Life as I Know It: "Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body" ~Sobal

Well, I made it through my third prolotherapy round. Brad is busy getting ready for conferences this week, so my Dad took me this time. I had no idea what to expect with my Dad taking me since every time I have tried to show him the pictures from round one and two, he couldn't look. I'm not sure if this had to do with being queasy at the sight of all those shots, or if it had to do with one of his babies going through something painful, or both...

We took off yesterday morning for Mishawaka and on the way, we prepared for the upcoming BOB concert and listened to Seger. We also listened to Zac Brown Band, and my Dad educated me that "vaya con dios" means "Go with God," as he sang it on the top of his lungs a ~~lot~~ tad bit off key to the song "Toes."

When we got to the office, they took me right back to take my vitals. My blood pressure was high but my resting heart rate was fine. I'll never figure out my crazy body. I have to eat so much darn salt to RAISE my blood pressure since it's usually so low, and I hadn't even eaten any extra salt that day. Hmmm? Maybe nerves, pain, or the combination?

Then I saw Dr. Cantieri. I explained that I have still been able to stay out of my collar most of the time, but that my ribs have been freaking me out. He felt my ribs and then put me through various exercises. He realized with these exercises that my "firing" patterns were not working right, which could definitely be contributing to this pain. He told me that if I do not get these under control, I will just be chasing pain, and prolo will not be as effective. He then wrote this to my PT,

"Katie can not perform normal scapular stabilization, pelvic clocks, or glute firing in the proper sequences. All of these MUST be addressed before her strengthening."

Who knew? It kind of makes me frustrated because I would have been doing exercises for these things all along if I just knew...but now I do, and I will work overtime trying to get my butt to "fire" correctly. Before he started the injections, he explained that he does not want me back for four weeks because he wants to give me a solid month to improve these areas, and he wants to see definite improvements when I return. The challenge is on!

Then it was time for injections. Like usual, he mapped out where to inject based on my pain patterns. For the first time, I started on my back since Dr. Cantieri decided to inject the front of my ribs first. I was surprised and said, "This seems awfully bony....So I take it you can pretty much prolo anywhere?" and he replied with "anywhere there's a tendon or a ligament." Then I rolled over and he went to work on my neck and back. The good news is I had less spots to prolo on my neck this time...but I made up for it with more injections in the rib area and lower back.

Usually Brad is there and he counts the injections and takes the pictures. I felt fortunate that my Dad was able to go back with me without passing out so I didn't press my luck and ask him to count. All I know is I had somewhere around 60ish injections. My Dad DID take some pictures, but most have Dr. Cantieri in them, so I'm not going to post these, but I will post the ones of my injection spots. Dr. Cantieri and my Dad actually talked fishing while the shots were happening so I think my Dad got over many of his hangups. When I asked my Dad what he thought, he made a typical Dad comment of, "I don't know what the big deal is. It didn't hurt me a bit." I would have whacked him if I could.

When I was done, I slowly made my way off of the table and got dressed. I made my next appointment for April 18th, asked for Tylenol, paid, the bill, and we were off. I made it through the car ride alright (I've learned to surround myself with pillows in the back seat and it helps), and followed my post injection routine when I got home of eating eggs and toast for dinner, laying on my heating pad and pillow fort, throwing up most of the night (I think it's my body's way of telling me it's had enough), and trying my best to sleep.

Like always, I am now just praying hard that I will experience a lot of benefits from the injections. "Vaya con dios." Is that even the appropriate context?

Now it's time to hit the butt, scapula, and pelvic exercises hard! I am liking that this is something that is in my control! Watch out world, it's time to get them firing!