The Wall

  Last night we went Christmas caroling with the church.  Well not all of we.  Yvette didn't go.  She couldn't get in and out of the car fast enough for caroling. So she stayed at the church and was going to wrap a couple of presents for Dirty Santa 🎅. 

   I didn't really feel like caroling. Physically, anyway.   I was hurting from doing a little work on the farm Friday. And doing my cleaning Saturday. My back/leg/hip whatever was hurting when we were ringing the bells during church. So really,  I just wasn't feeling it. 

   But I wanted to go, kinda.  Gabe was going. Zara was going.  Brayden was going.  J was with Zara so he was going.  But really,  Yvette wasn't going, and the whole thing with her knee/spacer/ everything has me mentally kinda down. 

   I was thinking about some past times Christmas caroling. One year,  I think we got everybody in 2 cars, and no one was crowded. Maybe I started thinking about all the people that we used to sing with,  who became the people we sang TO.  Now they're not here for us to sing to anymore.  

    But like I said, physically,  I just wasn't feeling it from the start.  And then we had to walk a mile to sing at the 3rd house (I think). Okay,  maybe not a mile,  but further than my body felt like walking even with a cane. Now I'm REALLY not feeling like it physically. 😕 Then we sing 3 songs.  2 'church' Christmas songs then Jingle Bells. Then close with we wish you a Merry Christmas. Walking back to the car,  I can feel my knee starting to grind. 

   We get to the next house and someone suggested that I park closer than what I started to.  I made it through singing there,  drive down to the next house.  Everybody else walked.  But they didn't come to the door. 

   Then we sang to a random stranger who may just have been outside to smoke a cigarette.  So that helped me feel like the pain might have been worth it. We drive a little to get to the next house,  but they weren't home.  

   We got to what I thought was the last house and sang there.  I sat down to sing there. We head back to the church and oh yeah, one more house.  

   I started to not even stop. But I drove up the drive, get out of the car and luckily they had a covered patio,  so I could lean on one of the posts.  We sang the first song 🎵, annnnnddd the person stops us. Tells us how much they appreciate us,  our church,  our prayers.  How glad they are that we came caroling to their house.  

   Okay,  that was kinda like getting hit in the head with a brick.  Reminding me why we go caroling.  

And after we made it back to church and started having our snacks and desserts and opening presents.  Bam.

   .

   That's when I hit the wall.  Physically.  Mentally.  Emotionally.  My body was still hurting.  I was still thinking about my wife's procedure scheduled for Monday.  And now I feel like an emotional wreck because I was letting that get in the way of what we had been doing.  It's not for us,  it's for them. 

   And my body decided to shut down. Go to sleep.  Played Dirty Santa, don't have a clue what I wound up with.  

   My son drove us home and I slept most of the way.  Got home,  started my wife's medicine and went to bed.  Didn't sleep well,  but woke up at 7 refreshed enough to drive to Memphis for my wife's procedure. That didn't turn out exactly how we hoped, but that's a different post. 

  

    

  

   

   9

Its A small World 🌎🌍

 Dad do you know a Jamie Finch?

I met a guy today at work and who had an Ole Miss shirt on and he was from Gibson County , Dyer to be exact and he's your age.  

   I got this text from my son, Caleb. He lives in Washington, D.C. 

  I do remember a guy named Jamie  Finch. He was a grade or two ahead of me at GCHS. He was from Dyer. 

   But that's not really what made me think about the small 🌎.  

   Caleb, born and raised in Texas now lives in D.C. and happened to meet someone that I was in high school with.

   

   That's Charles & Carolyn Finch(12 years ago) they're my Uncle and Aunt. That would make them Caleb's great uncle and great aunt.

   Charles and Carolyn Finch are also Jamie Finch's great uncle and great aunt. 

   Mind 💣. 

   

It's a Procedure ( part deux)

   Having determined beyond all reasonable doubt that I was suffering from neuropathy, the 4th doctor released me to the care of my PCP. They didn't tell me they were releasing me, they just told me I had bilateral neuropathy. 

   I called my PCP  to get an appointment and asked her if the neuropathy could be causing the pain going down my legs towards my feet which are basically numb to sensation. Her answer was no didn't they tell you anything about that? 

   I successfully refrained from telling her that if they had answered that question, I wouldn't be asking her, and just said no. So she referred me to the doctor she had referred me to the first time (who I had already told about the pain going down my leg) I had described it as a pain in my hip that went down my leg.

   I went on to see her and for her again about the pain in my hip that went down my leg.describing where the pain was for her.

   She took an xray of my hip and when she01008434 Ogura came in to talk to me she asked me again about my pain.  So I described the pain to her again exactly like I did the first time and she told me, that's not your hip, that's your lower back.

If that is my lower back. Wasn't it my lower back the first time I told her about the pain 2 months ago? And what about when I told her 20 minutes ago? And why do nurses always tell me they need a hip when they want to give you a shot in your buttocks?

  So they take me in the little room and take a few more x-rays. Then she comes back in....sits down on her little stool....looks over her glasses and tells me, "Your lower back is a mess."

   I said "Great, what can we do about it?

   She told me we were going to go to physical therapy for 6 weeks and that should set it right. So now, only 4 months after I had first told her about the pain that went down my legs, we are going to try to fix it!  (I thoight I had told her, maybe I hadn't)

.  another xray and look at somet

It's a Procedure (part 1)

    That's what I had.

A procedure. It used to be called outpatient surgery. But now it's just a procedure. 

   A Vertiflex procedure.

   I have spinal spondylosis. I have neuropathy in my feet. I have degenerative disc disease. And sciatica. And throw in there some anxiety and depression for good measure.

    About a year and a half ago, I had reason to visit the doctor. I had a hematoma on my right gluteus maximus. The doctor told me that I was going to tear my stomach up with the pills I was taking. I was self medicating for my daily aches and pains by taking 3 or 4 Naproxen Sodium, 6-8 ibuprofen, and 6-8 headache relief tablets. The doctor said that's too much stuff to be taking.

    So I cut out the naproxen sodium. And I discovered that my knee was hurting. It may have been hurting all along and I just didn't know it. So then I went to get an injection in my knee. And that doctor told me the ibuprofen and headache relievers was going to tear up my stomach so I needed to stop the ibuprofen.

   When I stopped the ibuprofen I kinda discovered that the reason my feet weren't hurting (my feet have hurt me for years cause it's hard to find shoes wide enough for me). But the reason my feet weren't hurting me any longer was because I couldn't feel my feet. 

    There's a term for it. It's called neuropathy. So I went to the doctor and told her I thought I had neuropathy. I told her my symptoms and she said "yup, sounds like you have neuropathy". She referred me to another doctor. The day before I went to see that Dr. I stepped on "something". I don't know what it was. Maybe a piece of wire, maybe a nail. "Something". I never felt it. Didn't realize it had happened until Yvette noticed I was tracking blood around on the floor. 

   I told that doctor my symptoms and about stepping on "something" and she said, "I think you have neuropathy " and refers me to another Dr. They attach electrodes and stick pins in me and tell me "you have neuropathy." Some point in the deciding that 'yes, I had neuropathy' "we" also decided that I had sciatica. There was one final Dr visit where they did an x-ray and tests and the diagnosis was that I had bilateral neuropathy. 

(To be continued)

What A Pain! Part 1.

   A year Ago I would have said I was fairly normal. But I had a problem, that I didn't realize was a problem.

a year ago I would have said I was fairly normal 
   I'm not sure how I feel. Well, that's not exactly true. I feel pain. But not all the time. Just if I stand for like 15 or 20 minutes, sit for 1 ¼ hours, walk or am on my feet for over an hour.     

                                                                      I've been having some issues for a while.  A little nip back in March.   Then I had a baker's cyst that they gave me a shot for. They fussed at me about the NSAIDS I was taking. So I stopped taking them. Well I quit taking the Ibuprofen  But I was feeling pain on a fairly regular basis. Just like 13 or 14 hours every day. 

   I guess the NSAIDS I was taking were working pretty good. I was just taking too many of them. But about a month after I got the shot in my knee for the baker's cyst I went back to my wonderful primary care physician and mentioned that my knee was still hurting and told her what i had been taking to alleviate the pain and she put me on a prescription medicine.

   The absence of the nsaids uncovered a problem though. My feet were numb and my hip was causing me some pain. I had origonally thought the bakers cyst was the cause of the pain in my hip. I went to my PCP. she said it sounded like I had neuropathy. I went to the bone and joint place. and she said I think you have neuropathy. she sent me to Union City where they stuck needle in me and shocked me. and told me I had neuropathy.Then I got sent to Jackson to see a neurologist who poked and prodded me and told me I had bilateral neuropathy. But they want to do some blood tests first.

   I have a follow up appointment scheduled with the bone and joint people. I thought it was about my hip hurting. it wasn't.

   I called the neurologist, they said they had released me to the bone and joint doctor. The bone and joint folk said they had referred me to the neurologist so they weren't concerned about my hip hurting. they said the neurologist was treating me for my neuropathy. 

URGGGHHHHHH!!!! 

   I called my PCP and talked to her, then I visited her, she wrote me a prescription that might help with my neuropathy.

Stay tuned for Part 2'

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Click on my link below to get a free stock! It's free. Free is good, right?

Get Stock! Help Nelson Get Stock!

I Know What You've Been Doing!

   When one of my children was maybe 3 years old, we were in the checkout line at the grocery store.

   He looked at the very pregnant woman standing behind us in line, pointed at her baby bump and said rather loudly, "I know what you've been doing"

   The pregnant lady in line got a little red of face, and I may have also. The lady running the register just kinda looked shocked and disgusted that a child so young would be aware of such 'grown-up' information.

  I apologized for his behavior, then I very calmly and quietly told him that it was rude to point at people and talk about them.

  He said "Okay,  But I know what she's been doing!!!"  Louder and more emphatically. pointing at the ladies stomach again.  Again I apologized to the lady and tried to ignore the look on the cashiers face that looked like she was ready to call child protective services because my child was obviously abused if he knew what a pregnant woman had been doing while I again told him that it was rude to do things like that . . . . . Especially in public. . . . .  And at such a high volume.

  The cashier is giving me death glares as she tells me the total and I pay and get my change. 

  As I start moving away from the checkout stand, having loaded my groceries in the cart, my child once again points at the pregnant woman's belly and says

 "But Daddy, I know what she's been doing. She's been eating Cheetos!"

   I looked at the woman's belly and notice the telltale orange residue from wiping her hands on her shirt. And I started laughing. The cashier looks, and her death glare changes to a look of acknowledgement that my child was right as she starts laughing.

   The pregnant woman looks down at her shirt and tries to brush away the orange residue as she gets redder and starts laughing. She laughed so hard she suddenly stopped and said, "Damnit!"

  I looked at her, apologized again for my son's behavior, and as I walked away I thought:

 " I know what you just did" 

   To this day, whenever I see a pregnant woman, I think to myself "I know what you've been doing"

   

As always:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank you for Your Support!

So Confusing

   So. The Federal Government decided to pass masking decisions to the State Governments.  

   Some of the State Governments made mask mandates and ordinances. 

   Some State Governments passed the decision down to the Local Governments.

   And everything went to hell. 

   A police chief in Arkansas sent a letter to the governor saying he wouldn't enforce the Governor's mask mandate. 

    Some of the Local Governments have made mask mandates and ordinances.

   People where local governments made mandates are claiming that it should be the Governors decision or made at a national level.

   

   I'm gonna tell ya this. I wear a mask when I go in the store. Heck, I wear a mask when I go through the drive-thru at McDonald's.

      Lord, have I learned a lot about masks on the past few months. 

   You may or may not know these facts, but I'm fixing to let you in on what I've learned:

   I've also noticed that some of the people that stated they wouldn't wear a mask unless they were forced to, have the most problems with wearing a mask since it's mandated some places. They have creatively interesting reasons for not wearing masks: my response to each of those arguments is in italics.

1. The virus isn't a bad as they say it is. They're inflating numbers to make it look like more people are infected than really are.

   If they're inflating numbers to make it look like more people are infected, then the numbers of recovered cases will be inflated when their recuperation period has completed.

2. Nobody else is wearing their mask right,

   If everybody else jumps off a bridge, are you going to do it too? Don't be such a sheep (or lemming as the case may be), be a leader and wear your mask right.

3. Wearing a mask violates my constitutional right.  

   The Preamble of the Constitution has a phrase that says the Constitution is to , among other things, promote the general welfare. If wearing a mask can help slow the spread or reduce your viral load (which improves your chances of survival) then wearing a mask is not violating your rights.

4. I don't want to wear a mask and you can't make me. 

   You're an adult, act like one.

5. Masks are uncomfortable.

   Breathing tubes and catheters are uncomfortable. Masks are a minor irritation in comparison.

6. Masks don't prevent the Coronavirus, it says so on the box.

   The company doesn't want people who wear their masks to sue them if they catch the Coronavirus by some other means.. 

7. OSHA says don't wear masks.

   OSHA says wear masks in contaminated or potentially contaminated environments.

8. The CDC says don't wear masks.

   The CDC has changed that, they do recommend wearing masks.

9. I can't breathe wearing a mask.

   See your doctor about that. You have a medical issue. 

10. I have a medical issue that prevents me from wearing a mask and HIPPA rules prevent me from telling you what it is.

  It's HIPAA and that doesn't apply. I 

11. Masks don't filter anything out.

   A screen is going to catch something when the air passes through it.

12. Masks reduce your oxygen levels.

   So masks can't filter anything out except oxygen? Coronavirus can go right through the mask, but the instant you put one on you start starving your brain for oxygen.

13. Wearing masks is destroying your immune system. 

   Masks that don't filter out anything (#10) actually are filtering out oxygen and germs other than the Coronavirus? It must filter them out, otherwise it wouldn't be destroying our immune systems. 

14. Masks don't keep you from spreading the Coronavirus. Cause they don't filter anything coming out(see #11)

   But the tests they've shown many places show the opposite.

15. Masks cause a buildup of carbon dioxide.

   Wait. Masks let everything that you breathe out go right through the mask(#14). Except carbon dioxide.

   I've heard all these excuses given. The one about HIPPA was offered to me unsolicited at the doctors office. He even spelled it out for me. I corrected his spelling for him and told him it didn't apply. He didn't appreciate it. When he got up to go to the bathroom, his wife apologized for her husband and said he was a dumbass. I suggested that might be considered a disability that would prevent mask wearing.... He wanted to know why she was laughing when he came back.

   The second day our local mask ordinance went into effect I was in Wal-Mart. in front of me was a little white haired lady. There was a guy walking the other direction wearing his mask around his neck. Evidently she looked at him wrong about the way he was wearing his mask. He pointed to the mask around his neck and said loudly to her that he WAS wearing his mask, She sweetly said "I feel sorry for your wife....if you can't wear a mask right, there's probably other things you can't do right."

  

  At that point I violated the mask ordinance. 

   I pulled mine down so I could laugh at him.

Y'all have a good day!

As always:

Thanks for Reading!

Thanks for Praying!

Thank You for Your Support!

Click on my link below to get a free stock! It's free. Free is good, right?

Get Stock! Help Nelson Get Stock!