I'm back and one pound lighter

february 28, 2014

great news the pain is almost completely gone and i'm back to my old self. still going to physical therapy and doing new exercises there. i'm also attaching some pictures i took today while there.

they have me working with the large ball doing sides to sides with my legs and in and outs, and taking a small ball and squeezing it in. additionally they added the leg press pictured above, leg raises, and stretching exercises. then at the very end they apply heat to my back and calf muscle.

before i saw improvement in physical therapy, they were giving me the needle treatment which proved very painful. the needles were hard to bear but when when she would scrap it the pain just magnified and she told me it was ok to yell or do what i needed to do. i just madly wiggled around trying to endure what had to be done. after about four on those treatments, it finally turned it around and the pain was almost non existant and i could sleep pain free. 

my regular doctor came back with my lab results which showed my uric acid threw the roof and she put me on medication for that. this causes painful gout in my big toe. due to this i had to change my diet to keep the uric acid down, so i cut back on red meat by fifty percent by eating it every other day and eating more chicken. had to cut way down on sodas and increase my water intake. increasing the water intake also help eliminate those painful leg cramps i was getting. also had to cut down on seafood which i love.

up next for me in the medical department is on tuesday i have a colonocopy procedure. they will give proprofol to put me under while they scope my colon to find out why my stomach hurt from time to time and to check for polys and other stuff. i'm at that age turning 50 at the end of the year when it good to get them to find stuff early like colon cancer.

as a result of those changes i lost one pound and that's without much exercise. diet changes are more important than the working out. it took me years to except that fact but it true. as a stranger told my wife and her friend while they walked during lunchtime, "you wouldn't have to walk so much if you cut back on your eating". good advice indeed.

that's what i have this time, so take care and God bless.

seafood blues and other painful sides

february 15, 2014

my doctor told me i can't have seafood because that causes uric acid that cause my gout to flare up. my lab test came back with my acid levels off the chart and now she's prescribing me medicine for that. certain seafood i can't have and others i can have sparingly. I know a big part of it came from me drinking two sodas a day at work since the water at work tastes bad. will start taking bottle water and stop drinking the stuff at work.

i love seafood and that just sunk in my heart i will have to cut down on that stuff. i will do more study on that topic to see what i can do about that. my freezer is full of salmon and i have tuna in the cabinet. my research so far said tuna is definitely a no no.

survived my first week at physical therapy. they convinced me to try needle therapy which is similar to acupunture. the dry needles go into the muscle to try and stop it from triggering or firing off which causes pain. then she runs a scaper along my calf and talk about painful, she warned me i could scream out if i needed to.

when she was doing that extra pain was coming out and i twitched and turned and couldn't wait til that was over. it did let me know i had more pain and in more places in my calf than i knew. 70% of it was in tight knots from muscle spasms all down the back side and down on one side.

thankfully in a few days some of the pain went down, now i walk like a old man. i kinda walk side to side. the pain in my thigh and butt area went away, now trying to heal the calf muscle. they have me doing stretches and a few exercises, then given ice and heat. 

so still under doctor care on the road to recovery. will keep you guys posted on my progress. until next time God Bless and have a good day.

doctor doctor

February 8th, 2014

had to call in work on Tuesday and go to my doctor as a walk in since i was up all night in pain from my back and stomach. My wife bill came in to meet my high deductible so the timing was good in that way as to me save me from having to pay for the whole medical bill. my insurance will pay for 90% of it now.

doctor told me my foot pain was from my gout flaring up, sending me to physical therapy for my back and did a bunch of test for on my stomach. on monday i will see the physical therapy to get that started. i can't wait to get rid of the pain so i can get back on my program.

tonight having fish for dinner, taking my medication, and resting.  will keep you posted on my progress. staying in the game, take care and God Bless.