BACKlog: 10:12 AM 11/11/05

10:12 AM 11/11/05
I meant to go back to bed ... instead sat down in front of the computer. Hope I can get going on this, perhaps my last nice day, for outside work.

I had taken four aspirins and rubbed some liniment on my lower back. Just sitting here, it has maybe helped, because now the main area of severe discomfort has moved to my lower ribs ... which are really bothering me now.

6:12 PM 11/11/05
Here I am ... not feeling as much pain as I'd thought ... been taking aspirins four at a time all day. Supper is cooking. I have yesterday's dishes soaking; the water is cold now. I'm not sure I'll be able to do the dishes. Usually when I sit or lie down ... I cannot get back up for hours.

2:12 AM 11/14/05
The last time I woke up ... the pain across my lower ribs was just awful; this time my whole back is just extremely stiff & sore. I had slept soundly; I hope to get back to sleep now. I had more aspirins, and some Aleve.

11:56 PM 11/16/05
     Yesterday was awful; I ruined my back several times ... had to give up and take to to sofa several times. We had a foot of snow and I had to clear off front and back steps ... plus do some more things because it had snowed a foot, but things were not frozen down.
     I never did get started on shoveling at least the snowbank at the end of the driveway so that it wouldn't freeze into an ice wall.
     Needless to say, I had many doses of four aspirins at a time ... plus a few drinks to try to keep my back loosened.

11:26 AM 11/17/05
My back isn't too bad so far today; I have to go try a little snow shoveling .... some aspirins FIRST!

7:17 AM 11/18/05
     IF ... STRESS is a contributory factor to back pain ... I am doomed. The hard-drive on my cmputer crashed; I have lost thousands of photos, as well as much stored data that must be replicated ... some that cannot.   I am using my elderly laptop as a substitute ... is is soooooo sloooow that it literally makes me scream.
     BUT, COMPUTER is so far down on my list of things to be concerned about ......
     I have been doing my exit strategy ... eg. opening my driveway so that I may EXIT ... on the installment plan. In a few more days, I may be able to get out!
    STRESS: these cute little kittens are driving me mad with their exuberance, need for attention and FOOD ... and I need to find new homes for them. BUT ... IF I CANNOT GET OUT .... NOBODY CA N GET IN! I have to shovel my way out to the road!
    I slept fairly well last nite ... in between trying to find a comfortable position for my back ....
    When my back hurts ... the WORST is when it hurts even when I'm lying or sitting. The reality phase comes when I try to get up and actually do something!
     THEREFORE ... when my back hurts thru the nite, it is serious! I have decided to forego the coffee this am ... and had four asprins and liberal doses of liniment, external & internal ... I am starting out slow by sitting at the computer ... hopefully relieving some stress by setting up this old laptop to accept my printer, camera, scanner ... etc. All of which will probably make it sllllllloooowwwerrr than ever!

1:24 PM 11/18/05
After being awake a lot in the middle of the night ... I slept like a log until NOW! I usually never sleep this long! My back is happier now than it was last evening when I couldn't walk or sit or lie without pain.
The problem is that I still must do some sort of shoveling today. Hiring someone to remove the snow is not in the budget!

6:57 AM 11/19/05
I had another good nite's sleep; no bad pains, except when I try to bend over or move around much. I'll just go thru the usual loosening up phase.
I MUST GET THE DRIVEWAY SHOVELED WELL ENOUGH TO GET OUT TODAY!

10:43 AM 11/19/05
I took some aspirins, been mostly sitting ... I feel ambitious ... will try to get something done!

6:20 AM 11/20/05
I give up trying to sleep; I've slept off & on thru the nite. My back had enough of an ache to keep me rolling around, trying to get comfortable. Then, I tried to force myself to get up and finish my dish washing that I had only started last nite .... DIDN'T.
I am sitting at the computer to have a change of position ... probably will stay up ... short of sleep again. I had some aspirins thru the nite ... should take some more.

12:00 PM 11/22/05
I had finished shoveling the last of my driveway ... just pushing the scoop ... not using a shovel ... I did a little each day.

     My back sure hated that, and made me suffer. For the past two days, I have spent a large part of each day on a sitting-down project I had ... and ... that made my back hurt as much or more than the snow removal!
    The worst pain was/is across my lower back ... my lower ribs are very stiff & sore. I've been taking aspirins, falling asleep early, getting up VERY early ...
    My housecleaning is SO FAR BEHIND! When I was working, and hurting, I could hire someone to help me here