Update on James' Health
Written commencing at 2:10 a.m., Tuesday, January 26, 2010.
Yesterday, I had my third (and hopefully, final) epidural injection, the purpose of which has been to get my body to quit fighting itself. It has been a vicious circle with a ruptured disc causing a pinched nerve, which causes muscle groups to spasm, which pinches the nerve even further, etc. The doctor could tell by my countenance this past afternoon, even before I reported to him, that I have seen some significant improvements since the last injection a week ago. Small, baby steps, but still significant. But to obtain even these improvements has required that I remain in bed the vast majority of every day and night, limiting my “road trips” to the 5 feet journey down the upstairs hallway to the bathroom, and limiting my sitting-up times to 5-minute segments either in my recliner or at my laptop which is in my study a few steps beyond the bathroom.
So it is “thumbs up” at this point; looks like I can avoid an MRI and surgery. But he reiterated I could easily experience a painful relapse if I do not continue to strictly limit my time out of bed. So I am committed to “doing what it takes”—or in this case, not doing things—in order to allow my body the time to heal itself. Actually, this report is being done in segments not to exceed 5 minutes at the laptop. So I rested a while and now it’s 4 a.m. as I resume. This will be the last Update Report on my health which will appear on the home page. I have other plans for this area of the website; namely, the Stone Kingdom Chronicle. More on that in my Journal (blog) soon. Henceforth, I will provide occasional Updates on my condition as part of my Journal.
Meanwhile, I am grateful for the people I have who are handling the necessities of the ministry for me: picking up the mail at the post office, opening the mail, accounting your donations, processing your orders, etc. It has become clear that I will be unable to produce a Feed My Sheep mailing for the month of February, but I will get at least a single sheet letter out to those on the FMS mailing list to apprise them of the situation and to encourage them to check here at the website often as I will be able to produce at least a little bit in this venue from time to time.
Thank you all for your prayers and support in this personally difficult time.
James
Posted on January 26, 2010