Baby got BACK!

Okay, maybe not THAT kind of back. But my back, my actual back, is BACK!

First, a brief update on the state of my back. Six weeks of physical therapy have done a body some serious good. My physical therapist is an amazing woman. She always knew exactly where my pain came from (even when I couldn't pinpoint it, she'd touch something in my lower back and say, "Does this hurt?" and that would be the exact spot. I suspect she dabbles in some sort of magic...) and taught me stretches and exercises that not only decreased my pain but helped to build up the muscles around the affected areas. And you better believe I keep up with those exercises! Every night after I shower, I'm on the bed, stretching, waving my legs around, probably looking like a thrashing giraffe, but you know what? I'm okay with that. Because I feel SO much better.

I can walk. I can walk without pain. I've been going for 40 minute walks every day, in 90+ degree heat, simply because I can, and it feels so good. After spending the entire summer wallowing in a whole boatload of pain, the simple act of walking feels miraculous to me. I don't care if I come home sweaty, dripping, looking like I just climbed out of a swamp (I really do sweat a lot, it's kind of embarrassing); I can walk. And that, to me, is nothing short of amazing.

I learned some interesting things about my body during physical therapy, too. After the weird 'where my muscles in my lower back attach to my spine' pain went away, it turns out my other pain was coming from my right sacroiliac joint. Now, to me, there are three different kinds of si joint pain. The first one is kind of a creepy-crawly burning pain that snakes from the joint itself around to the front of the pelvic bone (and sometimes causes a weird burning nerve pain down my leg). It's painful, but not overly so; I can handle it without medication (and this is the only kind of pain I really have left, just little flashes of it now and then). The second is a sensation that someone is trying to yank my pelvis apart like a Thanksgiving wishbone (lot of fun, that!). And the third, which is by far the worst, is when the other two kinds of pain are present and my entire pelvis feels like it's weighted down with a thousand pounds. Movement is next to impossible when Pain #3 is hanging around, and simply getting up from a sitting or laying down position is next to impossible. I can handle the other two types of pain, but #3 is enough to make me break down in tears, because it really makes me feel like I'll never move normally again. So very frustrating.

Another interesting thing I learned is that I'm lopsided. :D My physical therapist was checking my range of motion one day by having me bend over and touch my toes (which I can't do all that well on a good day! I'm about the least flexible person alive, and my legs are ridiculously long. I usually give the excuse that they're just too far away...). She made a face at me and asked if I had scoliosis, which I don't. She then checked my spine (it's straight!) and said, "I'm going to measure your legs." Turns out my right leg is four-tenths of a centimeter longer than my left! Apparently, that's not terribly uncommon, but with my degenerative disc disease, it might be enough to throw everything else off, so now I wear an insert in my left shoe to try to make up for the difference. I could feel a difference in my leg muscles within hours of adding the insert to my shoe- how wild is that?

So that's where I'm at these days. Up, not quite running, but I'm okay with starting out slow. I've even added a few new exercises I found online to my nightly stretching and muscle-building routine. I don't ever want to have another flare-up like this last one, but if I do, I want to be prepared, to meet it head-on with stronger muscles and tools to keep me moving.

And with that, I'm off to change into some workout-appropriate clothing and head out the door for a walk. Because I can. :)