Heather Haddad

For over a year now, I’ve been having a dull pain in my upper back, just on one side. It was annoying, but bearable. For the last two weeks, the pain has also manifested in my hip on that same side, and this pain is sharp, shooting and crampy. For the last two to three days, it’s been constant and nearly unbearable. I can’t stand up at work for long periods of time, I have to keep sitting down, and at times the pain hurts so much I want to cry. Last night I made my husband go with me to walgreens at 2 AM to get icy hot and heating pads. I don’t know what to do about this! Is it muscular and therefore I need an acupuncturist or masseuse? Is it skeletal meaning chiropractor or an actual doctor?

I did try a deep tissue massage on Friday and the therapist said my entire right side was in spasm. My back felt better for most of the day after my treatment, but started hurting again that evening. Obviously daily massages are not in the budget. Chiropractors and acupuncturists are sort of hokey, I’m not sure I even believe in either of those things, which leaves a real doctor. Unfortunately I don’t have health insurance and I don’t want to establish a pre-existing condition since, as a small business owner, I won’t be a part of a group plan once I do get health insurance.

So my current plan is to take ibuprofen daily and to go on a diet. I think that losing some weight will help my back feel better as the pain seemed to start when I gained some weight. Hopefully this will work as the pain is making me incredibly irritable. Every single thing has pissed me off today. Now leave me alone while I drink my coffee and sulk.

My check came in this week for my experimental wisdom teeth surgery. I had decided to use the majority of it to pay off a credit card, but I wanted to use a portion to reward myself for being so brave. So I scheduled a reflexology and Tuina massage. I am a bit of a massage addict, and I thought I’d love it, but I really can’t say I did. Reflexology, instead of being a relaxing foot massage, is actually more like a lot of poking at your feet. The idea is that the foot contains reflexes that correspond to all the parts of the body. However, to my disappointment, my reflexologist refused to tell me what my reflexes had told him about my body, because he’s “not licensed by the AMA”. I did get out of him that my spleen and thyroid reflexes were the most congested, whatever that means.

The next part of my session was a Tuina massage. I will never have one of these again. It’s essentially a massage on speed. Very vigorous, very painful. Think of having a sore muscle and then grabbing it hard and rubbing it very quickly. Ouch. I much prefer the relaxing, gentler style of the Swedish massage. It actually made my back MORE sore the next two days. I can’t say I hated my appointment, but I’ll probably stick with my favorite therapist from now on, over at Peach Body Boutique.

Last night, Anthony and I went to see Wanted, the Angelina Jolie movie. I loved it. I thought it was funny and fun, if a little violent. Anthony hated it and thought it was the worst movie he’s ever seen. The reviews I’ve read seem to follow suit- people love it or hate it. Watch and decide for yourself.

I also recently finished Wicked! The book. I saw the musical a year or so ago and I freaking loved it, so I was expecting to really enjoy the book. Au contraire, it’s terrible. It’s really nothing like the musical, which was far more clever and fun. Wicked! the book is bogged down with Oz Theological discussions and lacks the heart the musical had. Skip the book, see the show.

Well that’s all that exciting over here, but I do have some exciting plans for this blog that I’ll announce tomorrow!