Dec. 30, 2007 - 19:40 MST

WARMTH AND HAPPINESS

As the current year wanes and begins to flicker to a close it is time to count a blessing or two.

Our holiday season begins in late November on our grandson's birthday party, the eighteenth this time. One year we spend Thanksgiving with him and his folks in Oregon, the next year celebrate Christmas there and Thanksgiving with our Denver Family.

This year while having a grand time, my shoulder began to trouble me, growing worse as time went on.

I managed to get in to a doctor as soon as I could after we got home and to make a long story longer, saw a physical therapist and got started on that routine.

Christmas neared and after getting a stronger prescription for pain meds I was able to get into doctor on Christmas Eve Day at which time I was given a corticosteroid shot to my shoulder.

That and pain meds enabled me to enjoy a rather subdued but glorious Christmas party with family.

Our oldest son was unable to attend the party, even though at his church, as he had just come home from hospital where he had a knee replacement and didn't want to venture forth into the snow and ice.

I still have to sleep flat on my back as any other position brings pain to the max. I am maintaining on Tylenol.

Physical therapy now consists of some very gentle moves, which the therapist cautioned - "do not go beyond pain." I think she meant exercise, but don't make the pain worse. Which I shall do until I find out differently. Can't wait for the pain to go away before I do anything, now can I ?

Being a victim of SAD and using very bright lights in the winter normally, having this disability began to take away my comfort in life. There was nothing funny in life anymore it seemed. I had happiness and pleasure, but there was something lacking.

Today the lack began to be releived, I was readng the paper and got to Everyman's Medicine, the comic section and found several strips that had me hee-heeing and haw-hawing like I often did. Bingo, perhaps this is working for me and I am getting better. Today I also found that I could consciously relax the muscles in my shoulder before pain got the best of me.

The support in the comments by people who read my diary have helped immensely, as well as comments to my Xanga site too.

I feel very remiss that my entries have been few, but who wants to read a succession of moans and groans dealing with discomfort and pain ?

Hereafter there will be nothing said about it, counting on getting better by the day, however slowly.

But regaining my sense of humor a la Viktor Frankl is a great help to me.

That and an interest in what type of cliches and such shall come of the next 365 days and the fun and games in the comic sections will add to my WARMTH AND HAPPINESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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