It's Been a GREAT Day...

Quote for the Day:

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

~Herm Albright

Today turned from a stressful day to a GREAT day for me!  

If you know me or have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I've been dealing with lower right back pain for about 1.5 years now caused by significant arthritis in my spine.  The worst of it is in my lumbar spine, but I do have areas in my neck and thoracic spine, too.

Today I finally got my sacro-iliac joint injected!  It's been a long time coming...you know how the medical system is...referral...wait...appointment....more tests...wait...referral...wait...appointment...get scheduled for treatment...wait...etc., etc., etc.
Don't get me wrong, we are very blessed to have good medical insurance and care, but sometimes it just seems to take FOREVER to get to the final treatment!  

I was very nervous about having this injection because the only thing I've had injected until now were my heels to treat plantar fasciatis...and trust me...that was HORRIBLE!!!  I did get my primary care physician to order an oral Valium for me to take prior to today's injection, but quite frankly, after going through it, if I have to have it done again, I doubt I'll need pre-medication...it went that smoothly and was minimally painful.  Really, the only "pain" was the injection of the local anesthetic at the site...it felt like a "sting".  

The injection into the joint was done under fluoroscopy and the whole procedure took about 3 minutes from start to finish!  

I had almost instantaneous relief of about 80% of my pain.  I should enjoy even further pain relief over the next 24 hours as the steroid he injected starts to go to work.  :)  I was discharged with the instructions to "take it easy" the rest of the day.    Hmmmm...I hope that going out to brunch at IHOP and then a shopping trip to Goodwill fell into the definition of "take it easy"!  LOL

Prior to the injection, the shopping trip would have ended with me being in pretty bad pain, and may have even been brought to an abrupt end due to the pain.  But today, I had no pain or problems while shopping/walking!  

And to brighten my day even more, the Thrifting Gods were smiling on me today!  :)  It is difficult for me to find nice clothes at a thrift store because of my size.  If I find 2 things I feel lucky!  But today, not only did I find FIVE pieces of clothing...I also found neat quilty things!  How cool is that???

Now, remember...these items have not been washed, yet, so they are wrinkled from being in the bag...

First up is a Liz Claiborne shirt that still has the original tags on it...

A short-sleeved top from Chaps with crocheted lace neckline...

A nice CJBanks shirt...

A pretty, colorful sweater by American Sweater Co. and it's even made in America!!!  :)  Love that!

I also found this pair of Tommy Hilfiger capris!  :)

Then in the housewares section, I found not ONE...but TWO puzzles about quilts!!!  :D

A couple of years ago, for Christmas, my DS & DDIL, Paul & Trinity, gave me this framed puzzle for my sewing room.  

If I ever get these new ones put together, I can add them, too!  :)

I also found this "picture" for my quilting room.  (I look for pictures with quilts in them to hang in my quilting room, since I have more wall space in that room.)  This "picture" is about 12" square and is made from pieces of wood.  

As you can see, Lady had to check out what I had brought home!  LOL  The colors are very 80's...green and peach...but I might paint over the peach with another color...or I may leave it...don't know, yet.


Andy got some great things for resaling, too.  :)  


All in all...this day turned from stressful to blessedful!  (Okay...I just made up that word...but it rhymes, doesn't it?)


Loretta