Imcheryl @ MindSay

Thought I'd follow through with documenting my progress as I participate in Physio treatments to try to get me back on my feet and able to function, from there I might be able to build up enough strength to get back to work. Not now though, right now it looks like a long road and more pain killers!

Therapy of course sets up it's own aches and pains and as muscles relax some things move  around a bit more than they're supposed to... Yikes! It only takes one small move, just the wrong way and I'm seeing stars! Phew! But the spasms are shorter lived now, as if that's any consolation! It's all very tiring and frustrating!

So far I can do one exercise from the list the physiotherapist wants to tackle, just barely... And all we're doing with the thumb so far is to try and get rid of the calcium deposit that seems to be on the tendon. It isn't really a pleasant feeling, I have to massage it regularly to try and help encourage the deposit to dissolve. (Like massaging out a kink in a muscle, usually caused by a concentration of lactic acid, which can be worked out of the muscle through manual stimulation)

I'll go back Friday for more treatments... One step at a time! Speaking of which because the Physio office isn't far from my home I'm able to include walking as part of the therapy, which she is also recommending - at least 20 minutes a day so it works perfectly! Today I was able to walk at a slightly faster pace. Found myself limping a bit and a pinchy feeling in my hip, left side. It was raining but I have fairly good gear for that sort of weather and it's good to get out regardless of the weather unless it's extreme.

We're supposed to get a snow storm overnight - our first of the season, we'll see in a few hours! Now that will add a new challenge for me because I'm already feeling a bit too frail to do my normal walking gait, the added trick of negotiating slippery sidewalks isn't something I'm looking forward to! I'll be careful - I've got sturdy hiking boots!

Okay spasms are setting in, time to change positions, stretch, do something else... so I don't seize up!
Catch ya later, ...well, no... I'd better not do that... Ah-h-h...
Okay, C ya later - the eyes are still working, he! he! - Thank God! ;)

Is it providence, that I should find myself in this challenging situation?
Seems an energy to it that is odd and annoying too I guess. Re work injuries...

Today I'll take a walk a few blocks from home to where I'll start some Physiotherapy to help my back and my thumb. A walk should be helpful if I take my time and walk gently.  I've had some acupuncture and massage treatments over the past two weeks and plenty of rest.

I'm concerned this will be a long term thing. This weekend my back started acting up again, after about a week of healing I feel as though I've stepped backwards! All I did was bend down to wipe Keisha's paws before she came in from playing in the yard. That was Friday morning - I've been in agony all weekend since! Ouch! Sometimes all it takes is a cough or a deep breath to set off more muscle spasms, other times it's just how I move...

My grand daughter, Vanessa, offered to share her hot water bottle with me to "fix Grandma's owie", what a little sweetie she is!

I found an on line forum where some people who work at or have worked at Value Village post information... But it seems to be down today. I had hoped it would be a good  place to get some insight, support and suggestions... Hopefully it'll be up and running again soon. It's at http://www.retailworker.com  There's a forum specific to Value Village / Savers workers.  Some people who've posted there suggest that our Corporate head office reads the posts too. Not sure how useful that is...

Convalescing, well I hope a solution to these current woes presents itself soon!

From my usual perspective  I would look at a situation like this and ask myself; "okay, what's the magic hidden within this challenge?"
Today I hope I can stumble over what that magic is because right now it's not feeling magical at all! I'm still confident the magic will present itself - it always does - that's a constant in this life I lead! Perhaps I can update this posting with the answer to that question a little later today? I'll hope and we'll see!

If it means new or different - more body friendly - type of employment I'll be very happy indeed!

Later! ;)

Over the next few posts I intend to spend some time discussing the art of team building. Work experience and observations of others I know well seem to point to a sad situation; building cooperative teamwork among co-workers has fallen prey to a quest for quick profits.

I'm going to start by listing some questions that might help highlight the issue and the impact on workers, their management and the companies they work for. If you think of any questions do feel free to pose them here, it should be an interesting exploration.

Is it a dead horse?
Or a Trojan Horse?
A Stallion?
Or an Old Grey Mare?

(these aren't the questions, but they are a good start to open up the subject and get us all thinking!)

I managed to get it done, just in time! Yay!!!! A card to celebrate Rachel's 6 month birthday, I sure hope she likes it! :)
 


It's almost as cute as she is - but only almost!! he! he!

Posted a shot of the Blue version of one of my garden beds at ourgardenblog , I'm trying to stay up to date with it because the whole bed will soon be changing into it's pink phase. It was high time to get the shot up on the blog. I had another reason for it and that is my own little blue mood today... as memories of my brother continue to swim in my mind and the tears well up again!  I can say this is the first family death that has hit me so hard.

Gosh I miss my brother! Even though we didn't get to spend a lot of time together in the past couple years because of distances and money issues there were many more years we spent a lot of time together and even if we didn't see eye to eye on all subjects we did share many interests and enjoyed each other's company. When those memories come back to me I start crying again. Understandable, I know... It happens at the weirdest of times too - I'll be at work and the lady training me will talk about one of her siblings (one of whom just had a stroke 2 weeks ago and lives in a town just up the road from where Willie lived... that's too weird!) Or a little memory of a moment in time will pop into my mind, when I cook or tend to my plants, even when I play with Keisha, sometimes I'm reminded at how her big brown eyes just melted his heart. She loved my brother  too!

I was talking to my mom earlier and she told me she went through similar feelings yesterday, hat she misses Willie too, and while we talked about that didn't my sister in law call to say hi? Full circle we must've all been on the same wavelength! Cathy has been working up her garden, a chore my brother always took pride in performing and she caught herself in tears a few times while tilling the soil and preparing the beds. It's a perfectly normal thing and not really a surprise as we're all going through the stages of grief still, in our own ways!

Time will help somewhat but nothing will replace my brother and the unique energy he added to our family!  I am learning that energy isn't really gone though; it's just changed its' frequency.  It will be interesting to watch where that energy presents itself in the scheme of things.

Will's tomato plants are still growing well and will be seated into the main garden this weekend if the weather allows.