What you see above is the reason for the title of this post… because I will be up on the shelf for the next few weeks as I finally decided to do the smart/mature/wussy thing and take a little time off from lifting. Why oh why am I doing such a thing? Above are the results from my MRI this morning on my neck. On the left are some of the scans from the profile for my neck and above is the cross-section view. The two I have my fingers on are shots of the area around my C5 and C6 vertebrae. It seems I have a delightful double-whammy of bone spurs on my C6 vertebrae (which, oddly enough are not really causing my current issue) and a slight bulge with the disc between C5 and C6 that is narrowing the nerve canal on the left-hand side.
And what does all of that get you… err… me? Pain, tingling on my left forearm and hand and a loss of strength in my left arm. Woo-freakin-hoo.
But you know something? 2 things occur to me:
- In the grand scheme of things, this is not the end of the world and totally pales in comparison to the kinds of health battles I’ve seen several people close to me have to endure. I think of those fighting leukemia and getting stem cell transplants and going through seemingly endless liver surgeries. Me? My neck has some pain and with steroids, physical therapy, rest and a dose of smarts, I will be just fine.
- On the smarts notion… I am a little surprised I am exercising them. Seriously. I tend to get irrationally stubborn, at times, with pushing myself through situations where I really shouldn’t. Somehow, I didn’t do that this time and I’m shutting down my lifting for all of this week and all of next. I hate it, but I’m doing it.
Maybe this will mean more consistent blogging for a chunk of time… and wouldn’t you, oh favored reader of mine, be just so lucky for that? Umm.. right? Maybe? Ok, take a few to think it over. The blog will still be here when you get back. Don’t forget me… I love you. Umm.. too desperate? That was too desperate, right? Damn it…
Glad you’re taking it easy. I know it sucks to have to slow down when you’ve gotten into a good exercise habit. But it sounds like you’re doing the right thing. And as one of your readers, I would be glad to see you writing more. You’ll be back to lifting before you know it!
jessica is right. also, you don’t want to mess with those vertebrae.. my dog broke 2 vertebrae, and well…. she doesn’t know it when she … well, when she poops anymore. just sayin.
Thanks Jessica – I hope to write more (and keep reading your blog more) asz well.
And Melanie, it’s not THAT bad for me! Good Lord! lol
exactly my point! you want to keep it that way! 😉
Oh man, Melanie . . . that’s not good! But yeah, you don’t want to mess with vertebrae. And Kevin, I better get writing more too. I have a post I’ve been trying to write but just can’t seem to get in the right place for it. Don’t know why. But you’ve been so prolific lately I’m starting to feel competitive 😉