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Well, this is the pits. I pulled a muscle in my lower back while sitting down eating lunch yesterday.
My back had been a bit sore for the last couple of weeks, after a few minor muscle pulls, but they were not bad enough to cause the cessation of violin practice, or even do more than delay one or two workouts by a day. However, this latest lower-back muscle pull was far from minor.
Fortunately, muscle pulls heal relatively fast. I am very familiar with having muscle pulls, even bad ones like this one. Getting around is very hard for a few days, but then I start getting better and more able to get around again after that.
A few muscle relaxers would help, but it takes far more than a muscle pull to get me to go see a doctor anymore. I have had more than enough of their poking, probing, slicing and dicing (triple bypass operations, if your are wondering - and my gal bladder removed years before that). No, I am not fond of doctors anymore. So I will just endure the agony and heal naturally, on my own. It will just take a few days for the worst of it to be over.
In the meantime, my practice sessions and workouts are on hold.
Well, at least I have more research time now. 
MACJR
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Aw, that stinks 
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Thanks, Mandy. Me too.
It is a little easier to get around today, so the hope is that tomorrow is easier still. It may still be at least another three days before I am ready to play again though (probably on the overly optimistic side). Not sure, I will have to wait and see.
MACJR
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Take Ibuprofen and walks. This always gets me back quickly. Good luck with the healing.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerman said
Take Ibuprofen and walks. This always gets me back quickly. Good luck with the healing.
Thanks for the luck.
I can never remember for sure which pain medications to avoid, and which ones are okay, with my kidney issues, so I avoid everything but low dose aspirin. And even acetaminophen has its issues, so I avoid it too.
Even low dose aspirin has its drawbacks, but as someone who has had a heart attack and a triple bypass, it is highly recommended for me to take it anyway.
I do a fair amount of moving around, and this does help a little by evening time. I can get around a lot better at about dinner time, but mornings are hell right now.
It should not last too much longer though. As long as there are no secondary muscle pulls, I should be getting better within the next day or two.
MACJR
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Hope you're feeling much better now
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Fran said
Hope you're feeling much better now
Thanks, Fran, but it may be a few more days. The first day was the worst, of course, but today is about the same as yesterday, so far.
It should get better soon though.
MACJR
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I am getting around better now. I even bowed on a couple violins for a little bit today. It went well enough that I will try for a longer practice session tomorrow.
MACJR
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Great @macjr!!! Hope you start to really heal faster now
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Fran said
Great @macjr!!! Hope you start to really heal faster now
Right now, it does not feel like there has been a lot of healing going on with that pulled muscle.
It seems that it is more that the rest of my muscles are getting better at compensating for the sore muscle, and my being better able to judge what movements will cause a flair of pain.
It is a good thing I do regular workouts. Even so, it took about three days for overworked muscles to stop complaining about having to take up the slack. This had me worried that there could be a second pulled muscle from the extra workload the other muscles had to take on, but they held up. I feel less strain now, so it is just the pulled muscle I have to deal with.
Still, I am getting away with more, so it is likely that some healing is going on as well.
MACJR
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Patience is a virtue.
It's hard though.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Yes, patience is a must. I am all too familiar with pulled back muscles and about how long it can take to recover, but the healing time can vary by quite a bit. So you do have to have patience and just wait it out.
This latest muscle pull was one of the bad ones. Hurt like the Dickens, as they say, and took longer for the healing process to get far enough along that I could get my mobility back. My age is also a factor in healing time. The older I get, the longer it takes to recover from these blasted back muscle pulls.
The good news is that my pulled back muscle is nearly healed now. I am probably at about 85% back to full mobility. The biggest improvement came over the last two days.
I am now back to regular violin practice sessions.
MACJR
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@MACJR glad to hear you;re back!!!!
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Thanks, Fran.
It is good to be able to play again... and to be able to get the cat dish off the floor without an elaborate series of maneuvers to get there, and then another series of maneuvers to get back up again. 
MACJR
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Well, as I was saying, my back is getting better... but now something else has come up. This is a bit more serious. My mother is in the hospital and they discovered that she has lung cancer and it has already spread to her brain.
I spent part of the day visiting her. Her room has a nice up close view of some of Seattle's skyscrapers... although I prefer to see trees, mountains, and/or rivers outside windows.
Mom is in good spirits so far. Maybe it is all the meds they have her on. Maybe it is the brain tumor. At least she knew who I was, and we had not seen each other in person since early 2010 (she lives on the other side of the Cascade Mountain Range from where I live - I live here on the wet side of the state, a bit north of Seattle).
Anyway, violin practice may be sporadic for a while. Or at least for a few days until we find out more about what's next.
MACJR
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That's rough. I wouldn't consider practice important, but just playing might help your own state of mind some. And I guarantee your mother will want a concert at some point. (Mothers are like that.)
I feel like I ought to say more, but I can't think of anything that would help. Good luck (whatever form that takes) to both of you.
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I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, @MACJR I'm glad that she's comfortable. My thoughts are with both of you.
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@charles, I do figure that I will have time to practice at some point, now and then. Especially once things settle down some. Right now, it is a bit chaotic as everyone is finally getting the news. My Mom's side of the family is a bit large and the family dynamics... rather messy.
@damfino, thank you. She did seem in rather good humor about it all, at least so far.
MACJR
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@macjr so sorry to hear about your mom. Virtual hug to you
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Fran said
@macjr so sorry to hear about your mom. Virtual hug to you
Thanks, Fran.
The diagnosis is in. It is an aggressive small cell lung cancer in the advanced stages. It has already spread to her brain.
At first, they though, because of the advanced stage of the cancer, she might have about six month to a year, if she took treatments. That was before they did a biopsy and found out just what kind of lung cancer it is. Now, they give her about three months.
Smoking is the most likely cause of this type of lung cancer. It should be a wake up call for several other smokers in the family, because Mom's dad also died from lung cancer. Knowing my family though, they will just worry about it but most will not stop smoking. They will keep at it until it kills them too.
I have been able to get in a few violin practice sessions, and it does help me relax some.
MACJR
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