Words About Wounds

Well, you wouldn’t think it possible, but I did it AGAIN. The same damn thing, the same damn slip-in-the-shower — except that this time there were two rubber mats there that were supposed to keep me from slipping. Go figure! This was in mid-October, two months to the day after I had been discharged from the Mercy Hospital Rehab Department’s Wound Care division.

There was no chance for infection this time, though, thank goodness. I had actually popped 2000 mg of Amoxicillin just before stepping into the shower, in preparation for a dental appointment mid-morning  (because of all the joint replacements, I take antibiotics before dental work, and will for the rest of my life, it appears). The wound was about an inch northeast of the previous site; much shallower, a lot longer, with only about 1.5 inches at the top that was of any concern.  Unfortunately, the fragile top skin of the original wound was damaged, so I now had TWO sites. I saw the doctor within two hours, and was back at Mercy the next morning, looking and feeling very shamefaced and embarrassed.

Emily said, “Wouldn’t it just have been easier for us to go out to lunch together?? Did you have to come back as a patient?”

Long story short: the new one is totally healed; the original one probably has another six weeks to go. I do the dressings myself, daily, and go to Mercy twice a week. That’ll be once a week very soon. I have become fairly knowledgeable about wound care, believe me, and have decided it’s not a field I’d like to go into permanently. At least, there was no discussion of MAGGOTS this time.

Chiropractically Speaking

Slowly, slowly… twice a week with Dr. Klein… the graph is creeping upwards again and I am beginning to feel that my body is getting back to where it ought to be.

We are working toward the goal of getting my lower back a bit more limber, so that I can bend over from a sitting position on my raised toilet seat and fasten the infamous Velcro Circ-Aid by myself. As it is, I have to depend on my Beloved Spouse to do it for me. This, for me, is anathema: Fiercely Independent, that’s me, and I can hardly stand having to ask for help every day! Also, it’s impractical, because I get up long before the Spouse does; so there are often long periods when I am Circ-Aidless.

But by working “more aggressively” — his words — with CAM, the magical robotic tool, on the lumbar region, David Klein says he thinks there’s a good chance we might achieve this goal at some point.

What all this has shown me is that, no matter what else is going on with my body, I do want to continue regular chiropractic sessions. Forever, if I can manage that. The difference in how I feel when I go regularly, and how I feel when I don’t, is BIG.

I am pleased to report that my raving about the wonders of chiropractic convinced my daughter, who lives in Massachusetts, and her husband, both to find an excellent chiropractor near them to work on Sarah’s bad back and Chris’s feet! And they are both happy as can be. I was a bit surprised to hear that Chris’s bunion improved, but hey, who knows what-all chiropractic can do!

Sad Cat Stuff

My wonderful thirty-year-old cat, Amy, is dying. According to the Mobile Vet, Dr. Doss, she would be 134 in human years, and is something of a phenomenon in that she hasn’t had any of the usual elderly-cat illnesses. Till now. She has a tumor in the nasal cavity, he believes, which is pressing on the optic nerve and causing the third eyelid (nictitating membrane) to push up over her eyeball on one side. It’s also causing congestion, loss of the olfactory sense (tremendously important to cats), and sneezing.

This has been going on, and getting worse, since the Thanksgiving weekend in November. We treated the upper respiratory infection with antibiotics and megavitamins, and it got somewhat better. But then that eyelid came up, and she stopped eating about ten days ago. She keeps herself going on lots of water and maybe half a cup of light cream, over a 24-hour period.

We talked about euthanasia. But this incredible cat is determined to keep living her life as much as she can, as long as she can. She is just skin and bones now — such a little animal, when you get down to it; and I’d always thought she was a medium-sized cat! — but she continues to make choices and decisions for herself. For example, just like always, she decides each night whether she’s sleeping with me or with the Beloved Spouse. Now, when I’m the lucky one, she plasters herself to me like a little limpet; draped across my neck or lying on my arm with her head on my shoulder, she pushes her face into my neck and purrs herself to sleep. Her purr is pretty raspy now, but I love it.

She also takes herself out the cat-flap in the kitchen window to relieve herself; having lived on her own outdoors for 15 or more years, she has nothing but scorn for the litterbox that Chloe uses happily enough. And she spends much of each day, now that it’s a little warmer, napping under her favorite bush, getting some sun on her tummy.

So our choice is to let her keep getting what she can out of every day, as long as she isn’t in pain. Discomfort she can handle: she is a tough old lady. And we will enjoy and cherish every moment we have with her, even though we know time is running out.

Happy Family Stuff

I had a wonderful week in Toronto in early November, for my grandson William’s Bar Mitzvah. All three of my kids were there, all four of the grandchildren, and assorted other family members as well. It was gorgeous!

Besides the really beautiful service and William’s lovely, right-on-tune chanting of a very long Torah portion in Hebrew, another musical event got me right in the heart.  One evening, when all of us were gathered in Danny and Jackie’s kitchen and dining room, eating up all the leftover food and having a drink or two, my daughter Sarah and my 16-year-old granddaughter Heather (Will’s sister), announced that they had a song they wanted to sing — for ME! Whereupon they sang, touchingly and melodically, the song “For Good,” from the musical “Wicked”. It’s all about how “people come into our lives/for a reason, bringing that which we must learn…”, and ends up with, “Because I knew you/I have been changed for good.”

You can imagine, I was weeping like a waterfall from about the first note. Both Sarah and Heather have lovely voices, and part of it was in harmony. I loved it. My daughter-in-law Jackie videotaped their rehearsal of the song that afternoon, so I can replay it and cry some more any time I want.

Starting Over

So that’s about it, in a nutshell…good stuff, not-so-good stuff… and now we’re moving along into January. My Beloved Spouse and I will celebrate 14 years of marriage this coming Tuesday. (Amy, our cat, has been with us for 11 of those years.) And shortly thereafter, I will become even older… I cannot believe it’ll be 72 years. Yikes! How can this BE?

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I think they are self-defeating. But I do think about what I might like to do differently in the new year. One of those things is, I’m hoping I won’t let myself get sidetracked again, but will continue blogging more regularly. I guess it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as MAGGOTS to be a certifiable blog — right?

I wish each of you a beautiful year. May 2010 bring all of us some of what we dream about…  Thanks for reading — Betsy

Dr.Sanjeev Shah commented on how good my blood pressure looked, and how great I  looked, having lost a fair bit of weight since I last saw him in February. He also mentioned that I seemed to be walking better than I had been. So then I told him the story of my Skeptic’s Journey with Chiropractic. I showed him how I can now move the right foot, that had been “like a block of wood attached to the leg,” to quote Dr. Klein; I showed him how I can wiggle the toes, which a few months ago just sat there, immobile, no matter what I did. (Still can’t quite pick up marbles with them, but that will happen soon.) I showed him how I can now reach both arms behind my back — also new in the last couple of months.   I told him how much better I feel, overall. I reported Dr. Bugbee’s remark about “keeping me out of the hands of the surgeons,” and awaited his comments.

Dr. Sanjeev Shah did not disappoint me. He said: “That’s quite a statement, coming from a surgeon! I would say, it’s obviously working for you — keep at it. And I’ll see you in six months!”

I told him I hoped to be walking without the cane at that appointment in January!

So three out of my three regular MDs have unequivocally given me the thumbs-up I guess I was hoping for!  Cheers to Dr. Sanjeev Shah and his two colleagues, who are to be congratulated for their open-mindedness to chiropractic in the face of the evidence:  ME!

Thanks for reading — Betsy

At Seaside Chiropractic, they have patients play The Game. The Game is a process whereby Roseanna or Emily asks you a question about something you have learned about chiropractic, from their ongoing educational efforts. If you get the right answer, they sign off on your card. If you don’t get the right answer, they tell you the right answer, and then they sign off on your card. The card is a regular business-card size, divided into 20 sections; when the whole thing is filled with initials, it’s good for a single free visit.  OR, you can save up the cards till you have five, and use them for a month’s worth of adjustments.

So my first card was completed several days ago, and I suggested delicately to my beloved spouse that I would be willing to let him use my filled-up card to get a consult for himself. He sort of whiffled about it, “Okay, yeah, maybe, after we get back from the trip…” And I figured, okay, that was a wasted effort.

And then yesterday, without any warning at all, it’s “Hey, maybe I’ll just go along with you tomorrow when you go to see Dr. Klein. My neck’s been sort of bothering me…” I had to stop myself from woo-hooing right out loud! I then had to tell him that you don’t just “go along,” you have to make an appointment. Which I then did. While I was telling Emily on the phone that Robert actually WANTED to come in, and right away, too, I heard DK in the background saying, “No fricken’ WAY! That’s AMAZING!” I took that as a Yes.

Today, all the way to the office, I was like a mommy taking her kid off to school for the first time, anxious that he make a good impression on the teacher. I instructed Robert that he was not to act like an intellectual snob; he was to make an effort to smile from time to time (he’s sort of like the Great Stone Face by nature); he was under no circumstances to say anything rude; and a whole bunch of other admonitions that I’m embarrassed to remember. I was mortified when we got to the office and had to wait for a little while in the front waiting room (sudden influx of unexpected people just before we arrived) — didn’t he just take out his briefcase, extract the grant application he and his Science Guy&Gal cohorts are currently working on, and start writing! Oh, good grief! Now, is that bordering on intellectual snobbism, or am I overly sensitive here, or what? When David K came out briefly just to meet him, Robert actually made a joke. DK said, “So you’re a neurochemist, right?” And Robert replied,  “I’m working on cardiovascular, mostly… at home.” That was meant to indicate that he had CV problems. I was amazed, he joked!

Dr K spent a good long time with Robert, examining him and testing his ability to move in various ways. And before that, Roseanna also spent a good long time with him, getting a detailed medical history. In fact, including my own twelve-minute adjustment, we were there for a total of two hours!

Apparently DK believes that he can significantly reduce Robert’s pain in his neck, and also in an ankle that was injured some years ago and never quite healed right. And what do you know? As soon as we got home, he was on the phone again, making an appointment for Monday, June 1st, right after we get back from our week in Toronto. (My kids are throwing me a 70th birthday party next Sunday, on the Memorial Day weekend! The B-day was actually in January, but who in their right mind wants to drive in Toronto, in January??)

So I think… I think… that my beloved spouse is going to let DK work on him for a while and see if there is any improvement.  How can there not be? I look at what has happened with me in such a short time, and I’m still amazed. And overall, Robert is in better shape at 78 than I was at 70! I am so thrilled and happy that it went so easily. Now, I can’t wait to watch his progress.

Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!

Thanks for reading — Betsy

His point was that if I had any motions that were not restricted on the first exam, then I was moving up from somewhere north of zero… so I could be quite a bit farther along than I thought. Oh, I really wanted that to be the case! But now that I look at the chart again, all those extremely teeny little letters and numbers, it IS a zero in the lower left-hand corner of the chart. And I recall that the only thing I could do at “admittance”, that wasn’t deemed “restricted” by Dr. K when he told Roseanna what to write down, was that I was able to touch my chin to my chest.  AND THAT WAS ALL.  So I have, indeed, been pretty much starting from zero.  Sorry, Tom, it was a great idea, but… alas.  I will have to live with 37% for a while. There will be another re-exam after 12 more sessions, which should put me somewhere in June.  Hasta el proximo…

On Thursday last (as the Brits say), I had the pleasure of seeing a young 30something guy in the office being worked on by Dr. Klein. This guy has been going for chiropractic adjustments, off and on, since he was 12! I found it interesting to hear Dr. K say that he can feel the difference in joints that have been kept flexible since childhood, and joints that have just gone their own way, so to speak, and stuck together when they felt like it. I am pretty sure he said it better, but that’s how it seemed to me.

If I had known when I was younger what I know now… I think I would have found a chiropractor for my kids, not to mention myself. Now my babies range from 47 to 37, and have various degrees of aches and pains. Maybe some of them could have been avoided if they had had the benefit of chiropractic adjustments as children. There is an excellent college of chiropractic in Toronto, where they grew up. If I’d only taken the blinders off 40 years ago…

(But then there was my dad, not at that point only a voice in my head, saying, “Son of a gun! Look at that huge college of chiropractic! Can you beat that! You know, sweetheart, that stuff is such a bunch of hooey…”  Okay, so I shouldn’t be blaming Daddy for my ignorance. It’s my own fault I didn’t look into it before. Thank goodness for CraigsList and that ad from David Klein, looking for an assistant in February!)

Thanks again for reading — Betsy

It was sort of anticlimactic, actually.  Yesterday, I had said to David Klein, “Wonder what I can say to my rheumatologist tomorrow.” And David said, “How about bye-bye?” No, not just yet; but I’m keeping an open mind.  Maybe someday.  I figure, if I can be comfortable at some point without taking any pain medication, I will be ready to say bye-bye to my  rheumatologist, who has been really helpful to me up to now. Dr. H. Arthur Silverman couldn’t have been kinder or more supportive to me over the past few difficult years, and I appreciate all he’s done for me.

Not just yet, as I said.  Here it is almost midnight on a Saturday night, and I’m in the middle of one of my Midnight Perambulations. That’s what I call it when the peripheral neuropathies in my feet (caused, I suppose, by nerve damage during the last two hip revisions) start giving me electric shocks and long, deep aches. I can’t lie down quietly, and now I can’t really even sit comfortably because there are those toes, twingling away. “Dem toes, dem toes, dem daaam toes…”  Now, I take Lyrica for the neuropathies (thank you, Dr. Silverman!); and it helps, in that I only have to Perambulate about twice a week now instead of every night, as I did last fall. And I don’t have to cry about the pain any more. But I am hoping that the chiropractic adjustments will eventually free some poor little nerves that have been SUBLUXATED — love that word! — trapped between the vertebrae, and maybe the toes won’t twingle any more.  Here I was, all happy because I have gotten back some of the sensation in the sole of my right foot.  I should have kept quiet about that, maybe I jinxed myself.

So, right at this point in time, I guess I have a foot in both camps, as they say.  I’m not giving up the drugs, but I’m getting as much chiropractic treatment as I can. Let’s see what happens.  It’ll be a surprise.

Little did I dream that today would be The Day! A lot of people had cancelled for one reason or another, and when I arrived at 12:40 he was So Not Busy.  This was really unusual, as normally he’s running from table to table like an ant on a plate, and at the same time having three conversations and doing something on the computer as well.  So you can imagine how happy I was when he told me to lie on my face on the Moving Table and we’d give it a try.  “Veeeeeery slowly,” said he, “and veeeeeery gently.”

I arranged myself gracelessly prone, with my face in the vertical pit covered with paper.  Yuck, I do so hate that paper! But there it is… There was a bit of a hassle figuring out what to do with my arms. The younglings I had been so admiring stretch their arms out above their heads and grasp something, but my poor ancient arms wouldn’t go that straight.  I finally dangled one to the floor and tucked the other one on some sort of armrest below the table.

Okay: so then the machine took over, and my legs started moving up and down from the hip, slowly indeed, and gently indeed.  Then Dr. Klein did some of those huge pushes on the backs of the shoulders (“Deeeeep breath, now let it out…”) and around the ribcage. I am always grateful that I have not one speck of osteoporosis when he does that; I imagine my ribs cracking like eggshells, because this guy is pretty BIG, folks.  And next there was something quite weird-feeling.  The top third of the table can be set to the left or right of center. So first I lay there in a left-L-shape, and then in a right-L-shape, while more pummelling took place.

Then — “Okay, flip over onto your back.”  Everybody’s a comedian: my flipping days are over, long ago. So I lumbered over till I was on my back (almost got stuck, almost couldn’t get my arm out from under the table, almost fell off the table).  Emily was trying not to giggle, God bless her.  Once I arrived at the supine position, the neck-cracking took place. Snap, and snap, and a couple more snaps… woo-hoo!  Then arm-pulling and finger-pulling, then foot-kneading and toe-pulling, and I was nearly done. Boy, I WAS nearly done, too.

I got to have CAM run over the lumbar and sacral vertebrae while I sat on the table. I think CAM is feeling a bit neglected by me since I moved into the Table Room a couple of weeks ago. At any rate, it messed around with one of the vertebrae so the diagram showed it was more out of alignment than before. Hey, like I said, everybody’s a comedian, even the robot.

So that was what I had been longing for, for weeks.  Who knew!  As I said, “Be careful what you wish for… you may get it!”  This is a whole new chapter in my chiropractic story, I guess.  And again, thank you, David, for all your help!

Anyway, one of the yoga exercises I do in a modified form is the Tree Pose. You see pictures of this one in its original standing form — a person standing on one leg, the other one bent at the knee and the sole of the foot resting on the standing calf, arms usually extended over the head and palms together. No way in the world I could do that one; but Kelli is a genius at modifying useful poses for my particular body problems.  So there I was, getting into Tree Pose: on my back on the table (can’t ever lie on the floor again in my life, alas!), my left sole flat up against the wall, and my right leg bent with the sole touching the left calf.  Suddenly Kelli said, “Hey, you did that yourself! I didn’t have to arrange your foot for you!” And yes indeed, I had, without even thinking about it.  Moreover, I could feel the sole of my foot against my other leg.  Now, that was completely new, since my toes and feet on both sides have been somewhat numb for, oh, at least a year.

I did a little trial run of wiggling my toes, which is also something I haven’t been able to do for ages.  They are not exactly nimble enough to play the piano with, but hey, they’re moving a little bit! This change really snuck up on me.  I didn’t even realize it was happening till there it was.  This has got to be a result of Dr. Klein’s work on my feet, and maybe of the spinal adjustments as well.  My guess is that some of the nerves running to the feet and toes have been blocked in subluxations, and now have been at least partially released by the adjustments. (If you’ve read the cartoon books on the Seaside Chiropractic website, you know what a subluxation is. There will be a short quiz… — better study up!)

So once again, woo-hoo! and thank you, David, for giving me back my toes and my left sole.  Onward and upward! — Betsy

Here are some of the highlights since the last posting:

• Cheng Cheng presented me with the graph of my re-test. Wow! I felt like having it framed and hanging it on the wall. (Are you over-reacting a little teensy bit, Betsy? Naaah, anybody would feel this way!) It’s a straight diagonal line UP, no bumps, at what appears to be approximately a 45-degree angle. The legend tells me it shows I have recovered 26.1% of a possible 90% functionality. Cervical (neck) vertebrae are no longer misaligned, thoracic (shoulder and chest area) vertebrae are no longer misaligned, lumbar (lower back) rotation is no longer limited to the left. In English, that means I can twist from the waist to the left, but twisting to the right is still limited. Looks like there is still work to be done there. More work to be done, I see, in the sacral area (lowest back, down by the tailbone), the shoulders, and the feet; but I can live with that, as I watch the improvements happening. After I’ve completed 12 more sessions, there will be another re-test, and I am confidently expecting to find that I’ve improved 50%!!
• Dr. Klein has started working on my spine on the stationary chiropractic table, manually, instead of just using CAM while I am sitting up. This means I have to arrange myself prone on the table: not a graceful process, I can tell you. I hate lying with my face in a paper-covered groove. I can breathe, that’s the purpose of the groove; but when he says, “Take a BIIIIIG breath,” I get a mouthful of that paper. It’s a little bit more crisp than toilet paper (kind of like the European toilet paper I remember from a trip to Spain in 1960 !), but still soft enough to get in the way of comfy breathing. Then Dr. Klein says, “Okay, now FLIP OVER onto your back.” Ha ha ha! “Flip” is hardly in my vocabulary; what I do is more like LUMBER over. It’s like some hippopotamus who’s been having a nice mud bath and now turns herself over to do the other side. It’s rather embarrassing, actually. But hey — a couple of months ago, I couldn’t even do this, so I shouldn’t complain, I suppose.
• The Feet… oh, the feet, especially the right one! The first time David Klein worked on that foot with his hands, he made an awful face and said, “Oh my god, it feels like a block of wood attached to your leg!” I guess the bones inside are all stuck together. I knew I couldn’t wiggle my toes any more, and I knew I couldn’t rotate my ankle. But why, I wonder, did the orthopedic guys say there was nothing to be done to relieve the pain in that foot except FUSION? If the bones are already fused, in effect, what good would that do? I would rather take a chance that David’s going to be able to break up some of the cartilage adhesions and get the bones moving again. If, a year or so from now, he tells me he’s done all he can for that foot, and if it’s still all stuck and wooden, then maybe I will think about surgical fusion. But I bet that won’t be the case, because already… already!… I am seeing my toes move a bit, and the ankle and foot are less painful. This chiropractic stuff feels like some kind of miracle to me. Or maybe it’s just magic, and David Klein is the wizard. (Oh yeah, forgot to mention — he’s working away on the left foot too. Maybe I’ll end up with a matched pair again.)
• The Shoulders: these were the guys that were going to have to be surgically replaced within the next couple of years, remember? Well, almost without realizing when it happened, I can now twist around in the driver’s seat and put my right arm along the back of the passenger seat, and look out the back window to see if any cars are about to mow into me. (This is critical when trying to back out of parallel parking in front of Seaside Chiropractic, since the entire street is being torn up for a huge “improvement project,” and the lane is very tight.) They both still burn and scream at me when I move just a fraction of an inch too far, but they’re getting better. They are getting better. There’s another miracle. I would bet good money that I won’t need to have those surgeries done. David Klein is pretty certain he can restore enough range of motion and mobility, and reduce the pain enough, that I won’t need replacements.

Where in the world has CHIROPRACTIC been all my life? Or where have I been, not seeing that chiropractic was there?

Okay, that’s enough wallowing. I am now officially Caught Up. I want to thank some great folks for taking the time to read this blog, and posting comments. Seaside Emily, here’s to you (clink!) — and dk, l’chaim to you. You guys are the best.

“HANDY FASHION HINT:  If you lug your life around in an oversized handbag, take note: Carrying a bag that weighs more than 10 percent of your body weight can cause improper balance, cautions the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). To prevent your heavy hold-all from becoming a health risk, avoid placing its weight on one side of your body by frequently swapping shoulders. When buying a new bag, pick one that has a wide shoulder strap that can be worn over your head, as this will help to distribute its weight evenly across your body. Lastly, make it a habit to de-clutter your handbag on a regular basis.”

I am certainly guilty of putting most of my worldly goods into my bag and slinging it over my left shoulder, almost every day. My excuse is that I use the cane on the right side. You lose a whole arm for carrying stuff when you have to use a cane for walking.  And I have a terrible time “de-cluttering”:  I NEED so much stuff with me! Makeup… my wallet (heavy, maybe I should take out all the coins)… two key rings (one for house and car security, one for car door and ignition)… my water bottle, usually fresh out of the freezer… and the lighter things like a handkerchief, business card case, small hairbrush, sunglasses, reading glasses, shopping list. Now, how dumb do you have to be not to realize that a decades-long habit of using a shoulder bag just MIGHT have something to do with the fact that your shoulders have virtually disintegrated?

I really have to work on this. It seems ridiculous to be so thrilled with my improving shoulder range of motion and lessening pain, and then to walk out of the chiropractic office with 12 pounds of junk weighing down one of the shoulders. It’s like what someone told me years ago, when I was a teenager. That was a time when just about everybody smoked, and just about everybody could hardly wait to be able to pass for 21 so we could drink. And then somebody said to me one day: “Smoking and drinking alcohol simultaneously is just like kicking yourself in the butt so you’ll go faster, and beating yourself on the head to slow yourself down.”

Is there a parallel here?  Or perhaps a paradox?

Yup, just as I expected: I can turn my head from side to side pretty freely! I can twist my torso at the waist from side to side! I can even bring each arm behind my back; not very high, and not for very long, but oh my gosh, I can do it! David Klein says he is “shocked,” and that I have “more than exceeded his expectations for the first few months.”  When Cheng Cheng, the part-time student computer whiz, comes in next week, she will make a graph for me showing how far up the curve I’ve come.

I can’t wait to see that.