7 ribs big to major problem

 Tomorrow I get my rib injections! I am excited about that. 

I asked my chiropractor if he could let my pain Dr. know what ribs are the ones that are giving me the most problems.  Here is what he said. 

Rib Subluxation                                                                                                                                                  There are various areas where the rib head meets the transverse process of the thoracic spine.  The areas we find most often effected, but are not limited to, are T11 and T12 on the right, and T8,9,10 of the left.   Also on the upper right at T6 and 7.These are areas they could focus on in injections, but like I mentioned, there are primary sites and you get other less severe ones as well.

I look at this and realize 7 ribs are big to major problems. 

I did have my appointment with my pain Dr. last week. Did not change any medications. I asked her if there are things we could try besides chiropractor and injections. I am going to try a couple new things.          

1.  I am going to try PT. She has a pt person is really good with my conditions.                                      
2.   Going to try also working with a pain physiologist. She works with learning to live in the now. Where my condition is and expecting it. Finding ways to live with it and not over doing it. Saying no without guilt. Dealing with some of the trauma the did cause some of the damage.                                  
3. Then of we are in the process of purchasing our place in AZ.                                                     
4. John also talked to me about reducing my gluten intake. I got very lazy and have let that go. John said he thinks I feel better with I reduce my gluten intake. He is right. After covid. My tastes changed and that is when I got lazy on this. 

Back to MN. weather

 Don't you just hate it when you write this long blog/letter/ post... and then your computer gets  a stupid error and loses everything. UGH. Well I that is what happened to my last blog post I did. I wrote it in the truck on our way back from Arizona to Minnesota. When I had 26 hours in the truck. Hey, I am back to it now!

Dear Minnesota. My home state that I love is not showing me much love so far the last 5 weeks we have been here. The temperatures are not staying in the averages. It is still snowing. Not even the April showers. It took 2 weeks before my body went a little crazy from this weather.  It has been to the point I seriously thought about flying back to AZ. and staying with my aunt for a bit. 

While home these past 5 weeks I have gotten busy seeing my specialist.

1stwas my hand specialist. I had a cortisone injection in my right thumb. The PA who did my injection for my Dr. talked to me about thinking about having surgery on my thumb. Maybe something I need to consider for next summer. Especially since the injection didn't fully work this time. I have noticed my thumb in my other hand starting to act up. We talked about that. We decided to get some baseline x-rays. Sure enough. That one has arthritis in it also and it is slipping of it socket also. It is not bad. Just starting.

I was able to get into my pain Dr. last week for my yearly consultation. I asked her if there was other things we can look at besides injections and chiropractor. I told her I felt like the rheumatologist gave the suggestions. But I really don't know where I should be turning for over all care or if I should be doing something else. Seeing someone with spine knowledge. She said good news she is a spine Dr! She is going to have me try PT. I have to go a little ways for the person she wants me to see. But that is ok. I am willing to try him. He is suppose to be really good. He will not over push me and he works with people as sever as I am. Monday I get set up for my injections. PRAISE GOD!

And back to seeing my friend Dr. Mike. Last week I had 4 ribs out and was loaded with inflammation. 3 days I did not move. It actually almost landed me in the Urgency room. With John's help I made it through. 

I am so thankful for John. These last couple weeks and even more so this past week after 4 ribs went out he has been looking out for me. He is so concerned. God has blessed me that is for sure.

New procedure trying now that covid is over.

 What a month it has been. Full of fun, family and covid. I thought I had allergies for a couple weeks. 

 I thought I was having allergies. It was playing like a bad allergy attack plays on me. Turns out I had Covid. I got ran down pretty hard. As I had said earlier in posts my ribs were making good progress on staying in with the new treatments. I had such sever coughing I was throwing ribs out daily. I felt like I was back to where I started. 

Since I did not realize I had covid until way late in the game only person in my circle that ended up getting it was John. I am so glad about that. God really watched over us. He had it about a week. He lost his sense of smell. that is slowly coming back.

The coughing has finally settled down. Covid symptoms have almost all gone away. There area a still a few lingering symptoms here at 7 weeks. With the cough very light we are back to working on my ribs. 

Dr. Abhrams. is trying something new. He did 2 things last week. Both I saw HUGE improvements afterwards. He did acupuncture on my ribs on my back. Then he tried it in my front to target discs through the front. His thought was maybe there is something going on with the discs on the inside and this is the only way you can get at them in on your front side. I don't know how but I felt so much better after the treatment. So my next treatment he did chiropractic treatment on the front also targeting this area. In 1 weeks time the improvement is incredible. 

Knowing we leave AZ. in 3 weeks he is working hard to get my body in line. Don't get me wrong he has the whole time. Right now he is feel a deadline to get my ribs in a good spot before I leave. I am grateful for the progress we are making. 

Relief and sleep

It's been a week since my last post and I can excitingly say my ribs have not gone out! I have had 1 night where I had discomfort this week. I know it was straining But it was more in the cartilage and ligament area. I let the chiropractic team know this and this week they have worked on this spot and it is getting better. I know before this my ribs would have been mush. I have greatly reduced the number of pain medication I am taking also. 

My feet pain had started to act up. after 2 treatments that has now settled down also. 

A couple days this week my sleep has changed. I have been sleeping 12 hours. Not waking up from pain. I think maybe my body is able to get more comfortable. I still take my pain medication at night. I usually know when that wears off. Because I wake up at the same time each night. These nights I didn't!

I have a new follow link that should be working better. Please Follow if you would like.

4 week intense treatment in AZ.

 Good morning from the sunny state of Arizona

My OA journey has taken me to a new places here in Arizona. I have started going to a wellness chiropractor clinic. It has been interesting to say the least. I was not sure for the week if it was doing any good. The 2nd week I started seeing improvements. I am going to AAAH Wellness Clinic in Mesa.  https://aaaahwellness.com. 

Now that Dr. Abrams has learned my body. What he sees is going on with my ribs. Dr. Abrams asked me what are my goals. I gave him 2 goals. 1 my ribs to stop popping out. 2. to lose 20 pounds. With that he put together a plan to help me start achieving that. 

First let me explain what he thinks is happening with my ribs and why they keep popping out of joint. If you have known me for a while you know the story of my ankles. How my ligaments have not held my ankles in place to kept them stable. This is basically what is happing with my ribs. My cartilage and ligaments are not holding my ribs in place. They are not supporting my ribs. My bones my be detreating. But we can do something now to work on my ligaments and cartilage to make it stronger and start doing it's job. Well that is the goal. That is what Dr. Abrams is working on. 

So to get my cartilage and ligaments is going to be intense treatment. I am going in 3 times a week for treatment. That is the adjustment. I may have stimulator also. Then 1 time a week acupuncture. That will be same day as treatment. Starting today I will be taking a supplement for metabolism and joint health. This supplement has some really good things in it to help with the health of building my cartilage and ligaments. Also will help with my metabolism for losing weight. Dr. Abrams would like me to change my protein drink up in the morning. I drink it hot as a hot tea or hot cocoa to a smoothly and drop 2 organic raw eggs in it. ewww. I was not in favor of this. I said I will try it 1 time. This is because of my protein needs. It will help with building my cartilage and ligaments. So many other benefits also. John is going to start this also. Then I am also adding 1 more element to all this. More on that later. That is for helping with my weight loss.                                 Currently I am in doing a external detox. I have 10 days left. I have been doing it for a month. It has really helped with sugar cravings for me. Just not there. I have taken some inches off. Right now not exactly sure how many. I need to get a tape measure. I know my tight pants are not so tight.

So I have big things I am working on in AZ for my body. 

Made it to Texas and seeing some pain improvements

 Hello from San Antonio Texas where the sun is shining and the weather is usually in the 70's-80's. We have had a couple days in the 60's. So pretty perfect in my world. 

I have found a chiropractor office here. That was a lot of work. Most places do wellness centers and do not take insurance or if they do there co-pays are high. What I decided on is a place that I paid a flat fee for 10 secessions. 

I go for adjustments twice a week. I can get messages also for $10.00 for 10 minutes. I have done this a couple times. I noticed about Sunday I was in less pain. Believe me my ribs are going out just as much as they where. But the pain is less. 

I really like this clinic. I would like to find something similar in AZ. And also back home. I like dr. Mike. But this clinic educates you. Every time I go I learn something.

One thing I learned part of why I am always cold is because of my OA.  The massage therapist noticed that my skin cold even on a nice warm day. John is always saying " How can you be so cold?" She asked if I ever get cold where I can not warm up? I said yes, where I wrap up in blankets, or I have to take a shower... She said that is because my bone marrow is actually cold. That is why I get bone chilling cold. 

One thing that was said is how bad my ribs are. They can actually feel the deformity in them. OA causes deformity. That would be why they keep popping out. Kind of knew this. But more conformation. 

We have headed south

 We made it to Texas last night about 11:30. 

I will be visiting a new chiropractor to put the ribs back in place. Monday Morning. Been doing a little research on finding someone. 

Before I left I saw Dr. Mike Both Tuesday and Wed. I told Dr. Mike I was really frustrated with my ribs. I told Dr. Mike this. I told him I was even quested about going south because of how bad my ribs are.  Dr. Mike knows me well. He knows how to treat me and everything. Dr. Mike said as far as he is concerned he thinks I can't get out of MN. and south fast enough. I need to get really to the AZ. where the weather is at a level pressure and temperatures. Were is is warmer then MN. the home I love. We will see how this experiment does on my body. Praying for some relief.