Physio and Prolotherapy

It sure seems like these last few months have been spent in a doctor's office working on some part of my back. It is tiring. Every other week I either go for physio for my upper back and the alternate weeks I go for Prolotherapy. Both are helping but both make me cringe while I am going through the sessions. How does one's spine get so bad and so crooked ???

With physio the therapist hooks the TENS machine onto my back for about 30 minutes then manipulates it into place. Once there he binds it to hold. Last week he asked me what on earth I am doing that undoes everything he does. I told him I can't do anything as I am stuck in an upright position. But actually for that visit I had to take the bindings off for a week or so before my appointment as my back was burning and very itchy. When Keith took it off I had welts and rashes all underneath from an allergy I presume from the binding tape. Needless to say without the binding it did not take long to get bent over again. Sigh. But I did learn from him that Pepto Bismal is an actual antihistamine if taken topically!!! Who knew? So he covered my back with it and then bound it again. So far it has been working.

We had misplaced my TENS machine and had not been able to locate it. With all the people here over Christmas, it had not been put away properly and it went missing. We thought we had looked everywhere. The pain was getting out of control so Keith said bag it and went and spent the money on a new one. This was on Friday. Last night he calls from the bathroom and I go over to see what he wanted me to see... and there sitting in the basket in the ensuite was the base of the machine. We had both checked the bathrooms several times each and had not see it. Sigh. And of course I had used the new machine already so could not take it back.

The Prolotherapy also has been working except for this last session. Normally for a couple of days afterwards I am in extreme pain. Don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't call me or anything. I just curl up in a ball and try to not move. Then the pain eases and I have greater mobility and ability to function half way normal. But this last session the therapy has not worked. There is still great burning in my tailbone area and the leg/hip joint area is inflamed. And the doctor is away on holidays last week and this week so have not even been able to go back and get it checked.

So I just fumble around as best as I can and go from there. Then to make matters worse, last week Keith had a meeting with his boss concerning the new contract coming up and he was told that effective the end of this month we were going to lose our extended health benefits. Things have been tight in the construction world for the last year as the city would not allow any new commercial construction to happen until after the Olympics and that means both of them. So they have just been doing renos but there is no money in that. They have had to lay off all of their labourers making the Superintendents do all the work. Keith was expecting that he was going to be told he was going to either get laid off or get a cut in pay but those didn't happen so that's good. But they are letting go of their benefits. Which for us means we now will have to dish out about 1200.00 a month on medications and therapies. Not good.

I do miss my wages let me tell you.