Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Oh my aching back!

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Over the last year or so my back has been going out and spasming when I do simple tasks. It seems that if I’m doing a task, say some housework, where I have to bend slightly forward such as sweeping the floor, vacuuming or taking care of my plants in the garden my back will eventually start aching.

Yeah, I’m out of shape. Being off on medical leave for three years certainly hasn’t helped me stay physically fit!

Earlier today I had a doctors appointment. The doctors office is only a few blocks away so I walked there. That went fine, but by the time I was halfway home my back started aching. It snowed fairly heavily last night so perhaps I was walking fun as I made my way over shoveled sidewalks and streets.

My back pain usually goes away fairly quickly if I can lie down for 20 to 30 minutes, but this time round my back is still aching on and off. I guess I won’t be going out to shovel snow this evening!

Anyway, since my back has been troubling me occasionally over the last year I think it’s time to get one of those back massagers. My husband has a bad back as well so he could use it too. In fact I’m certain he’d hog the thing if I got one!

I found one that I like at Buy.com. It’s the Homedics VC-100 Back Charger Massage Cushion. You can place it on a chair or a couch or even use it in your car. It comes with a 110V AC adapter for your home and a 12V DC Adapter for your vehicle.

The back charger massages the muscles of your lower back. That sounds good to me!

It’s inexpensive too. Only $19.99! Still … we are more than a little short on funds right now so I think I’ll keep an eye on the site and see if the massager goes on sale and then I’ll snap it up. In the meantime I’ll stick to our very old heating pad.

Now that I think of it, with that DC adapter for the car I’ll probably never see the back massager. My husband will steal it and keep it in the car! Hmmmm maybe we’ll have to get two of them.

What do you do for your back when you throw it out or when it suddenly starts to hurt for no apparent reason?





Tired of seeing “fake” people on TV

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I’m still not feeling very well so I’m trying to catch up on the television shows that I’ve missed in the last week (due to visiting our friend in the hospital so many times).

I’m so thankful that we have a PVR. It’s like Tivo. We pretty much record all the shows we like to watch even though we try to watch several of the shows we like on the same night that they are on tv. This way though we can watch them without commercials and of course watch them whenever we want.

It’s definitely a good way to pass the time when you aren’t feeling well!

Is it my imagination or is just about every actor/actress on TV these days just a little too thin? What happened to shows with actors that looked like real people? I mean it’s like most of the characters on the shows I like are taking diet supplements like Ephedrasil hardcore or something. They’re just too thin, too muscular, too perfect …

Do you find that when you watch TV the people just don’t look like your neighbors, co-workers or people that you’d see in your city or town? I guess most of the stories aren’t much like real life either for that matter! LOL

Finally resting after a busy weekend

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It’s been a busy weekend! I’ve been to the hospital to see our friend that had heart surgery … oh … maybe five times!

She’s doing well but she’s groggy and in pain and of course she’s said that if she knew she was going to be in this much pain she wouldn’t have had the surgery. I told her once she starts to feel better she’ll notice that her pre-surgery symptoms like shortness of breath will probably be gone and as she slowly starts doing things that she hasn’t really been able to do for the last couple of years she’ll be happy she had the surgery. She wasn’t buying it this evening, but I’ll bet she’ll come around!

I’m still sick of course. What else is new, eh? I’m pretty sure that I’ve had a partial bowel obstruction going on since Friday or maybe even Thursday. If I don’t start to feel a bit better by tomorrow I might be going to the hospital for myself.

We also found out that another friend of ours, the best friend of our friends that have been in the hospital, is dying of Pancreatic cancer. He just took a turn for the worse today, so we might have some very bad news later in the week.

I know that some of you were probably expecting to see a Green Thumb Sunday post today. Between all the visits to the hospital to see our friend and my own illness I’m just not up to sorting through my garden pictures to post something for GTS today. Sorry.

Instead I’m lying on the couch watching 24:Redemption (we taped it on the PVR while we were visiting our friend in the hospital this evening). Geez it’s been a long time since 24 has been on TV hasn’t it? When was the last time a regular season episode aired … April 2007 or something like that I think! I can barely remember where 24 left off! I hope that between this movie and the start of the series again in January or February that they do some kind of recap show. I normally hate those shows (especially during the season when a show has been airing regularly (hint hint Desperate Housewives and Lost), but in this case I think it might be necessary.

Are you watching 24:Redemption this evening or did you watch the music awards or maybe even the Grey Cup (Canadian Football final game – like the Superbowl but not as well known)?

Stupid Crohns – when will it end?

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Other than being sleepy from lack of sleep this week (and weeks past) I haven’t been feeling too bad this week … well, up until today anyway!

I really thought this Crohn’s flare was beginning to calm down. I was wrong. Today has not been a good day. My stomach, or rather my abdomen, has been in terrible pain all day. I’ve had severe cramping, fevers and oddest of all my feet have been freezing cold, yet clammy to the touch. Yuck, I know.

I was lying on the couch this afternoon, bundled up in a blanket to keep warm. My feet were like ice cubes and every once in a while I’d reach down to feel my foot because they were so cold they felt wet. As if I’d been outside walking in the snow in running shoes or boots with a hole in them … you know how your socks get wet when you don’t wear proper footwear in the snow? Cold wet feet. Uh huh … and my feet were damp. It must have been a result of all the fevers I’d been having, but it’s not a symptom I generally have (cold clammy feet I mean).

I think the abdominal pains are/were a bowel blockage. I have strictures (scar tissues and narrowing of my intestines) thanks to the Crohn’s so blockages happen more often than I’d like. I think it’s resolving now – finally.

I also have absolutely no appetite. I’m not really even thirsty either, although I’ve been making myself drink plenty of water as that’s one of the way I resolve these mini-blockages I get. It’s almost as if I took a handful of appetite suppression pills or something.

I hope I start feeling better by tomorrow. Honestly that’s one of the reasons why we didn’t meet up with our friends husband this evening. However, I expect we’ll be in and out of the hospital visiting our friend who just had open heart surgery several times over the weekend, so I need to feel better.

I just wish I could have at least one day where I felt completely normal and healthy. That’s not too much to ask for is it?

Waiting for news

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Chris and I are just sitting here are home for news about our friends surgery. We haven’t heard from our friends husband or Chris’ brother in law who came into town earlier today to be with him.

We did call the hospital a little while ago and we found out that our friend who had open heart surgery today is in recovery. So hopefully that mean the surgery was a success!

Chris and I will be the main people visiting the hospital over the next week, so we’ve decided to stay home this evening to wait for news. Her husband is with Chris’ brother in law and another friend, and of course our friend that had the surgery … well we probably wouldn’t be able to get in to see her tonight anyway … so baring any emergency calls we’ll sit tight for tonight.

I hate waiting for news though. I wish someone would call us to let us know how the operation went.

Update: We just heard from our friends husband and it sounds like the surgery went as planned. No complications. He got to see her in the ICU for a few minutes and he’s feeling better now too.

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