides walking, is sitting in chairs. kind of hard to go to work in an office and not sit on a chair for very long. i did try this past wednesday & thursday, just to see if i could hang in there or if i needed to take the leave, and thought i would die yesterday; instead i stayed home, iced, took pain pills and watched the boob tube. the best position in terms of avoiding pain, thus far, is laying down, flat on my back. sadly, it's not quite the same as "woo hoo - i'm getting lucky!" flat on my back - ugh, ugh, ugh.... and i had to cancel my much anticipated trip home. wah!!! that really sucked, though i was very happy all my friends got together for the dinner party that christie and david had generously volunteered to host (in my honor? that sounds too pretentious. how about in order for us all to get together and visit? i like that a lot better.)

i am trying to look on the bright side. first off, it's not like this is fatal, just a complete pain in the ass (almost literally). oh, that reminds me... drew was teasing me when i was feeling quite sorry for myself one day that maybe i'd need a buttectomy, which was really rather funny. my boss has been absolutely sensational, which just takes a load off my mind and makes me appreciate working for him even more. i can catch up on my knitting and reading and sleep, spend some time with the furry critters, and basically be shiftless - at least until i start physical therapy. the thing is, being shiftless is a whole lot more fun when you're able to go do things. i haven't gone with drew and zinger on walks in four weeks - easy - and forget the beach. it's only a ten minute walk away but that might as well be ten miles at the moment. i haven't been spending as much time with tommy as i'd like because that usually involves sitting on the floor in the garage with him, and that's just not so comfy. but the weather is starting to get nicer (the wisteria is starting to bloom!) so perhaps he & i & zinger can hang out on the deck.

worst case scenario i can always call my dad for an attitude adjustment, and re-visit the year i gave up self-pity for lent. it was pretty successful, and i've never gotten into feeling sorry for myself in quite the same way since. :)