Dr. Matt Cracks Me Up

Well today I had my first visit to a chiropractor.  I can sum up the visit in one word, OUCH!  Holy sweet Jesus it hurt.   My sacrum tilts.  It's just what it does and unfortunately that can hurt after a while.  Since my beloved insurance company cut off my physical therapy, and the exercises I learned in PT didn't help, I was left with no alternative.

I made a call this morning to an office located near my home and the doctor himself answered.  Dr. Matt.  Hmm....not used to that.  We spoke for a bit and he found an appointment for me late this afternoon.  I go there ready to roll with my 'new patient' forms and was soon ushered back into the x-ray room.   He did a brief exam and then we dove into the x-rays - won't get the results from those until Wed. 

But after looking at me and watching my movements, he told me my sacrum was tilted backwards which was affecting my SI joint and causing my legs to be uneven in length.  Once he actually felt my back he said, "You have a brick in your back."  Nice. :o)  We knew that. 

SO, we go into the exam room.  I hop (hesitantly) onto his table face down and he starts 'a-crackin.'  Mind you, I have a really bad muscle issue.  It's called Myofascial Pain Syndrome and because of it I have lots of trigger points or little knots all over my body.  Well, let me tell you, Dr. Matt had little magnets in his finger tips for those trigger points.

Every adjustment that man made, totally was a bulls eye for a trigger point.  He not only worked on my sacrum, he adjusted my neck - hey DD, that knot is gone! Woohoo!  He adjusted my shoulder on the right that just had Botox - and Voila!  I can move my shoulder.  Turns out, my spine was really out of synch with my muscles and vice versa.  Did you know that your right shoulder can be messed up because of your left hip?  Makes no sense, but that's just how the cookie crumbles my friends.  Apparently, I make a great deal of medical sense, just no common sense.

Ending that hellish fun, we moved onto the vibration machine (get your minds out of the gutter).  I stood on that thing for 30 seconds and was close to tears after it was done.  Pain. It's supposed to calm the joints and muscles after a treatment.  Well, this camper could only handle one round of 30 seconds. 

After all this fun, I get to go back and see him again on Wednesday morning!  Obviously having a straight sacrum is key to carrying a baby, so this is really important folks.  I guess I'll have to keep going back!  Say a prayer for me!  This is worse than any PT I've had and I'm now sitting on an ice pack.  Joy.

What a great Monday huh?  I can hardly wait until Tuesday.....I start with the dentist at 8:00 AM. 

Happy Tuesday ya'll!

Team McGowan

The end to a really, really long week - my weekly massage.  Boy, does that sound decadent or what?  I feel so spoiled....oh, wait a minute, MY massage has nothing to do with decadence and everything to do with functioning!  Bummer.  For a minute there I forgot who I was! 

I think I've mentioned I've had a few health issues over the past few years.  (Few is an operative word, but we'll work with it for now.)   Over the past three years, I've been going for acupuncture treatments on a weekly basis at the Charlotte Acupuncture and Wellness Center (CAWC).  They've done more to give me back my health than any of my doctors-  seriously you Doubting Thomases!  It truly works.  In fact, my doctors call everyone at CAWC, Team McGowan!  

Let me introduce you to my 'team':  Hope - aka Goddess du Needles, is the one who helped me to determine I was gluten intolerent, and basically who gave me back a normal life!  She's held my hand throughout all of my fertility treatments and has helped me in ways that no one else could with her knowledge and big heart. 

Todd is the other 'needle master' at CAWC and has spent many hours trying to rid my body of the evil trigger points that attack me.  He's amazingly patient and talented at getting those boogers to sit down and leave me be!  He's the quiet one - the guy amongst the ladies, but he can handle it - give him a bottle of Zhung Gu Shui (aka Stink Juice) and look out! 

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to have trigger points (heavy sarcasm), here is the definition of a trigger point from About.com:  A trigger point describes a taught band of skeletal muscle located within a larger muscle group. Trigger points are tender to the touch and can refer pain to distant parts of the body. So ouch right?  Basically, they are smallish knots of hell that take up residence in the most inopportune of locations- the least of my favorites is the one on the left side of my neck that keeps me from turning it and the mac daddy of all of them - the one by my right shoulder blade; that one 'clunks' every time I move my shoulder!  Awesome!

SO, Hope and Todd double team my body and get things to calm to a low roar and keep my body level so I can sleep and manage pain.  Cue, Tricia.  Tricia is basically the clean-up hitter of my pain management team.  She's the tiniest thing, but don't let that fool you- her hands should be registered lethal weapons.  She could probably render me incapacitated with her pinkie, but instead has a way of talking me through the pain and helping me to laugh about it.  

I get how my body is connected, so when I go in to see Tricia - let's call her Evil Hands, I can just tell her that I can't turn my head or move my shoulder - and she knows exactly what to do without causing me undue pain.  THAT my friends is skill.  I think the thing that makes it all smooth, is the calm, funny manner in which she attacks, I mean treats me.  I can handle me some pain, don't get me wrong, but it sure is nice to have someone who is causing me pain, do it in a way that makes it tolerable.  Whether it's the cursing or the paleness of my face, Tricia just knows when I've had enough.  :o)

Everyone at CAWC treats the whole person -which honestly is I think the CAWC is all about.  When you know you're going to be in pain, you mentally have to brace yourself to keep going back week after week, even when you know it will help in the end.  But the combination of mental AND physical support keeps me going.  The people keep me coming back.

So far, I think I've been almost kicked out of the CAWC about 5 times - for laughing too loud mind you.  When I'm getting my treatments, we all talk about really stupid things.  Things that I wouldn't be able to explain to you without looking like a crazy person - so we'll avoid that today.  Let's just suffice it to say, when they are done treating me, I still have a smile on my face.

Don't get me wrong, I hate Tricia on Saturdays, but on every other day of the week - she's one of my favorite people!   :o)  I'm really not sure what my life would be like without Hope, Todd, Tricia, Jennifer, and the entire CAWC team - but I know I'd rather knot know!  

So, thanks to you guys - for everything....