Christmas is over, in a week or so we take down the decorations…

 Monday was a miserable day. Karen came in and fed the hungry beast and then got me something to eat, but I just don't want to eat anything. She put me on my side for a while. My neck and my arms are so sore my arms are numb… The only thing that feels good is just to lay here and do nothing, and it's driving me nuts! At least once a day, Karen sends me some pictures that she took in the yard while Dude acted silly. They always make my day! Karen set me back up and went home for the day. I pretty much just laid there all day, I'm going to be really patient now, and hopefully, it will go away fast. I just watched TiVo and listen to some music until Rosa came in. She fed Dude and then got me something to eat, but I didn't mean very much; it's so weird for me not to have an appetite because I usually could eat 24 seven.  Stanley and Janet came down from Oregon to visit until next year, Stanley stayed here, and Janet went up to Modesto to visit her friends that she hasn't seen for a very long time. I shut everything down and eventually fell asleep.

 Tuesday was another long day. Cindy came in and fed the hungry pooch, got me something to eat, although I wasn't hungry… For some reason, when I eat or even try to lift my head off the pillow, my neck/shoulders and arms hurt a lot, in my arms get numb, especially the right one. Now I can't get up and cruise around, and I can't use my arm while lying in bed. I use my right arm for the trackball, so I just have to try to lay here and not move. I'm so over this! She did a couple loads of laundry and vacuumed and cleaned up, and then went home. Basically, I laid there, trying not to move until Rosa came in. She fed Dude and that she got me something to eat, and I ate a couple of bites but that I was done. These days I pretty much living on gabapentin. It's the only thing that helps without serious other side effects. I watch TV until I eventually fell asleep.

 Wednesday was another long miserable day.  Susan came in to give me a nice long massage. There are so many little knots in my neck, shoulders, arms, and back, and she sure knows how to find them. She finds one, and it just about sends me through the roof, and then she says I'm just going to hold it for a couple seconds,s and pretty soon, the pain is gone… One down 20 million more to go, it seems like. Karen came in and fed the hungry boy and then got me something to eat, but I was done after a couple of bites. We did some personal care, anymore we have to stop at least two or three times to hit my neck with the massager because I'm in the sitting position, and it hurts so bad. I just keep thinking to myself, but since I've been drinking a lot of water, I only have to sit in the commode chair for maybe an hour, two with the most, and I'll be done… The first 45 minutes, I'm getting chills so bad that I can barely stand them, and then the next 15 minutes to half an hour, I'm dozing off. Most of the time, when I'm in pain, all I do is just want to go to sleep and wake up when it's over. I sweaty, but the cold air hits my skin, and then I freeze, so I have the electric throw on high… I don't even get it myself. I know one thing for sure, as soon as I hit that hot bubbly water, I feel 100% better, and it's so nice and relaxing. She put me back to bed, and as long as I stay warm, I'm good for a couple of hours before my neck starts aching again, and then I panic. Another afternoon of lying still and watching TV, I remember a lot more of what I watch because I'm not going back and forth between the TV and the computer, so that is a good thing. Rosa came in and fed the hungry pooch and got me something to eat. I ate as much as I could. Dr. Owens came by to check on my granuloma in my SP tube site. She didn't like how it looked at all and said she would try and call the urinary tract specialist and see if I can get in sooner than January 19 and put me on another round of antibiotics. She said she was going to come by next week to check on it again. In the past, I've always come back from the stuff pretty fast, but that doesn't seem the case this time, and I hope it's not something that's going to persist. Rosa cleaned up and vacuumed and then went home. The rest of the evening, I tried to watch a movie that helped, and eventually, I fell asleep. Just about the only thing that keeps me smiling these days is the silly pictures that Karen takes of Dude. As soon as you say, "okay, Dude, let's go," he starts either doing zoomies or rolls over on his back and just looks silly.

 Thursday was a great day! Karen came in, fed the hungry pooch, fed me, and then got me dressed and up in my chair. My neck is still sore, and it's even worse when it gets cold outside, so I turn to keep many layers on my neck because it will be a long day. I took Dude out for a nice long cruise. At the same time, Karen set everything up for the New Year's Eve stay-at-home Michael Franti concert, I was one of the first 500 to buy tickets, so I got the backstage package, which means they turn the camera around and show everybody and after it's over you get to talk to them so even though we don't have that many people we decorated the garage in the driveway in case they turn the camera around on us we will be ready. I came back, and it looked awesome, it's just going to be my brother, my neighbor Trish, my massage therapist Susan and her friend Tom and me. Since it was New Year's, Adriana was having a party at her house for her family and her mom Rosa was going to make Pazole, you're supposed to even on New Year's, and it's good luck… I love that stuff, so I'm ready. We brought out my bubble/fog machine, and although the bubbles were working great, the other part of it wasn't putting any fog in them. Where is Omar when we need him? The concert was delayed getting started for about an hour, but it was an amazing concert, and everyone had a good time. When Susan got here, she was hungry, so she went to my favorite Thai place and brought back some food, it's already almost 10 PM, and Rose's not there, so I had her get me and my brother calamari to hold us over. My iPad was dead, so Trish brought over her laptop and wanted to leave at 10, the concert was supposed to go on until midnight. So we got to see an hour of it, and I could've turned it on my TV inside my room, but I forgot. I just wanted to get into my house and into my bed where it was nice and warm. What a great day and happy new year! After Rosa brought over the soup, we ate some, and then Karen came back and put me to bed and fed the crazy dog. I was so excited to look through my pictures, but I got so warm and toasty that I fell asleep.

 Friday was a good day. Karen came in and fed the hungry pup, and they fed me before we did some personal care and, of course, a nice long hot bath. She got me dressed and up in my chair. Last night at the concert, my neighbor Trish invited my brother and me to the UCSC college campus to cruise around. I had only been up to the college a few times… Once with my uncle to go to the surplus store and another with my caregivers and my cousin to cruise around the arboretum. It's wonderful up there, and I'm definitely going to again. The murals are awesome, and there's much wildlife up there right now because the college is closed… Well, most of it. Karen put some press-on nails on me for Christmas, and on two of my fingers, she put ones that had a reindeer with lights all over him, and the other ones were just the lights. I noticed that I got a Christmas card from somebody that was really similar, so I took a picture of both. Adriana came in and fed the hungry pup and then put me to bed and fed me. I watched TV for a little while, I still try not to use my arm, and I still hate it… I've never had pain that hangs on this long, and I over it. Eventually, I fell asleep.

  Saturday was a nice relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed Dude and then fed me. It was a really long week, so I'm just going to stay in bed today and watch the birds in my new bird feeder that my cousin Rich got for me. I love watching birds anyway, and here they are right outside my window. Stanley and Janet left to go back home, it was a really nice visit as usual. I can't believe Christmas is over. After we take down the decorations, my house is going to look so bear for a while. I'm so glad to be in bed today because my neck is really hurting. I wish it would go away! I need to stop using my right arm so much, but it's tough. Usually well I watch TV. I'm on the computer, so I guess I don't realize how long until I happened to look up at the time. Adriana came in and fed the hungry dude and then got me something to eat, I still don't have much of an appetite, but I'm trying. She washed a couple of loads of clothes, cleaned up, and then went home. I spent the rest of the evening watching TiVo and listening to music before I fell asleep.

 Sunday was another nice relaxing day. Cindy came in and fed the starving beast and then fed me. I was still tired and sore from the busy week, and my neck was really hurting, so I decided to just stay in bed. I saw a video on YouTube of this talking dinosaur, he was reading to about 10 puppies in a whelping box, and it was so adorable… All the puppies looked like they were watching and listening. I decide to get it for Omar's baby. We were showing it to Omar, and Dude was going nuts trying to get near it and watch it, so of course, I decided right then that I would get one for Dude. Cindy made me about four salads, I'm trying to incorporate salads into my day, and I decided that I love salad. Karen came in at 2 PM, and we did some personal care and a nice long hot bath. We were still having to hit the massager once or twice during the program because I'm sitting in the commode chair, it is really uncomfortable, but as soon as I hit that hot water from the bath, I feel so much better. A course after I get out and get back into bed, it starts hurting again. I can't believe this neck ache is carrying on so long. I watched TV for a while and then finally fell asleep.