Pressies all done and dusted by the end of last month, just cards to post but they're all written out. I started buying pressies in the sales after last xmas cos a: I'm tight, and b: bloody well organised. Meat for xmas meals (one just before xmas for 11 people and a small one on the day itself for just the three of us at home) is all ordered and will be delivered, veg out of the garden. Christmas is easy ☺ Have gone for game this year, nice bit of venison, some stuffed partridges and a three bird roast made of duck, pheasant and wood pigeon....yum
If previous post was smug, its because after nearly six years suffering from continual sciatica and lower back pain, I have just been diagnosed with piriformis syndrome. I've had six or seven different doctors give me six or seven different diagnoses, all of whom blamed it on lumbar and disc problems so have been trying treatment and physio based on that, which ended up aggravating the problem. Now I've found out that it is almost entirely caused by a damaged muscle in my hip and can actually start to treat the cause properly. After losing a permanent job due to not being able to carry out my role, and having to give up many hobbies, I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel...am so happy, its like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders. That's all the Christmas present I ever wanted so am completely buzzing at the moment. Give it a while and I'll turn back in to the grumpy bugger I usually am, but at the moment everything is right in the world for me.
Thrilled for you...back pain is so debilitating because you get no rest. Mine was acute...not all the time....and that was bad enough. Hope it all works out for you
That's great news RJ, all the best for a complete recovery. Interesting how it's hip-related. A few years back I had a problem where I couldn't put weight on my right knee, and eventually went to an osteopath. He watched me limp into his room and said "there's nothing wrong with your knee, your hips are out of alignment." A few minutes of pushing and pulling and I walked out completely pain-free.
Thanks Fran. It's one reason why I've attended so few games in the last 2 seasons, as I can't sit for any length of time, especially in cheap plastics seats plus driving is misery. Fingers crossed I can start going to games again
I went to a chiropractor and she straightened my hips as well. Haven't had to go back for nearly two years, but if it did recur, I'd go straight back.
Cheers Chilco. Bodies are weird aren't they, how one seemingly unrelated thing can cause a problem somewhere else. I was born with displaced hips, and although it never stopped me doing anything, its possibly caught up with me now. I was a pretty good athlete as a kid, sprint and long jump mainly at a reasonably good level ( 10.5 second 100m and well over 7m long jump) however just walking up the stairs recently has been a chore. I hope to be fully mobile again once I start some targeted physio and exercise
Great to hear. Wish you a speedy recovery. My g/f (a physio) is interested in who eventually diagnosed you and was it due to a scan, as she says the docs should have seen it from there earlier ...... Anyway, it's good that you're feeling so much better about it, as a positive frame of mind always helps, I find!
Christmas is magic when you're a kid, just for the big presents when you're a teenager, kind of lost in your early twenties, magic but hard work when you have your own kids, dull when they leave, and magic and easy again when you're a granddad and staying at your daughters for a week!
The thing I concentrate on these days is the passing of the shortest day [this year 22nd December]. Then my winter depression starts to lift. Depression is too strong a word. I don't suffer from the malady, but during the time between the clocks going back, on the last weekend in October, to the Sun starting its journey back up to the northern hemisphere, my spirits are definitely a bit lower than normal.
Indeed, I think I mentioned about an osteopath identifying a skiing accident I had in the early 1980's and finding a fused rib, which is the centre of any problems I have be it possible joint problems and even my digestion.
The body is a funny thing. I remember a friend of mine was getting pain in his fingers a few years ago. The problem was eventually traced to his hamstrings of all places. Apparently they were tight (or short?) which affected the way he stood, which changed how he held his shoulders and eventually led to pain in his fingers.
You're not wrong there Puck. I stood in the bedroom this morning, naked with my hands on my hips, pelvic thrusting, saying to the wife, "Hey hot stuff, want some of this." She burst out laughing, so yes, the body must be a funny thing.
