Well what a difference a few days make. Sadly not for the better. You see on day one the body is still enjoying the benefits of the numbing agent injected before the steroids. It takes a bit of time for this to wear off.
So for day two and three there have been some rather difficult moments dealing with what is called ‘breakthrough pain’. For me, and the vast majority of people dealing within similar procedures the very fact that we are at a minimum trying to move around during the day (I did get in a very slow-paced walk to the corner park yesterday and today. 1,110 steps round-trip.) our bodies are pumping more blood and endorphins throughout our body. This helps mobilize the vertebrae, muscles, frees the nerve bundle / fibers, and reduces the pain.
Then comes the night! No matter how conformable your sleep-widget bed was before, there is no single position that provides lasting relief with enough comfort to get a good night sleep. Not for me anyway. I can almost clock the moment the night-time breakthrough pain will hit a level 3 or 4. Between 1:35 and 2:05 AM. Darn digital clocks and phones. If I tough-it-out or merely take two Tylenol the next more painful wakeup is right around 4 AM. And this wakeup call is for a level 5 or 6. Not something you can easily go back to sleep from. I tried on night 2, miserable. Wised up and kept the oxycodone handy for this morning. Relief and was able to get a good bit more sleep albeit light.
From now on I follow my wife’s excellent advice – stay in front of your pain. Now that I know I can go from morning to bedtime without any pain meds, not even any Tylenol, take advantage of the prescription provided by the pain management doctor and at a minimum take the darn oxycodone at 1:35 so you can get a good night sleep.
Some of us are slow learners.
Getting through the day. Said bye-bye to the oxycodone and hello to the portable massage unit. Great temporary relief!
On another totally unrelated topic – to all my data center, iMasons, energy, energy storage friends and colleagues out there, this somewhat down time between the recovery for my back and the shut down of Natron Energy, I continue to be fascinated with the daily news and insights to our rapidly expanding industry. An expansion rate I personally feel is a bit over enthusiastic, good money chasing poorly defined business objectives / financial returns, as well as rapidly becoming the poster child for an ever looming environmental and sustainability nightmare.
For those who may recall the now long-ago EPA report to Congress on data center energy efficiency and my Energy Logic series, we need to get in front of this exuberant demand for energy, natural resources, expansive supply chains, and electrical infrastructure before we successfully deploy the equivalent of trillions of regional Easy Bake Ovens serving no purpose other than warming the local countryside. (With thanks to Fahlgren Mortine)
My ‘Open for Advisory Services’ sign is up. PM me for more details.
RAAM2CC© 
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