There goes my MRI virginity........

So a Jew and a coward walk into a bar.....the Jew says, "Oy Vay, I got such back pain!" To which the coward remarks, "Thank God I got no back bone!"

Rimshot......

OK, fine, I'm no comedian, but today I did have an my very first MRI in my ever-ending quest to discover the cause of these weird and uncomfortable symptoms I've been experiencing lately.  They amount to a deep-seated ache in the backs of both my thighs with a corresponding sensation of my toes feeling like I just walked home in thirty-below in ordinary shoes.  Now, I paint that picture because I used to do just that; walk home from school in extremely cold winters in Fairbanks Alaska when I was in high school.  The toes are the first to experience frostbite if you don't get them warmed back up real quick.  These symptoms begin appearing sometime in the afternoon whether I've been working or not; just the fact I've been more or less vertical all day seems to be the trigger; thus we (my doctor and I) think I might have some nerve issues.  The MRI was required after the x-rays showed I had no obvious defects due to age or injury in my lumbar spine.  I can only hope something shows up to explain these symptoms because folks, this is getting OLD!  I have not had any really bad back injuries (that I am aware of) of late that would explain this latest problem, but I'm not surprised that SOMEthing is showing up after 15 years of pulling heavy patients up in bed.  The wear and tear this kind of physical job puts on the body is bound to show up sooner or later.

It was indeed an interesting test, a term the technician told me I was opining with much charity.  I didn't get any music to listen to on headphones; just a couple of foam earplugs, so I suppose my $75 copay only afforded me the economy MRI.  They told me the test would last about 20 minutes; I can only take their word for it, but I can say that I have never before heard such a wild combination of foghorns, bangs, thumps, and other strange combinations of noises before in one continuous symphony of annoying sounds.  Good thing I'm not claustrophobic, either, because the ceiling of that tube was AWFUL close to my face!  Whatever; I was very happy for the experience to be over when it finally was.

I want to thank Jules for her VALIANT efforts in responding to the challenge of my last post by commenting TWICE to that one post!  So far she is the only reader PERIOD who even commented on it so I guess you can pretty much kiss the whole idea good-bye.  I do want to tell you, though, Jules, my good dear lady friend, that you HAVE sustained what desire I HAVE had I had in writing about anything at all, and for that I am most profuse in my appreciation for you as a friend.  I am SO blessed for having had the one opportunity so far to have met you and Blan at least once and I hope one day to see you both again.  You both are blessed of the Gods even though I suppose you don't have much reason to believe in 99% of them.  As long as there is at least ONE of them looking out for you, I'm happy.

One other reason besides the respite from Southern heat that I love Winter so much for is the work I get to avoid for now that awaits me here on this acre of sand, which is buried in leaves and fallen branches which sooner or later THE Wife is going to want to rake up and dispose of in some fashion.  Me, I'd be happy as a clam avoiding a beach party to just let all those leaves fall where they may, as they WOULD if humans weren't around to interfere with the natural order of things and go raking them up simply in the name of neatness and this human obsession with order.  We don't have a lawn by any definition and this layer of leaves is actually good for the soil, but you know how it is.......Wives just can't leaf well enough alone! (hehe...I crack me up sometimes).

Anyway, I probably could come up with a million more things to prattle on about, but since I don't have a sizable audience to entertain, the pressure is pretty much off of me to produce verbiage and the bevy of nouns required by great and attractive writing skills.  But, dear rabidly loyal readers, stay tuned, for I am sure I will have something to report here eventually concerning either my spine or my spin on life here on this leaf-coated acre of sand somewhere on the outskirts of sanity.

Blessed be!