It's been quite some time since I posted and I totally forgot about my blog for awhile...funny, since I have so much free time that is spent sitting online (aka Facebook). For an update:

Got my spinal injections last Monday. Was quite sore that day because she stuck me four times with the needles instead of twice. Normally she has me lay on my stomach on the operating table and puts this thing that looks like a HUGE crocheting needle on my spine. It's some type of x-ray camera and when she lays it on my back I can look up at the monitor in front of me and see my spine! It's like a live x-ray--very cool! Next she cleans my back off with alcohol and then she takes a permanent marker and dots where she wants to insert the numbing needle on the right side of my spine (around the L5 area). Then she sticks me with the numbing needle. It honestly doesn't hurt and feels the same as if you were to take a safety pin and just poke your arm. She leaves that needle in there and then injections the numbing medicine. I don't know if it's a syringe with the needle attached or how she shoot it in there. But after that goes in she injects the actual medicine. The only part I can really feel is the numbing medicine go in because it feels like it's hitting a bone and the feeling of the bone being hit is like when you hit your funny bone. Kinda funky. Then she repeats the whole procedure on the left side of my L5.

Now usually this is how it goes. But this past time she was putting it in a new area of my back (to see if it would work better than previous injection sites) and the numbing needle ended up in a very tight muscle both times she did it on each side. I could still feel it even after she numbed it so she had to remove it and start all over again. So needless to say, I was a tad bit sorer this time and I still have the bruises.

So Monday was spent lying down all day, sleeping, and icing my back on and off every hour. The steroid pack gave me awful headaches and made me very tired. Tuesday consisted of driving 30 min. to and from the dentist (which was not helpful on my healing back) and more resting/sleeping. Wednesday I had to go to two classes but luckily after I finished my Accounting II exam in my evening class I got to go home. The teacher was still going to teach a lesson after the exam but I couldn't sit there any longer than the 60 minutes it took to take the exam. Thursday I was feeling better and getting very antsy from not working out since Sunday so I hoped on the treadmill for 50 minutes. I cranked it up to the highest incline and walked at a pretty decent pace for 50 minutes. Friday I rested and drove out to my dad's office to catch up on some computer work that I do there. I was able to sit for roughly 3 hours and was just about pain free! Saturday I had a massage schedule and it really helped with loosing me up and she worked specifically on my glutes to help the siatica pain.

Sunday ended my rest week and I got in a good Tae Bo session. Today was another Tae Bo workout. So far the past two days I've been about 90% better than before the injections. I was a little sore today while lying in bed this evening but nothing like the normal pain I was having. Tomorrow will really be a test because I'm working at the office for 4 hours which consists of mostly sitting.

Now for a "diet" update: I knew I was going to do Lent this year and was going to vow to "give up" all those little nibbles I have during the day that sometimes turn into bigger nibbles. So last Monday and Tuesday was kinda rough since I knew come Wednesday I'd be saying "buh bye" to those foods. I do feel I have much more control over what I am eating and resisting my cravings now that I'm focusing that energy on religion. I don't know if that really makes sense...what my goal is for Lent is to channel my cravings and temptations into time spent with Jesus. When I get those temptations and think about how hard it is to give those things up, I realize what Jesus gave up for me and how tempted He must have been to run and not be crucified. I am also getting daily email devotionals which help me focus on a certain topic for each day.

Now I'm going to make myself look like a hypocrit and tell you about today....I've been dealing with some serious GI issues the past three weeks. Every afternoon I've been blowing up like a balloon and look 5 months preggers and I cannot figure out why. I feel very heavy and full yet I don't have to go to the bathroom (sorry if TMI but I'm trying to figure this out). Today was by far one of the worst days. My gut feels hard and sometimes hurts. I haven't changed anything in my diet to cause this. And the fact that this has been going on for three weeks helps me rule out PMS. So today after I ate my pre-training meal and the bloat got really bad, I felt so awful that I decided to just spend the rest of the afternoon laying in bed watching TV. It hasn't gotten any better and still kinda hurts. I know it's not constipation because I'm going my normal amount.

I went through something like this where I wasn't going at all for days on end in 2004 but after I went through tests and saw an IBS specialist, we concluded that the IBS-like symptoms I was having were from a vasospasim medicine I was on! It mocked IBS symptoms! How crazy is that!? I'm not on any meds now besides my normal acetomenophen with codeine which I've been taking for 2 years. So I'm at a loss of what is going on right now but it's very uncomfortable and it restricts me from wearing anything form fitting.

So that's a wrap up of what's been going on. I'll try my best to update more often :o)