Where does the time go?....

It's been quite a while since I've posted. I am in "hopes" September will start slowing down for me. This has been one very busy summer for me. It's still quite busy. Not a day goes by I don't think of beading. It's an addiction, an obsession... you name it it is! I wake up thinking of my work and hope that I can get at least a good couple of hours to just bead. I go to bed pretty much discouraged that I haven't had time set aside to bead. It's been like that all summer long. School out here started early in August... so I have to pick up my daughter at noon, then have to bring my oldest to work and pick her up... this goes on every day. Sunday my husband will usually take our oldest to work which is a nice break for me. Today was the very first day I have been able to truly stay home and not worry about appointments, schedules, etc. I was unbelievably tired today and couldn't just wake up. I woke up but kept dozing off... the entire day was like that. All the running around catches up to me very easily. It's no fun to constantly be worn out from such every day mundane things... There are times when I do get frustrated with this wicked disease. I just cannot allow myself to stay frustrated for long. Life goes on and so do we all. So that's that!

Nicole had her MRI over a week ago and on Thursday the results came in. She has a herniated disk at L5, S1. Rather than going into surgery which frightens me a great deal for her.... she had a steroid injection in the region on Friday. I was not allowed in the room because of the X-Ray and I saw that it was a small room. I watched the entire procedure from a window.... I just felt so bad for her and wished I could take her place so she wouldn't have to deal with the pain that she has been going through since her accident. (She fell down where there was a spillage... she and her friends didn't see it and she fell... the following week she went to work and lifted a 40 lb bag that instantly threw her back out and from that moment onward she has had nothing but pain and several doctors giving her pills after pills)... She absolutely detests pills, alcohol, of any kind. The pills did nothing to calm the pain down. She ended up trying a knee brace which helped. The moment she would remove the brace, she would have a lot of pain. She felt more comfortable with a lot of pressure on her leg.
Kiersten used to go out with a very nice young gentleman whose father is a very well known Orthopedic. We are good friends with the family... so we stopped by his private practice and he doesn't do muscle/nerve related issues.... he gave us a referral to a physician who works only on muscle/nerve related issues.... I never heard of such a doctor... he's a physiatrist (fizz ee at' trist).... Physical medicine & rehabilitation (PM&R) physicians or physiatrists are specialists in diagnosing and treating problems of the musculoskeletal system. They are able to find the source of your pain, injury, or disability, even when standard diagnostic tests don't reveal specific problems.
We were extremely relieved when we saw the MRI results. It was very clear a few of her discs are kaput and the one is herniated. When she had her injection on Friday, she received the photo of the actual needle in (I guess) her herniated disc. If she is feeling better by Wednesday and can walk normally, then she won't need another treatment this coming up Friday. The doctor does only upwards of three injections and no more than that. The only other solution if the injection doesn't do what it should hopefully do, then surgery is the last resort. I'm hoping that will not be necessary.
So there have been a lot of running around for tests, etc. We'll see by the 3rd week of September how things are with her. I just feel really bad for her. I cannot imagine any parent watching their child in pain. That is the worse thing ever.
I will try to scan her MRI results and see if it will show up on the computer... if it shows up, I'll post it during the week. I will also scan the picture she was given when the needle was being injected into her herniated disc. The needle was 7" or 180mm! That's one very large needle! The thought that went through my mind was crike that thing is huge... but I didn't know that the needle could literally go in as far as it went in... there was oh I would have to say at least 20 to 25mm of the needle sticking out... I guess our spine is not right where we touch it but further in... probably in the middle of the back and stomach... It was interesting to watch though. I just don't have the stomach for cutting skin. I love helping people but the part of opening up their skin, tugging, pulling, etc... that can be left for those who have no problems with that!
I'll keep you all posted as to how Nicole is doing over the next few weeks.