I’m probably more tired and sore than when I did my first marathon back in 1979. It was certainly a humbling experience, finishing a distant last of about 500 participants in today’s Atlanta Braves Tomahawk 5k. I earned my third medal in the 6th year of its existence, crossing the ballpark finish line in about 65 minutes. I was in last place from beginning to end, dragging my bum leg in the chilly conditions. Even the strollers and kids were faster! It was both uncomfortable and embarrassing with both a police vehicle and golf cart at my heels. Race officials were dissembling the course as I passed and, in some cases, just before I got there. It was annoying having these volunteers pushing me along, but they were anxious to get home. Although tempted to jog, I simply couldn’t go any faster.
It was as slow as I’ve run any race in my life, and I’ve done hundreds. It was also the longest I’ve walked since heart surgery at the beginning of the year. I strongly considered not doing it, but it’s been a Holiday tradition since we moved to Florida nearly four years ago. We were traveling the one year that I missed it, so determination earned my third medallion. I started the day keeping warm in the car of two friends, who won their 80 and 85+ age-groups. They left me in the dust, but I joined them for the awards ceremony after the included celebration breakfast. There was no award for finishing last, but I’ve never won my age division since a winter race in my early thirties when no one else showed up. Even at a healthy 72, I couldn’t compete with my peers on a good day.
This year it was just a stubborn matter of finishing despite nagging sciatica and back pain. I do get another steroid injection in a few days, but these procedures have done little to reduce my discomfort and stiffness. I can’t say that I was in constant pain throughout the 5k, but it was not easy being a gimp. I have a high tolerance at this point, but it was still difficult to move. The good news is that if I do it again next year, I may be faster, but it will be another year before I get into the 75+ division, if that even helps. I keep trying to increase my speed and mileage but there always seems to be a setback. I’ll start training for next year after my upcoming procedure. Chop! Chop!
It’s December already and snowbirds have returned to the neighborhood, only to disappear again for the Holidays. We aren’t scheduled to leave again until the end of February. It’s been a year of frustration following open heart, cataract, and prostrate surgeries along with steroid treatments for sciatica pain. It reminds me of the lyrics, “One thing leads to another” by The Fixx, although the song has nothing to do with my trials and tribulations. It’s just that the leg pain would not be there if it weren’t for the surgical procedures. I would certainly like to go back to when I was running every day, earlier this year.
The annual Tomahawk 5k is coming up next weekend and I’m not sure I’ll be able to even walk that short distance that was once an easy run. The last steroid treatment has left me with a permanent Charlie Horse in my left thigh. Hot and cold applications haven’t worked. I now limp along in discomfort from a procedure that was supposed to eliminate my pain. Instead, it seems to have aggravated the issue. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the doctor’s office has been closed, so I will have to wait to get guidance. I’m once again, back to being “The Gimp.”
I can still ride the stationary bicycle, but the rest of my fitness regimen is on hold. Putting weight on the leg is painful, so walking and lifting are not possible. It’s not helping me shed the pounds from all the Holiday temptations, compounding my problem. I’ve got to somehow lose ten pounds despite my limited mobility. I had recently started to regularly walk to the fitness center prior to this set back, but even the treadmill is now uncomfortable. Being active has been an essential part of my daily life, but I’m limited in what I can do. One thing leads to another.
I felt like I was in a Monopoly game yesterday and drew a Chance card that read, Go Back Three Spaces.” I woke up this morning after a restless night’s sleep to some dizziness and weight gainj. By fasting for the injection procedure, I obviously threw off my medication schedule. It was particularly noticeable in the shakiness of my hands. We also stopped at Arby’s after the surgery center so I could gorge myself on a celebratory Janocha Shake. Although, there wasn’t much to cheer about, and it only led to an unsettled stomach that added to the tossing and turning.
The cramp-like symptoms returned to my left leg and left me hobbled. Nurses helped me to the bathroom and car, but ice packs and rest did not resolve the pain. In fact, after leaning on my poor wife too many times for assistance, I had her bring “Sky Walker” out of retirement to get me around the house. She took over all the dog duties while I sat on my butt, ate more junk, and watched Yellowstone, Landman, Curse of Oak Island, and The Unbelievable. I’ll continue today with Gold Rush, Shrinking, and Before. We then have Thanksgiving dinner plans with my son and his family.
The good news is that I didn’t really need the walker this morning but there’s still a certain tightness/soreness in my leg and lower back. It can take up to three days for the steroids to work, although it has been known to provide immediate relief in some people. That is not the case for me, as I deal with the frustration of going back in time about eight months, following my open-heart surgery in January. The sciatica issues came on slowly after starting with these Charlie Horse-like cramps in my left calf and thigh. It has never affected my right side. At first, they thought it might be related to circulation, but MRI and Ultrasound tests have proven otherwise. Steroid tablets did not do the trick, but the first round of injections brought relief. The second round has hopefully only temporarily set me back.
On a humorous note, a friend sent a cartoon yesterday, with a family of generous pigs visiting a heart valve patient like me. It made me smile, with thoughts of the College World Series and the obnoxious Razorbacks with endless chants of soooooey! I woke up from being sedated to watching the I.U basketball team go down in flames. Unfortunately, it did not turn out to be a bad dream. They have a chance today to redeem themselves in the Bahamas, but the loss left an ugly scar on Coach Woodson’s team, who sadly took a step back in time, just like me. They too, may need an operation!
While hyped a bit on ‘roids, I also sent out a photo of the “No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)” album done by the T-Bones back in 1964. It was available on E-Bay, while my copy is long lost. My dad brought it home from a recording session in NYC where he worked with the agency who produced this promotional piece for Alka-Seltzer. It featured the jingle, “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh What A Relief It Is.” It’s as appropriate for Thanksgiving as Alice’s Restaurant, two of my favorite Holiday songs. This will soon be followed by the movies “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” along with “Christmas Vacation,” to get me in the Holiday Spirit and well distracted from this disturbing “Step Back.”
We are home for the holidays, with no plans for travel. Thanksgiving dinner will be at my son’s house and Christmas will likely be here. By that time, they will all be living in Plantation, Florida, with the exception of my grandson who will be with his mother in nearby Sarasota. We’re not expecting my wife’s daughters to visit until early January, so our next excursion won’t be until mid-month when we go to Orlando, and then we have house guests on-and-off through March, with a weekend in Key West. The world travelers are grounded for once – no long drives, flights, or cruises are planned. More importantly, no surgeries scheduled.
We’ll be stuck in our resort center for once, certainly as good as any Marriott Vacation Club. My Chair Yoga class will expand to two days a week, while my wife has already added an extra evening of tap. She will continue to teach school when they need help and maybe I’ll find a part-time gig. Her gardening, bridge, and aqua-fit activities will hopefully keep her mind off travel for a while. I’ve had enough of suitcases, delays, and tours, so I won’t miss being on the road. We need to take advantage of what we have here.
I’m beginning to heal after a long year of aches and pains. Being home is exactly what the doctor ordered. Maybe next year, I’ll feel differently, but this year I’m home for the holidays, extending to the next holidays.
I continue to enjoy the first pain-free week of this year, with just a touch of stiffness in my lower back. Chair Yoga was much more tolerable, although many of the poses are still not possible with my lack of flexibility. Hopefully, the additional injections next week in my lower back will be equally effective as those for my sciatica. I’m also encouraged that the Primidone prescription is reducing the shakiness and clumsiness in my hands. The keyboard isn’t as much of a challenge for my fingers this morning and I can use normal kitchen utensils, rather than the heavier ones, again when eating. The neurologist says that he will continue to slowly increase my dosage, providing that drowsiness, dizziness, or other side effects don’t affect me. My life is gradually turning normal and I’m thankful.
It’s that time of year – Thanksgiving – and next week the Johnston family will be back together again. My grandson has been accepted to technical school and my son will soon be moving to the east coast of Florida to rejoin his wife and two daughters. This year’s meal will be the last time that all of us will be in place for a while. He’ll be changing jobs and renting out their home in the process. My daughter-in-law is in optometry school over there and has an apartment. They tried to make it work it two different cities, but it’s good that they are joining forces to raise the kids. Part of the difficulty has been my son’s son, who lives every other week with his mother in Sarasota, and commutes by bus to high school. With his graduation and a long overdue driver’s license, he may be moving to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to live with his grandmother, my ex-wife. It’s complicated!
By the time Turkey Day arrives this may all change. One thing that never changes is that IU will be playing Purdue that weekend in the annual Bucket Game. The Hoosiers are a heavy favorite and may even be a national title contender. The Ohio State game this weekend will determine if playing for the Old Oaken Bucket is just another game or a battle for the unimaginable undefeated season, with more to come. More importantly, will these additional steroid injections finally get me back to thinking about running again? It will be an eventful Thanksgiving weekend for both the Johnston family and the Hoosiers.
It’s now been a full month since prostrate surgery, while ten months have passed since open heart. I feel pretty good lately thanks to the epidural injections I got last week to relieve the sciatica pain. My lower back is still very stiff and sore, but more shots next week should ease that discomfort, if only temporarily. I continue to go to the fitness center, hoping to take some weight off, especially after last week’s food and drink splurges. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, despite a very early start since my wife had jury duty. A good day for me was not so good for her.
My weekend football fortunes were not so good, thankfully the Hoosiers had an off week. Da’ Bears suffered yet another heartbreaking loss, so I hope that this misfortune doesn’t extend into the upcoming Ohio State game. The Buckeyes are twelve-and-a-half point favorites, another slap in the face by the experts during this undefeated season of doubt. The pessimist in me can’t see a victory and potential battle of the unbeatens against Oregon for the BIG championship, let alone a national playoff spot. Basketball was at least a bright spot for both the IU men’s and women’s teams. I’m much more accustomed to winning in basketball than football.
I’ve felt much more like socializing, making phone calls, and enjoying the sunshine this past week. I’m starting to put this difficult year of recovery behind me. I’m convinced that some of my back issues are related to not being able to move forward. It’s time to do so and relish yet another good day.
After some frustration yesterday about injection ineffectiveness and unrelated computer hackers, I found it to be a new and brighter day. Following months of waiting and delayed appointments, I finally got my chance to get some relief from my sciatica (Lumbar Radiculopathy) pain through Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injections at the Ramos Center. It was not immediate, as several friends had suggested, so I was sore and wary by the end of the day. This was coupled with a hacking issue on my computer from someone claiming to be a Microsoft representative. I spent about an hour with her on the phone after googling her profile, as requested. Her name was supposedly Kathy Williams, with a thick Indian accent, that made me even more suspicious. We agreed to talk again today, but after consulting a friend, we removed a “security” lock on my screen and shut down my computer. I bought a VPN service called Surfshark and will stay off my laptop for a few days. This is why I originally wrote this my phone to transfer to the blog.
The steroid injections made me a hyper (like speed), with a bit of an upset stomach, so sleep was sporadic. My wife had just gotten back from a west coast flight, and she was also restless in the middle of the night. I was worried about retirement finances, leg/back pain, and identity theft. It’s no wonder my blood pressure has been running high these past few weeks. Drinking with the boys failed to relieve this stress, despite a few hours of medicated enjoyment.
This morning my leg pain was gone, and I felt like walking to the fitness center and back. My paranoia over being hacked was also eased, and my blood pressure was back to normal. I go back for more injections in two weeks that will be more focused on my lower back, the other source of discomfort. I can’t imagine how much better I will feel, at least temporarily. It’s a New Day!
There was a strange vibe in the air this morning. The dogs were not barking like maniacs, even in the presence of the big dogs down the street. In checking Facebook, Trump has apparently won the election, and the once-dreaded neighborhood bully of my childhood passed away. I wasn’t sure how to digest either of these developments, while waiting for the “third” hammer to fall. I’m not happy about the prospect of soon having another eighty-year-old in the White House, but I knew that sexist America was probably still not ready for a woman president.
The death of another Elkhart classmate was more disturbing than who won the presidency, by far. He was a mean kid, who taunted me, tried to steal my “girlfriend,” and gave me the nickname, “Smiley.” I probably haven’t seen him in over sixty-years, but the mention of his name on Facebook always stirred up unpleasant memories of the smirk on his face. These days, I would never wish death on anyone, but I sometimes felt that way about him as a young child. We went to the same grade school, and summer camp so I always felt uncomfortable in his presence. He wasn’t a big guy, so there was never any physical intimidation, but his words sure hurt. He had also moved away from town for a number of years.
I clearly remember an incident at the local movie theatre where he and his buddies ganged up on me and began to tease me about my smile, “a shit-eating grin” they called it, wondering what I was hiding? They made grotesque faces, mocking my expressions. I sometimes wonder if maybe they thought I was making fun of them? It made me very self-conscious, because I tend to laugh and smile more when I’m ill at ease, and the awkward experience somehow managed to make me hate what should have been a beloved trademark smile.
I should have embraced being called “Smiley,” but instead it made me angry. It was an early case of stolen identity, long before internet theft. Before I knew it, my real name was lost, and everyone called me by the nickname, unrecognizable if I used the name, “Mike.” They weren’t all making fun of me, in fact some thought “Smiley” actually was my last name. Even at reunions many years later, my name tag read “Smiley.” Mike no longer existed and identifying myself in a phone call was awkward unless I stooped to using the moniker. Instead, I just avoided using the phone.
I eventually named our dog, “Smiley,” as a diversion, so the name lived on. Now, the bully who first called me by that name is gone, probably never realizing how much he changed my life. Just recently, someone asked if “Smiley” was coming to our 55th high school reunion? I couldn’t attend, but if I had, I would have played along and smiled like it never bothered me. However, there’s still a strange vibe when I recall the circumstances, with sincere wishes that the perpetrator rests in peace.
I drove up to Tampa yesterday, stopping in Brandon to pick up more tiles for the fireplace, and at several restrooms along the way. The hernia specialist said that surgery was not necessary, but I was glad it was officially in the records as a follow-up to my heart surgery. The abdominal lump is apparently common when they weaken the muscles by cutting into the chest cavity. It formed at the bottom of my incision, adding to the deformity, but causing no real harm. If it grows larger or causes any discomfort, then we will revisit the issue.
I’m relieved that there is currently no surgery in my future, but there’s still the issue of sciatica, another by-product of the heart procedure. The back brace certainly helps, but I’m still at least a week away from getting the steroid injections. In the meantime, I continue to be non-productive, although the weight-limit restrictions on lifting from the prostate surgery have lessened. I did manage to do laundry, take out the trash, and store a few more Halloween decorations. I’m waiting for the window washer and tile guy to come this morning before I can take the dogs to the park. There is also a crack in the ceiling to repair, florescent bulbs to replace in the pantry, and something stuck in the outdoor kitchen vent. Most of these projects require a ladder, so I may try to pawn them off. I also have a birthday call to make. Just more of doing nothing, while being busy thinking about it.
I’m having a good hand day. The shakiness and lack of coordination seems better. I see the neurologist tomorrow afternoon to maybe make some adjustments to the medication. Fortunately, it’s nothing serious. The screen repair guy also comes tomorrow morning, as all the election results slowly filter in. I may need to install armor rather than screens. It seems like the decision comes down to those voting for or against Trump. I voted early, so my decision has been made, and it will be a relief to get all the political ads off the air, so we can focus more on Medicare enrollment options.
My wife leaves for San Francisco this weekend, so it will be just me and the dogs for a few days, as I continue my busyness doing nothing. Before she flies out, we have lunch with one of her old college pals and her husband. I will then be driving her to and from the Sarasota airport between dog outings. The pups get to go to Schnauzerville on Saturday to be groomed. I’ll go to the baseball card shop while I’m waiting for them to get finished, and will finalize plans for a few drinks with a neighbor, as a weekend bachelor. Watching sports on TV will, of course, occupy my busy schedule while I do nothing!
After the failed attempt of trying out the calf device to relieve my sciatica pain, I bought an inexpensive Sparthos back brace. It already seems to have helped, providing lumbar support when I sit and easing the discomfort when the dogs need to go out in the morning. I purchased it just in case today’s appointment with the pain management doctor gets cancelled again. An injection is supposed to generate immediate relief, so this brace is my back-up plan, after months of suffering. It’s taken over a month to finally see this doctor. I can only hope it’s not delayed further.
Once I finally get moving in the morning, the pain usually goes away until later in the evening if I don’t have proper back support. Watching TV on the couch seems to aggravate the nerve. It didn’t happen last night – thanks to this brace. I then keep my left leg stretched out when I sleep to minimize the morning stiffness, but still struggled a bit until I put on this brace. It did not relieve all of the pain but made walking bearable. I’m wearing it now while I write but will take it off to go to the fitness center later. I’m not supposed to wear it more than three hours at a time, and usually by mid-morning I won’t need it.
The pain has made me into a grumpy old man, reluctant to do much of anything. It’s even hard to focus on reading or watching TV. I did go to yesterday’s chair yoga class and continue to see the chiropractor. Audio books are a helpful distraction, especially when I’m walking on the treadmill. It’s the only exercise I’m allowed to do after prostrate surgery, as if I’m up to a strenuous workout with this sciatica issue. It definitely originates in my lower spine, shoots down my left leg, and feels like an Achillies injury. It can also take the form of a cramp in my calf. This is why I thought the pressure device might initially work – it had for others who recommended it. It only seemed to aggravate, so I traded it in for the back brace.
