Slimdude

Yes indeed, things are going relatively well. At the end of my shift last night I could barely move.

Sometimes it is very hard to explain to people exactly what this feels like. Imagine somebody had thrust steel rods into your back and into your right leg. All the way up thru your shoulders and neck. Now, near the middle of your back, they have attached a cable and they are tugging away at it. That is what it feels like. On “good days” it just feels VERY uncomfortable.

On “bad days” it is like sharp, white pain to even move a bit. Add to that when my knees have a dull ache and my left foot sometimes does the same thing. Taking Celebrex and the other mild muscle relaxer, the Flexeril… helps a litle. But I’m not on anything major.

I am currently undergoing tests to find out if there is something underlying like Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, or something in the Rheumatoid family that is causing me to break overall.

MarathonGirl asked how did I break 7 ribs.

Answer: About 4 weeks ago, I was using my chest to push on a piece of AGE which is basically anything we need to hook up to the jet to do our work. AGE stands for “Aerospace Ground Equipment”. Well, my chest sort of “popped” in. It is only painful for a moment, and I am used to it, honestly. But I still had pains that night everytime I would need to support my body in any sort of push-up style position…(to do my job I have to lean into the cockpit of a jet fighter frequently…) so I went to Medical in the AM to make sure I was “okay”.

Well…. initially they just took some X-rays, put me on “light duty” and sent me packing with some mild muscle relaxers. Nothing major. Maybe it was even Ibuprofin. But then a week later or so the Radiologist called and said he wanted to do a CT Scan for things he “noticed”.

Well… After the scan they called me and said I needed to come in ASAP!

Turns out that night I HAD fractured a rib in my upper left side, AND I had been living with SIX FRACTURED ribs in my back for AT LEAST two months. I do not know how I did it, only that I have been having more and more pain the past few months and they were very dismissive of me everytime I went over there.

So now I am on a waiver that says I can basically do nothing until I heal.

On some days now just getting up from the couch and to the kitchen is a major ordeal.

But I am determined that I will heal up by the end of this year and be good as new.

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Sorry for the long post, BSers, but I also have some other things to write about besides my ribs and all that jazz.

I ordered a little mini-pedal bike thingie from Amazon.com and it arrived last night. I’m so happy because it means that I can get in some sort of activity while I sit on the couch and watch TV. I will let you know what I think and which model it is in case you have similar issues to mine and can barely do anything for exercise.

The great news is, even without strenuous exercise, I have been faithfully adhereing to my diet of about 1500 cal per day of good food and I am dropping weight. The scale hovers right around “143″ which is my goal for this week by Sunday.

No binges though I will tell you what I have done is tell myself I can have unlimited water, diet soda, celery, gum, pickles and sugar free gelatin with FF whipped topping. So sometimes I do have a baby pickle, a diet soda and some jell-O and even if I sit there and “pig out” on this stuff it doesn’t add up to nearly the calories I used to set myself back on a binge.

So I think changing my mentality from “can’t snack at all” to certain foods that I can eat as much as I want has really helped. I usually get satisfied with a few pickles and maybe one or two Gelatins, sometimes all it takes it water and diet soda. Anyway, it has helped a lot.

Just a thought.

Tonite is my Favorite Show: Last One Standing.

—Matt