Living in a Different World

Hobbling around like some sort of crippled person because of my lower spine L5/L6 disks, I finally understand how handicapped people might feel when having to navigate the world of people who have no disabilities at all except for maybe their mental disability of never having the desire to be aware of those around them.

I am not eligible to have a sedated MRI until the end of next month and then it could be another month before I can get scheduled for surgery if the results of the MRI prove the Orthopedic doctor correct, which they probably will...  so, I will be living like this for about 90 days...

Living like what...  you ask?

Well...

I have pain shooting down both my butt cheeks to the back of my thighs that hurt so bad, I cannot walk or properly move my legs without holding onto something.

I have difficulty bending over or getting back up from being on my knees to clean up cat vomit.

I have difficulty lifting my legs to insert my foot into the opening of my underwear or my pants without sitting down and even then my muscles don't work right.

I have to use the handrail when coming up a flight of steps and even then, I can only move one step at a time as opposed to having one foot on one step and putting the other foot on the next step up.

My hips hurt when I try to walk and the pain is mild to severe and I have never had any problems with my hips before.

However, I can sit in a chair or couch with lumbar support without feeling any pain until I try to stand up erect.  Sometimes, my knees give way and I start to collapse and have to hold onto something to keep from falling.

It is reasonably uncomfortable to stand in one place like in front of the stove and try to cook something.

I try to avoid walking upstairs or any walkway that inclines because that is difficult for me and will slow people down behind me.  Walking down is not a problem.

My Orthopedic doctor says that I did not do anything to bring this on...  that it is just a part of becoming OLD...  and, that if I had not been active most of my life that my situation would have been WORSE.

I can only take small steps and walk like a penguin with my left side dipping down more than my right.

It's not a whole lot of fun.