a kind of setback

Hello, I guess it has been a long time since I wrote a blog.

I am experiencing a setback of sorts. Being an up and down kind of person with energy levels anyway, and with some health issues, I often struggle with the same few pounds, losing it and doing great and slowly it creeps back up when I wasn't looking because my attention is elsewhere. Consistency here isn't the problem, as my 1,425 day login streak can attest. It's part of my day for a long time to come to Spark, even when I am not up to par.

I don't know exactly when my back went out, it was about 6 months ago I was complaining about waking up in pain, a "crispy back" I would call it. It didn't go away. In October I had a physical and had a muscle knot on the lower right side with an unknown cause. A couple of weeks later I was back to the doctor with increased pain, it had moved into my abdomen on the right and that could be any number of things, I had to get checked out.

December saw me getting a CT scan on abdomen and pelvis, with the bad news that I have a bulging disc and narrowing of vertebrae at L4/L5 which is causing a nerve pinch on my spinal cord and that is why my back and abdomen hurt. Well. I wasn't prepared for that, or the medical bills; on Original Medicare (which is not very good insurance by the way) the scan alone cost me $1,000 out of pocket which I don't exactly have laying around. I'd missed signup for a Medicare Advantage plan by just a couple of days when I got the diagnosis. So because of finances there isn't a lot I can do to get this treated, anything beyond pain killers (NSAIDs at this point) is not really within my budget. Until I can sign up for better insurance for 2022...

I hope I can last that long. Some days are better than others, pain is something new to me at age 46, I found out how grating it can be on mood (and I already have a mood disorder). On the bright side, it isn't causing stenosis yet, I can walk. Half a sit-up causes my abdomen to cry out, so much strenuous exercise isn't happening, but I can still walk without pain. I have to figure out what I CAN do to stay active and remain in minimal pain.

A lot of people have a lot worse things go wrong than this. I'm trying to stay as positive as possible. My next step is to see a specialist and find out what further options are that I can afford, perhaps when another stimulus payment comes around I'll be able to afford that appointment?

In the meanwhile I'll be around here, keeping on Sparking. There is a lot I can still do for myself for proper health. I hope to get out to my State Park this week perhaps to do some winter walking on trails in the snow, and get some pictures of the lake and the woods. That will be fun.