substitute paperwork was processed and I have subbed five times-- once
in junior high and four days in high school. The one day in junior
high nearly became bloody-- I absolutely hated it and wanted to beat
one kid with another. I can't believe I lasted as long as I did
teaching middle school! Those kids, well, alone I'm sure they're
charming and wonderful, but a room of 30 of them is torture! They
have no respect, they have attitude and seem to hate me for no reason
the moment I walk in the door. Heavens. And these past two days and
tomorrow I'm teaching sophomore math at the nearby high school. Much
better. I was blessed to have a connection to the woman who hires the
subs at the high school 5 minutes away and she's looking out for me.
Thanks be to God for the opportunity to help out the budget in this
way!
I've also had two epidural injections into my neck as my back pain
won't go away. The first was last Thursday, and I can't say it was a
party. I was only on the table for about 15 minutes, but it was just
yucky. I laid on my stomach with a pillow under my chest, chin tucked
to chest to open up the spine in my neck. The doctor, assistant, and
Brad all wore lead aprons as there's a live x-ray machine that is over
me, like an open MRI. The doc gave me a few hefty shots of local
anesthesia to numb the skin, and then sticks three needles between my
C5 and C6 vertebrae where the worst inflammation and disk rupture is.
He injects some contrast in and takes a few live x-rays to make sure
the needles are in the right place. Then he injects the steroid, and
then I'm done. It was really just unpleasant, not horrifically
painful or anything, and as usual I passed the time by clenching and
unclenching my fists, and counting backwards from 10, numerous times.
And sighing deeply. Afterward both Brad and i were squicked out by
the whole needles in my neck thing and drove home in a state of mutual
light nausea. I slept much of the day as the pain was a little much,
and in the evening my arms were all tingly and numb. That was pretty
funny. They were like heavily asleep appendages that didn't really
work well. So weird. But that's normal, they say, and by morning
they were fine.
I was supposed to feel much better by the next day and it was an ok
day, but then Saturday and Sunday the pain was worse than before.
Ugh. And this past week the pain was pretty rough, which meant I
needed a second injection. Which I had today, after subbing all
morning. They did the numbing shots and started in with the bigger
needles, and all of a sudden I felt like a pig on a rotisserie. The
room was spinning alternately side to side and then like a merry go
round. I said something and the doc quickly took out the needle and
shoved some oxygen in my face for a little bit. He said it was a
pretty natural reaction and if I had been standing up I would have
passed out as the veins were dilated or something like that. That
probably wasn't my favorite part of the day. But I was bound and
determined to get the darn shot done with, so we pressed ahead. I had
to keep my eyes open as the room spun otherwise, and jolting or
vomiting isn't recommended when one has three needles in one's spinal
tunnel. But the doc could see that I wasn't enjoying myself, and got
it all done in short order. We came home and napped, and had a lovely
crock pot dinner. Now I'm resting and about to nod off. The pain
from the injection is pretty rough tonight, but it should be better in
the morning, hopefully.
In other news, we have our Christmas tree up, finally, and decorations
around the house. It looks so cozy and festive and it's a happy place
to be. I'm enjoying Christmas quite a bit this year, and am
exceedingly thankful that our biggest complaint is back pain this
year, instead of a dark depression which last Christmas season was.
Thank you, God, for the gift of joy!
I don't have much else to say, and I promise to post some pictures
sometime soon. Love to you all!
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