Hi Guys,
I know I haven’t been posting at all regularly, but I still can’t seem to get my pain levels consistently under control. I’ll have a few good-ish days and then, wham! The pain levels go up again. I can function and do what I need to do, which is what keeps me from going into the ER. I reserve that trip for times I truly can’t function. But the pain leaves me with little energy or interest in doing anything extra. I usually love to write, but there seems to be a lot going on that requires planning and decisions, added to tons of medical appointments. We’ve been back from the wonderful visit with one of our daughters, son-in-law, small grandson and very new granddaughter for 11 days, and for the first 8 days I commuted back and forth to Kaiser for five of those days. I say commuted because I have to allow at least an hour of commute time each way. Sometimes the one way trip takes 30 minutes. Sometimes it takes 2 hours. What can I say? It’s LA. The trip all depends on the time of day, whether there’s been an accident, or there’s road work going on with a lane closed, or sometimes, I don’t know……….. the traffic simply seems to bunch up and then mysteriously clear. The physicists have a name for this phenomenon. I just call it unpleasantness. Luckily, for most of my appointments I need a driver, so I at least have a friend to talk to along the way.
The picture of the tree above looks a lot like part of me feels: caught in a seemingly endless snarl of traffic that is likely to be pretty similar today, tomorrow and the next day as I trace my way back and forth and back and forth to doctor’s appointments and hospital procedures. It also looks like the snarl of pain in my head that makes it difficult to see the green grass and pretty berries among the twisted tree roots. The roots are, after all, just trying to get a hold of a patch of earth that will support and nourish the tree as it tries to grow and even flourish, caught as it is between a sidewalk and a road, without enough real room to spread out. Add to that the fact that it’s watered only on the surface by timed sprinklers, rather than fed long, nourishing drinks of water that would encourage the roots to grow down, rather than sideways. It is doing the best it can, the tree. As are we all.
Zebra's Child 
Thinking of you Hannah, and sending hugs. I hope the pain snarls ease very soon.
Thanks Su. Your thoughts and hugs are always deeply appreciated! ❤
Good morning, dear Hannah~ I’m grateful for your post today in a way that I simply cannot express. But I really do hope you will get through this period of pain quickly and to the other side. Your lovely spirit will guide you through the snarls. Blessing and Love to you!
Thank you so much, Barbara. I always hesitate to post when I’m feeling crappy because I don’t want my posts to be simply a list of complaints. I do want to describe what life is like living with several serious medical conditions because I want people in similar situations to know that they are not alone, and that it is possible to keep putting one foot in front of the other. But it is often difficult to write about such things as pain levels and medical treatments without it turning into a long list of everything that’s wrong. And that wouldn’t be helpful for anybody, including me. So I am very grateful that this post provided something that you needed. Many hugs!!
((HUGS)) back at you, Dear!
Beautifully written. Raw and honest. Simply breathtaking blog.
Thanks so much, Jen. All the best to you!