Medical Test Results

This year the normal winter doldrums were punctuated with getting caught up on medical tests and procedures.  It certainly makes sense to get it all taken care of during the time of year that I am housebound.   Rather than focus completely on the medical aspects, I'm choosing to focus on the promise of spring.... the emerging brightness that punctuates my day if I only look.

The irony is not lost on me.  Within the scabland of Eastern Washington is emerging beauty that can easily be lost if you only look at the basalt rock and sagebush.

 

I won't bore you with all the details but I am generally in good health though aging takes it tole on the old bones and the Doc's are watching a number of issues.  A little tinkering with meds and I am good to go again for summer.
 

I have been waiting for the results of bone scans (I have the beginnings of osteoporosis which explains the recent broken bones) and the MRI on my back.  I have a wedge deformity in the mid back.  It's location makes any treatment difficult and risky (as in move my heart and lungs to get to the  collapsed area.) without promise of any improvement.   The bottom line is to keep doing what I am doing to strengthen the support muscles and rest often to relieve pressure on the nerves when needed.  Prolonged upright activity produces pain so moderation is necessary.

It is not going to get better, rather it will become more painful as the scoliosis progresses. 

If I were looking for reasons not to travel, I guess I would have them.  But I'm not. I'm looking for ways to adjust and look forward to a future that still includes exploring and travel as part of the plan.   The new Roadtrek is just such a modification.  (So nice to have a bed handy to lay down when pain dictates the activities for the day.)  I will need to adjust my activity levels.... my desire to see beyond the next bend of the trail will need to be tempered with reality.

There is so much to see, so much to experience, I want to see it all.  

Life often requires us to adjust our sails to the wind.... 

 and so I shall.