Sitting vs. Standing vs. Walking vs. Whatever
I thought I might try to explain my limitations a little bit better.
Lying down is great. It relieves the pressure off my lower back. This pressure we believe is caused by a multitude of factors: 3 pounds of hardware in my back, chopped up muscles that are trying to regain strength, and an overall change is my internal anatomy from the straightening of my back. The skin on my back is still extremely sensitive so it does hurt to lie down but at least my head doesn't feel like its going to fall off.
Sitting is more tricky. I can lean back okay, like in a car seat slightly reclined. And because of my skin sensitivity, I have to have a feather pillow between me and the seat. Again, in this situation, the seat back and head rest are holding me up. Sitting up at a 90 degree angle to eat or talk to someone without looking like a slouch is when the pain sets in faster. Again, its probably due to the additional weight I'm not carrying in my upper back and my hurt muscles. I can only handle sitting like this for about 10 minutes and only on a chair with a cushioned bottom. In the mornings I can last a bit longer than 10 minutes but as the day wears on it gets harder. Eating dinner requires amazing effort and hurts like you wouldn't imagine.
The situation is similar with standing since I'm holding myself up on my own. I start to get really wobbly after a while. Even just standing to brush my teeth or shower is exhausting. If I've been walking for a while I eventually have to slow down and grab on to someone.
In my previous post I wrote that I went to the Citadel, which was a combo of sitting, standing, and walking, and by the end I was pretty wobbly (just ask Joe who I saw there) and needed to grab on to an arm to walk out. The car ride after was a relief since the car seat supported me, and gave my body a good rest. At the grocery store I took my walker in. I was tired and couldn't walk by myself, but with the walker I could put my weight on it and scoot around. I didn't last long there but at least I was pushing my limitations.
Lying down is great. It relieves the pressure off my lower back. This pressure we believe is caused by a multitude of factors: 3 pounds of hardware in my back, chopped up muscles that are trying to regain strength, and an overall change is my internal anatomy from the straightening of my back. The skin on my back is still extremely sensitive so it does hurt to lie down but at least my head doesn't feel like its going to fall off.
Sitting is more tricky. I can lean back okay, like in a car seat slightly reclined. And because of my skin sensitivity, I have to have a feather pillow between me and the seat. Again, in this situation, the seat back and head rest are holding me up. Sitting up at a 90 degree angle to eat or talk to someone without looking like a slouch is when the pain sets in faster. Again, its probably due to the additional weight I'm not carrying in my upper back and my hurt muscles. I can only handle sitting like this for about 10 minutes and only on a chair with a cushioned bottom. In the mornings I can last a bit longer than 10 minutes but as the day wears on it gets harder. Eating dinner requires amazing effort and hurts like you wouldn't imagine.
The situation is similar with standing since I'm holding myself up on my own. I start to get really wobbly after a while. Even just standing to brush my teeth or shower is exhausting. If I've been walking for a while I eventually have to slow down and grab on to someone.
In my previous post I wrote that I went to the Citadel, which was a combo of sitting, standing, and walking, and by the end I was pretty wobbly (just ask Joe who I saw there) and needed to grab on to an arm to walk out. The car ride after was a relief since the car seat supported me, and gave my body a good rest. At the grocery store I took my walker in. I was tired and couldn't walk by myself, but with the walker I could put my weight on it and scoot around. I didn't last long there but at least I was pushing my limitations.
posted by Jennifer | 10:18 AM
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