Sunday

Yesterday we left home about 8:30 and got home about midnight, long day for me. I remembered to take my meds yesterday at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., and then in the evening, though I was not very uncomfortable. We were out late again yesterday, though I wasn't sure that was a good idea, and in the grocery store, waiting for the time to pick up John, my back was compressed and tired and it stung, but I fell asleep on the way home, seat heater all the way up to 6, and was ok when we got here. I got up at least twice in the night but mostly didn't get pulled completely out of my sleep. One time, though, I woke up enough to take one Acetaminophen (and find the other one I had dropped). Slept through my 6 a.m. Gabapentin, took it either at 7 or 8, can't remember for sure. Back gets tired today when I stand around for long or sit without any support leaning over, but I'm ok. Also took the Naproxin at 9, as usual. Another Gabapentin coming up in half an hour.

Was hungry in the car waiting for John about 10:45 p.m., really would have preferred some milk, which I could have gotten at a nearby Subway, but had some crackers instead. It was fine, though not exactly what I wanted. And I could have asked David to get me the milk, he would have done that without a hesitation. When he opened the crackers, I decided to have some too. I didn't want fruit or anything sweet.

Got up this morning a few minutes after 8, was fine. Got hungry making tea and had bits and pieces of things, a little bit at a time, until I was satisfied, just now. David and John have gone to a Harlem Globetrotters game.

So lowest pain level yesterday, taking meds regularly, was 0; highest was about a 5. Woke up a couple of times in the night, moved once out to the living room. Right leg was a bit fussy but I could move without making anything worse if I was careful, and I was.

Found this webpage, which suggests what minerals, etc., the body might be needing if there are cravings:

www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.html

Not sure if it's "true," certainly, all the time for everybody. Not sure exactly what they mean by cravings; it looks like they are trying to redeem cravings by suggesting that there might be a good reason for them, which is good, but there's also no real sense that if you really want it, it might be because you should have it just because you really want it. Still, interesting page.

2nd day keeping track

I didn't post yesterday, but I can remember.

The pain was still very low, though I could feel that I was more fragile, more likely to hurt myself. I had a hard time getting out of bed because something got to my back and my leg was beginning to escalate, and I barely got up before it got so bad it would have been impossible to get up without making things worse. But I managed to get upright without using my right leg, and I was ok. The day was fine. My back was fussy and stung, and there was tingling and stinging in my right leg, but I was at Caribou and took a couple of phone calls out in the lobby, where I was standing up. And in all that I forgot to take my Naproxin until 1:30, about 3 1/2 hours late. We went to a Timberwolves game last night, and I could tell when I turned that my back was fragile. I turned the seat heater all the way up and slept for about an hour on the way home, but once I woke up we still had about 4o minutes, and my legs were very uncomfortable. I got out and stretched when we dropped John off and walked around the car when we changed drivers, but still it was very uncomfortable the rest of the way home.

I slept all right, though. Woke up the usual 3 times or so, but I wasn't awake long each time, there wasn't strong enough pain to keep me awake, so that's good.

As far as hunger goes, I was hungry when we got to Caribou, about 8:00, and I had a Daybreaker, warm and savory and just fine. I got hungry again midmorning and finally gave myself the potato chips that I was going to give myself that day anyhow, about 11:00. About 1:00, I went over to the mall and got a grilled chicken pita, had that when I got back to Caribou. Was hungry again when David picked me up, but not deeply so, and had some Diet Coke and orange-and-strawberry smoothie that he bought for himself but wasn't really satisfied by.

I was really hungry by the time we got to Minneapolis and JImmy John's, had a Turkey Tom sub and ate most of it. Didn't eat the final crust that didn't have any mayonnaise or turkey near enough. I ate the first several bites too quickly, and so I had to wait for it to go down into my stomach because I didn't want it to get too full in my esophagus and hurt me. So I waited, and it was fine.

Had some popcorn and water maybe an hour later, not really hungry but it tasted good and I quit while things were ok. Took Gabapentin about 8 and Naproxin about 9.

Hungry when I got home, but I didn't notice until I had finished brushing and flossing, and I was so tired I just lay down and fell asleep almost immediately. Did take 2 Acetominophen near midnight, just before I went to bed.

Last night, I woke up 3 times or so, wan't awake for long each time. And I slept an hour past the Gabapentin time, till 7:00. The second time I woke up, I had a few swallows of milk from the refrigerator, and that was good. I could feel it slowly move down into my stomach because it was so cold. It felt fine, though, the cold was not a bad thing. Had a little more milk the next time I woke up, and both times it eased he hunger just fine.

I'm not so hungry now, I'm having my tea. We're driving back to the Twin Cities today, hair appointment in St. Paul. I made a peanut-butter sandwich for when I get hungry. I'll probably drive, and so that means I'll probably eat it on the road.

We need to leave in about 40 minutes, so I should get ready now.

Sweet things are a lot more attractive to me these days, maybe because of the pain or because I'm not not moving very much or because of one of the drugs I'm taking.

I need to keep track of two things, and so I'm going to put them both here.

First on my mind is my back pain, which is much better recently, and I'd like to keep track of this so I can tell how I'm doing over time. Second, I want to focus on hunger.

Right now, it's 9:27, and I need to take some Naproxin, so I want something in my stomach first, so it won't hurt me. But also I'm hungry and I'm really looking forward to the tea that is in my thermos and a sandwich. I have my usual pb sandwich here, divided into 4ths, but today I also have a baguette-and-butter (or really, plant-sterol margerine, ugh, but it's healthier and a lot better than nothing or any of the other margerines) sandwich.

I'm hungry, and I'm really looking forward to this. I'm going to eat the b-and-b sandwich first. Two bites, noticing and thinking.

I had a good night, didn't take any Acetominophen at all, but had to take a Gabapentin at 6, about half an hour early. Not real pain, but I knew it would be easy to hurt my back and make things a lot worse, so I took it and was very careful moving, setting my abs and not pulling with my right leg. There's a very subtle tingling on the inside of my right knee, the Naproxin will help. So no pain, but the potential to make it worse is present.

Four more bites of baguette and margerine. My stomach feels ok. I'm noticing just now, on this last bite, what I don't like about the margerine, a flatness or fuzziness to the flavor that's some ingredient, an oily one, I think, that doesn't actually taste that good. The taste is covered up normally by the other ones, but at this point, I can taste it. So I'll stop for now.