In A Bed
Good goat times today. Yes! I badly needed that. It’s been 2 weeks since I saw them. I can’t remember the last time I went that long without a goat trip. Must have been back when my eyes started going bad.
So it was really good to get out and goat. The walk there took me about twice as long as usual. Staggering through dense fog like some kind of Frankenstein’s monster. I managed to step in a hole in the pavement which sent a jolt through my body and severe pain in the arm. But other than that the walk went ok. Slow, but ok. My back is not good. It was mainly that which slowed me down. I have a feeling I’ll be needing treatment for that soon. But my arm and shoulder is my first priority, since I can barely do anything and can barely sleep for the pain.
Whwn I got there I was greeted by Jeanette, who seemed very happy to see me. We talked about what had happened. And also, she added me on Facebook so she can send me goat pics and vids when I can’t go. Which is lovely and kind of her. I’ll have to get used to the idea that she might read what I write about my goat trips now. Haha. You all behave!
But it was good to see her. And so good to see the goats. Lots of cuddles and snuggles. Yes, I had originally planned to just spend time at the fence to make sure I didn’t get hurt. But as soon as I go there, that went out of my head. I had to go in. And I did. Jeanette opened the gate for me. And I went up and sat in the goat house. I was careful to keep my arm against my body and not get in any trouble. Mia resting her head against me. Lots of scratches for Sky and Milo. They seemeded to be doing well. Jeanette said she hadn’t seen Mia limping, but she hadn’t been walking around much so it was hard to be sure. But they seemed good. They’d been constantly scouting for me while I was gone apparently. Aw.
I didn’t stay super long. Maybe 30is minutes? The pain and tiredness was creeping in fast. But it was just so good to be with them again. Being with them melts the pain away from my mind, if not my body.
No camera with me today, not sure when I’ll be able to properly operate that again. We’ll see how things progress. One day a day. Next up is physical therapy. Here’s hoping for good results. Everything is better with goats at least.
I am completely pooped now. Not sure if I should risk sleeping in my bed tonight. I need proper rest, but I don’t know if I’d be able to get it. I’ll have to think about it.
Now, time for soup.
6/2 2023
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Well, I chickened out and did not go to bed last night. Slept in my comfy chair again. I am just scared of waking up with a busted back again. Sigh. I think I will wait until my physical therapy session is done. Then I will try my bed.
Not feeling too bad right now. Tired. But, guess what? I am typing this with two hands. For the first time since the accident. Now, I do have my right arm leaning on my leg and the keyboard, I can’t keep it up on its own power. But with the support, I can sort of type with both hands. So there has been a slight bit more of improvement. Still a lot of pain, but at least it doesn’t feel like there’s no improvement at all. So that’s good I guess. I try to do a lot of exercises for the arm. I’ll hold my right arm up with my left one and then try to move it around as much as I can. Maybe that’s helping. Or maybe it’s just the trauma healing. We’ll see what the physio says on Thursday. One day a day.
That typing tired out my arm.
7/2 2023
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Here is your state of the Lasse address. How am I doing? Slghtly better. There has definitely been an improvement in strength and mobility of my right arm. It’s far from normal, but I can use it more. It’s not a straight upwards curve of progress, sometimes it’s a little better, sometimes a little worse. But it’s just nice that there’s some imrovement. I also feel like my general pain level has fallen a bit. There’s still bad pain with some arm movements, and some pain in the shoulder. But the general level isn’t as bad as it was previously. Last night, sleeping in my chair again, I had my alarm go off to remember to take my pain meds. But I was really tired and didn’t feel in pain. So I postponed it. Went about 3 hours longer that normal without taking more painkllers. And didn’t feel worse pain. And didn’t feel pain in the arm while sort of lying down and sleeping. It gives me a little hope that maybe I can manage to sleep in my bed again soon… although who knows, I might still not be able to do that comfortably. And my back is still a concern. Not too bad right now, but I still feel like sleeping in my bed could mess it up again. We’ll see, I’m planning to try it this weekend. Because I do need some actual proper sleep in a bed soon. I feel that.
But yes, generally speaking there are improvements which is nice because for a while I felt like I was never going to get better. You know how fatalistic I can be. Pizza, soup and cake helps. And I hope I can start seeing the goats regularly again. I won’t be able to do the normal goating, playing and running around and filming and being carefree. But just sitting with them will do me good. We’ll see what the physical therapist will say and how that will proceed.
Thank you everyone for the love and support and advice and experiences shared. I appreciate you sticking with me even though I haven’t been a lot of fun lately. Sorry if I have missed important stuff in your parts of the world. It’s even harder keeping up with the facebox right now. Other than feeling crummy there’s also the fact that not sleeping properly messes with my eyes which makes reading a lot of text harder. I’m mostly watching youtubes and listening to podcasts. Currently listening to Gametest Danmark’s Gametoast Game of the year 2010 podcast. Good stuff! Six hour podcasts with reviewers discussing and bargaining to make a list of the best games of the year. I wish they still did those, i’ve been listening to all the old ones. Anyway, none of you know what Gametest is so I should probably shut up.
Hang on, hang in there, let it all hang out. Keep watching the skies. The AI balloons are coming for us all.
8/2 2023
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Good physical therapy times today. My first proper session. It was not what I expected. I had been told I’d be getting shockwave therapy. Instead I got… acupuncture. So there. I have to say, afterwards, I was feeling like my arm was stronger and more mobile. But whether that was from the acupuncture or just the general improvements, I cannot say.
The physio started by examining me. He told me that he could tell just from looking that I had less muscle mass on my right side. That surprised me a bit, you’d think the arm you use all the time would have more muscle mass.. or no? I don’t know. Anyway. We talked for a bit and then he stabbed me with needles and let me rest with them for 10ish minutes I guess.
He said, as the first therapist had, that it’s had to really do physical therapy when my movement range is so limited. So we have to get that up and improved first.
I asked him if he thought it might be a good idea for me to get an mri scan to see if there was damage from the fall. “Because some of my friends thought I should have had one”. Don’t say I don’t listen to you guys! Haha. He said he thought that would be a good idea. At least getting an ultrasound scan I think he said. I’m not sure what the difference is. But they actually have a scanner in their clinic. Only problem is if I get it from them I’ll probably have to pay for it myself. Going through the doctor I might get it for free. But he said he wanted to do a couple more sessions with me and then he’d have more background to recommend a scan and then I can go to the doctor presumeably and ask for it. He also said that when I come back next week he’d try to ‘sneak me in’ and get a basic quick scan. And they’d give me that on the house. So that was very nice of him, we’ll see if that comes up with anything.
The guy I saw is in fact the owner of the clinic. So I’m seeing the top guy there, and he said I could keep seeing him. He seemed to be interested in helping me.
We talked about the steroid injection thing too. Unfortunately that treatment tends to mess with your blood sugar levels. My diabetes had come up when we talked about my situation. So that may not be an option for me unfortunately.
But that is where we are now. I’m going to continue doing my basic exercises that I got last week, along with some of the stuff I’ve thought up myself and you guys have suggested. Trying to increase mobility so I can do proper physical therapy.
Right now I am feeling the best I have sinec the fall. There is still pain with some movements and limited reach, but I’m starting to be able to do some things I couldn’t before. I didn’t take painkillers today because I thought maybe it would be good to see where my pain level is at. And in general, when not using the arm, I’m feeling a lot less pain. Almost none a lot of the time. I am hoping that will translate into being able to sleep in my bed at night okay… we’ll see. I’m gonna try this weekend. But it’s good that the general pain level isn’t so bad now. The painkillers never helped with the pains I get when moving the arm, they were only helping with the general pain that I was constantly feeling.
At least there is progress. I am not expecting to be back to normal in a week or two. It will take time. But as long as things are getting better. That’s something.
9/2 2023
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I can actually move my hand from my side and over to the mouse without using my left hand to move it. There’s definitely still some lack of strength and it starts to hurt if I keep it held up for too long, but there’s assuredly an improvement. Let’s hope it keeps getting better. Get ready for all the high-fives I’ll be doing!
9/2 2023
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Today’s Lasse report. After the positivity yesterday, I unfortunately felt the pain levels rising again. Not dramatically, but a bit. I think I was a littel too lax in taking my pain meds. I still can’t do without them. Must be vigilant. Doing better again now I think. Was able to whip up some mashed potatoes from powder, something I failed last weekend. Take my meds, do my exercises. One day a day. It is quite novel being able to lift my arm above head height again, even if just briefly.
The plan is to sleep in my own bed Saturday night. Soup on Sunday. Next week goats and acupuncture, not at the same time. Maybe some ultrasound. And hey, you’re all invited to my valentine’s day party, bring pizza.
10/2 2023
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How yall doing? I hope you’re okay. In the broader sense of the term.
I am doing.. alright. I suppose. Taking my pain meds and it seems to be helping. Slightly more mobile and little more strength in the arm. The best it has been yet, I think.
Getting ready to psych myself up to actually go to bed. As in, my actual real bed. For the first time in.. what has it been? A week and a half? Considering how much time I used to spend in that bed, it’s really kind of odd to have been away from it for so long. On the one hand I dearly miss just zonking out for an entire day, lost in dreams and dark. On the other hand, there is a certain freedom to not actually going to bed. Just sleeping in a chair when I need it, it feels more productive in a way. I mean, not that I’m doing anything worthwhile with my time. But I could! Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer decided just to take naps instead of getting full nights sleep. Yeah, I’m starting to feel crazy like Kramer. Well, other than.. you know. You know the thing.
Anyway. I was almost going to go to bed right now. At 4 pm. But I guess for my first time back in the bed I should try to go to bed at a more proper time at night and to not stay in bed for 20 hours. So. I’ll hold out until tonight and try to be sensible about it.
I am not sure how its’ going to go. I am definitely in less pain now. But I also feel the tugging in the arm, there is a lurking pain. And the past pattern has been that the pain gets a lot worse when I’m lying down in bed. So the question is how bad this current pain will get and if the painkillers will be enough to take ’em out. I kind of doubt it. But we’ll see. I’ll try to prop myself up with pillows. And tightly wrapping a blanket around my arm has helped in the past. So I’ll try that.
I mean, I’m typing this with two hands so there has been improvement. We’ll see. We’ll see. It would be nice to have a good night’s sleep. Perchance to dream.
11/2 2023
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Okay. It’s time for bed. Wish me luck!
11/2 2023
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Hello world. i am back out of bed. So how did it go?
Well, it didn’t go great. But it didn’t go awful. A little up and down.
On the bright side, I did not wake up with a completely broken back. some stiffness and pain, but the last time I slept in my bed I woke up and could barely walk. So there’s a definite improvement there. Probably helps that I ‘only’ spent around 13 hours in bed. I know to some that’s a very long time, but when you think about how I have enjoyed staying in bed for 20+ hours, this was more sensible after all.
On the downside, I had a hard time getting comfortable. The pain in my arm is still worse when I’m lying down and I had a hard time finding a position that would work. No matter how I propped myself or my arm up, it just wasn’t great. The pain isn’t as bad as it was last time, but it’s enough to make it hard to feel comfortable and get rest. I did get sleep, I did get dreams. But it was not a good, long straight sleep. But it WAS nice to be lying down properly in bed, buried in blankets.
So. Ups and downs. I think I will go back to sleeping in my chair for a bit. Maybe anothe week. Hope my arm and shoulder keeps improving. I feel like it’s gotten another little bit better, so hopefully the curve is trending upwards. I can do things I couldn’t do a week ago. So, we’ll take it one day a day and one night a night. As long as things are improving then there’s hope for .. improvement.
Thank you all for the good wishes and thoughts. I sure am glad I have this support system and perfect circle of facebook friends.
12/2 2023
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Good soup times today. Met up with my parents and brother and dug into a big pot of soup. I found soup in the s(o)upermarket that I can tolerate, but mama’s homemade soup is always better.
And now I have leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days, if I’m lucky. So that’s good. Pretty pretty good.
And for those of you who missed goatlogs, here’s a goatlog.
12/2 2023
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Spending my night watching old Craig Ferguson clips on the youtubes. Nothing will ever come close to his run on the Late Late Show. WHOS THAT AT THE DOOR GEOFF?! Do we have a picture of Paul McCartney? Crikey dingo. That may actually be the source of my infatuation with Kristen Bell, because she was one of the best guests on that show, and when Craig had chemistry with one of the guests it was magic. I could watch him talk to Stephen Wright all night long. Currently I’m halfway through a 2 hour compilation of Joel McHale visits.
Anyway, I’ll be sleeping in my chair tonight. Hope next week will bring further improvements. Looking foward to goat time, leftover soup and acupuncture. Maybe a little ultrasound. And maybe two digit temperatures, who knows.
Now, to finish this update, do you want an awkward pause or the mouth organ?
12/2 2023
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That’s all for now.