I broke me

[susandennis]

Every day, for very long stretches, I sit on my couch with one foot under the opposite (left) thigh or both feet up, cross legged. Yesterday afternoon I got up and ouch! My left hip, particularly, was pissed off.

By last night, my whole left side from my neck to my toes had a chronic case of tennis elbow. The pain of moving was some of the worst I have ever felt. The pain of not moving was a close second. Years of bad posture, particularly, bad sitting posture, hit me in the nerve endings.

It was very difficult to find a sleeping position that was not excruciating. The pain stabbed when I moved and then would calm down after a bit when I stopped. It was a wild ride. I did get some sleep and this morning it is way better. I'm not going to hire the hit man to come end it all like I planned last night. At least not yet.

I do need a harder seat than this couch. I have two options here in the living room. I need to try them both out. And then, when one of them works, rearrange the living room furniture. I have an idea.

Last night I toyed with the idea of getting one of those chairs that lift you out - the ones they make for old people. The good news is that they are just too ugly. Plus, I feel like that's a skill - getting up out of a chair - that I need to retain.

So, today's plans include not sitting in a way that jiggers up my spine and muscles and tendons and not doing much of anything else. I was going to go to the new Amazon Fresh store but I have enough of everything on my list to last until at least Monday so I'm going to hold off until it is a little less painful to move.

I have a Mariner game tomorrow so my goal is to be able to go to that. Oh and I do need to dig out one of the N-95 masks for the game. The smoke is upon us.

Biggie is eating his dry food in a celebratory "I won the battle of the cat food!!!" manner. A little pre-bird catching nosh.

I need a shower. I'm very grateful today for that big grab bar in the shower!

Comments

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Sciatic nerve? I used to get that from sitting. Ibuprofen or Aleve or similar.

Meanwhile I'm watching you move furniture. The flight is just too long for me to help.

[susandennis]

I thought I'd see if I could push the couch over a bit to move one of the chairs in that spot. In the beginning it felt like I couldn't do it but I did!! It's actually not so painful. I think the Ibuprofen has kicked in. So, yeah!

The plan is to test out the one chair and if that doesn't work, test out the other. Once I find the one that works, I plan to beg Frank to come over and help me re-arrange everything to nice again.

I'm thinking the purple couch in the corner and along the window. For now. I may have to ditch it all together. If you have ideas, I could really use them. And thanks for watching out for me. :)

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Couple of thots

1 — In my experience it was sitting in one particular chair, any chair, for a long period of time. No matter which one. Pressure on the nerve would eventually cause it to inflame. So I'd say what you are doing with the chair is good but setting it up so you can changes ways to sit and platforms is a good start.

2 — Either 'Vitamin I' or set a timer to take a lap every 20 minutes. Or both. I'd say keep the couch or (isn't it sectional?) half of it so you can use that sometimes too.

3 — Your laptop stand does not go up high enough so you can stand for a while does it? Long term would be bad but 10 minutes of each hour standing rather than sitting would help.

4 — You'll be able to go around the block in a month.

I found that my sciatic nerve caused the most problems when I didn't get some exercise. Usually a long weekend when I sat around it would go crazy by Sunday.

[susandennis]

I just read up on sciatic and what dr. google is saying about sciatica, doesn't really describe this. And I really wanted your suggestions on rearranging the living room furniture! hahahhaa but every single one of your suggestions is excellent, anyway.

The purple isn't sectional. It's really a bed with a pretty cover and bolsters.

This blue chair, however, is feeling good. it's firm. It's high enough to get in and out of, it works with the computer table. It feels good to sit in. I'm not hating it.

AND, per your suggestions, it would not suck to find an arrangement where I could easily swap out the brown chair with the blue so keep some variety. Maybe angle the purple against that corner...

[onelargecat.livejournal.com]

Oy. That sound so uncomfortable!

[lifeinroseland.livejournal.com]

Do hold off on the hitman. But, damn.

[susandennis]

I can't find one with enough stars on Yelp. And I don't really want to compromise on quality for this task. Might try Task Rabbit or Thumb Tack or, just recover.

[maju01.livejournal.com]

Having spent yesterday with a very painful wrist, I feel for you. Just a wrist pales in comparison to your whole left side.

[carriea31.livejournal.com]

I firmly agree with your plan to hold on to the skill of getting up, but I hope the pain goes away soon.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Susan, If the pain was sudden, have you considered it might be a kidney stone. I've had several bouts with them and the way you've described the pain made me immediately think of a kidney stone.

May the pain pass soon!

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

Those are my two chair positions. My left foot under my right leg, or cross-legged on the chair. I just can't seem to sit with both feet on the floor.

When our house was being built Mr. L and I thought we'd look for a couch. We went to this awesome furniture store in a tiny town of less than 700 people. They had those old people chairs. Mr. L tried one. It took so long to boost him out of it we laughed. If someone rang the doorbell they'd leave long before you'd be able to get out of the chair.

I see from a more recent post you seem to be a bit better. Whew. I hope the improvements continue.

[susandennis]

I just went to sit in my new tv chair and automatically curled my foot in so I could sit on it and NOPE not in this chair!! What is it about that position??

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

{{{{hugs}}}}

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I've often admired your flexibility to be able to sit in that position — how annoying that it literally bit you in the butt. Very wise not opting for a lifter chair. I did an exercise programme a few years ago where you had to get up and down off a sofa ten times, and it made me realise how many muscles it works just doing that. With zero extra effort required too, just living.