It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed an afternoon out with the kids. Today, I bit the bullet and decided to take Ben and Amy to our local cinema to see the new Star Wars movie “The Clone Wars“. It took a bit of preparation as I knew that I might not be able to sit down for the entire movie, so I made sure that I had some painkillers on hand to make sure that I didn’t spoil anyones fun.
The movie was pretty good, but it might have been because I started feeling spaced out after about 10 minutes. Ben and Amy enjoyed it, and because I was so zonked out, and didn’t feel the pain as I expected, it was a bit of a trip. Nice colours man! Amy drove home, mainly because I was still out there, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. We told Kim all about the movie, whilst helping finish off the dinner preparation.
It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and we managed to save a fair bit of money by taking our own drinks and snacks. By the looks of things, I think we were the only ones that actually thought ahead. The snack bar was packed and I didn’t realise that people get sucked into buying all of that junk food, when they can walk 200 metres into the shopping centre and get it for a third of the price! Maybe it has to do with the total movie experience, or I am just not willing to fork out my hard earned cash on crap. Frugal to the core.
Even though we are strapped for cash this month, I still managed put some aside to celebrate (or commiserate) the 1st anniversary of my back injury by doing something I wouldn’t have normally done (sit down). The kids enjoyed it as well, and it was a great feeling to do something for them for a change, as they have been doing everything for me during the acute phase of this last relapse whilst I was flat on my back.
Oh, speaking of backs, I forget to mention my visit to my neurosurgeon on Friday. The news was good as far as I was concerned. The MRI showed that there has been no further injury, other than the original disc bulge. Mr Maartens mentioned that a year is still a short time in the scheme of things for this type of injury and there maybe further relapses to come before it fully heals. So now we have finished what I am calling Plan A.
We both agreed to treat it conservatively for another 12 months, if that’s what it takes, (I hope it heals before then), but there is a surgical operation if I really get desperate and if the pain gets worse. Apparently they can fuse the L5/S1 vertebrate from the front to relieve the disc bulge from pressing against the nerve roots that have been giving me the back and leg pain. We called that plan C.
Plan B, which I will begin working towards now, is an exercise rehab program that my work is paying for. It will help me build up my leg muscles and develop core muscle strength. I will be starting the program at the end of August, all being well of course. I am looking forward to it, because I know that this will help speed up my recovery, and get me back to work so I can get stuck into some interesting assignments. I will also be able to do more around the garden, but I certainly won’t be doing any heavy lifting for a very long time, even after the back is fully repaired. I will just have to find a different way of doing things.
Unfortunately, after the smashing success of last weeks home movie Eco Boy, I didn’t get to do much work on The Eco Boy – Episode 2, but at least I have the story board mostly finished. We will have to film it next weekend. Sorry about that for all the die hard fans of the wee lad. Ben took a copy of the episode that I burned onto DVD to show his class as his monthly school project on Friday. All the kids in his class loved it, so I am told, especially the bit where Butch the Wonder Dog makes an appearance and the word Poo. Ben said they all laughed really loud, and his teacher had to rewind it again and again.
I also didn’t do much in the way of gardening this weekend, (still waiting for the seed order to arrive), but I made two wicked curries on Friday night, and a great Minestrone soup in the pressure cooker last night. I used home grown herbs for the soup, and some dried birds eye chillies in the curries. Nice and spicy, and full of flavour. I love cooking with home grown ingredients, but enjoy eating the meal even more!
Not a very green weekend, but certainly a cheap one!
Mate,
Plan A with a slow intergration of plan B sounds good for your back. Plan C however, must be viewed as an option not to be jumped at and only be considered if your quality of lfe means losing a little movement vs damaging youself further by masking the injury with constant pain killers.
Remember that you have friends and we will help all we can.
Glad to see you got out of the house and spent some time with the kids. Did Kim go too ?.
Have fun , see you on thursday.