My Everest…

I made a big mistake today when I went into physio the other day and he asked how things were today?   Bank issues resolved?  Yes.  Stress levels down?  Yes.  He checks my range of motion ..not too bad!  Alright if that’s the case then we are going to try something new !   Oh goodie!!??  We are going to try and get those shoulders back and work on your posture!   (insert huge groan) Everyone has been harped on about posture. We all hate it and we all slump and slouch and sit so horribly…when my daughter was home we would jokingly threaten her that if she didn’t straighten up we would put a broom handle down her back and duct tape it there! 

My posture was never horrible but it wasn’t great either.  It got worse due to my pain and therefore I just sat differently.  I constantly sit with my hands in my lap. This is a normal position for me. Hence my shoulders are slumped forward and the neck and spine follow and they can only put up a fight for so long but when they find comfort in that position…who are they to complain.  So now when they are told that they need to go back to where they came from literally.   After so many years it’s like clash of the titans happening. So he does his thing and asks me if I’m ok while he’s pushing (my mind is translating it as reefing…it really isn’t) on my shoulders trying to loosen things up. Then he pulls from the back and tries to do something and my body wants to trust him but doesn’t at the same time.  He knows it because my body is naturally moving away from him while trying to stand in the proper postural position. I am telling him I don’t like this!!! But he knows I trust him enough that I will let him do it …so as he tries to put me in a certain position and ask me to hold it a few seconds later it just naturally goes back to where it was pain free.  Hey I try to keep it there but if i don’t put all my brain power into that moment ..poof!  It’s back to its original non-proper postural position.  What happened to muscle memory??   Mine needs to be reset to like back to when I was 30! 

Like always if there are any after effects with any modalites I will feel it later on and I do unfortunately for physio he will need to either go gently or try something else. My shoulder felt like it was going to fall off later on in the day. My neck and shoulders didn’t like the stretches forced upon it.  Par for the course I couldn’t sleep because I was in pain.  Not good…. And it’s not like workout pain.  It’s pain!  So he will need to try something different next time.  He will pull out his nerd handbook for difficult cases ..personally I don’t think he ever closed it with me and we will move on.  But like I always say if you don’t try you won’t know.  

My shoulders were not happy for a few days and when I went to the chiropractor and I told him what was up he gently poked and prodded and as he did that my usual chatty self went silent.  I wouldn’t have even noticed had he not pointed it out by saying something to the fact that I can hear your thoughts.  I told him my mind was off thinking about moving and the million things I needed to do which in fact was true but I was also thinking …how much is this going to hurt today?  He adjusted my shoulder and he did my neck too as he could tell my body was on guard the whole time.   I sometimes feel so bad for him having to deal with me but he just laughs and moves on to his next victim! He has the most satisfying job around as you hear crack crack crack !

I think the flare bear finally released the bulk of his hold on my neck on Friday (3-days after physio) . It’s not like the pain was there constantly.   For the first day and ½ yes it was and then it was on and off when I would move my neck without my shoulders and upper body coming with.  For those of you who don’t know this is a big deal for me…after my surgery I was just moving my whole upper body to see behind me and slowly we moved our way up the body and now we are working at the top!   We got to the penthouse…whoot ! Sleeping on my side was a battle so I would take some meds to help with the pain.  I try not to but sometimes you have to.   No shame in that as long as you use them but don’t abuse them! Driving with a sore shoulder is not fun, it’s actually quite hard and then you add a sore neck into the mix…it makes it a bit more of a challenge.  So what do you do then?   You do as little of it as possible and you rest this thing if you can and let it be for the most part.   Keep in mind its a tad bit impossible with less than 9 days until moving and there is stuff still left to pack and all of it seems to be in that shitty location where you need to extend your arms!   C’est la vie! Do a bit and sit.  

Do a bit and sit…..I got into a routine.  I would wake up, wash, tidy, and have breakfast.  Grab an empty box, fill it, sit, get another do the same until I had 3 boxes filled or hubby called to do his daily lunchtime call. After lunch ..walk but lately Mother nature has been  loving the rain so I would watch something on TV and then either go pick up hubby or make dinner.   Yesterday we tried to switch up the after lunch routine to pack more boxes….and that already had the body saying hmmm nope I don’t think so.  Looking forward to finishing up with this move.  I am the type of person that likes to just go and git’er done. But my body won’t let me do that and after so many years you would think my brain would adjust it’s thinking to it …however it’s still got that mentality ingrained into it and I just can’t undo that part.  If they can retrain the flare bare…..why can’t I retrain that? Food for thought!