Here’s something interesting I haven’t shared: I’ve been losing my hair, lately. Like, a significant amount of it.
So there are a few things I know and acknowledge. I’m getting older. I’m in my 50’s. And yes, I’m gradually losing my hair in the way that all men who get older lose their hair.
But this is something different.
View from my seat, sitting around waiting for the doctor at a dermatology appointment. Naturally, I got bored, and started looking around.
Makes sense – the last two days working have involved pretty much non-stop heat. First in the back office area (which has AC, but I sealed off the room as I was working with insulation). And then a full day outside, in pretty humid and hot conditions.
There was an older woman who was sitting next to me. And I couldn’t help myself – I leaned over, and asked if she noticed the penguin.
At first, she looked at me with apprehension (which honestly, makes total sense). And then she seemed puzzle, because of course she could see there was this giant photograph of penguins on the wall. But then she immediately softened, smiled, and said that she too had spotted the miniature version, balanced on the frame.
I never noticed before today, but this is the welcome mat outside my chiropractor’s office. Funny people, these docs.
Unfortunately, the initial shot I received for my back pain hasn’t been overly effective. Things are improved (I can actually stand up from a sitting position without much effort), but I’m still experiencing discomfort during the day.
While the mornings are still a bit challenging on waking, they’ve gotten better. But I’m still struggling to remain standing for long periods of time.
I’m glad I was able to get on a call with my doc today. After some brief discussions, he agreed with me that another week wouldn’t really change anything. And he said that my earlier suspicions (from last week) were correct.
I was given a few options (medication, a second follow-up shot, and picking up exercises/training). I ended up going for all three, with the idea that I would pick up with my chiropractor once I actually felt like I could move without pain/discomfort.
Lately, it’s been a very frustrating feeling – I want to move, I want to do things. I’ve got work around the house I want to attend to, work outside to do.
And I can’t do any of it. I can barely move around, let alone actually do anything close to physical labor.
And it’s incredibly frustrating.
The whole day was a terrible blur. I was coughing a lot, and each time I coughed… it felt like a bolt of lightning going down my right leg, due to my back issues.
I had run out of the steroids I was taking, and the entire day was just hours and hours of discomfort. Every cough made things worse, and there was an awful, awful lot of coughing.
He also mentioned using contrast, which I assumed helped him to see where the injection would go when dispersed. He did this two times, I think.
When this happened, it felt like a lot of pressure running down my right leg. Imagine the feeling of heavy water filling your veins, and then getting stronger and bigger inside your leg. That’s kind of the sensation.
After the doc arrived, we talked about things and she ended up prescribing me some steroids for the inflammation (some kind of pack).
As I got up to leave, I struggled a bit to stand up from the chair. On seeing how much I was struggling, she said that she was going to increase the dosage.
On arriving, I had a form to fill out with some… interesting questions. Bullets? I guess I should consider myself lucky that I don’t have that as something that’s a serious concern.
Just in time, I guess – because after this weekend, I really did a number on my back. This was work we needed to do, but I don’t think we anticipated how much actual lifting we’d end up doing ourselves.
Liz went in for a flu shot today, and I tagged along. I haven’t been thinking much about vaccines and such, before the start of the winter season… but Liz has a lot of foresight.
She’s done the math, trying to figure out when to get her flu shot (and then allowing enough time to pass before getting a Covid shot), all before her big race.
The thing about getting older – there are additional things to be concerned about, medically. Today was a bit of a follow-up, from my earlier lame birthday present at the start of the year.
Shingles vaccines are done in two phases, with the second shot happening a few months after the first. It’s important to get both, so today… part two.