I am getting bad about writing here in my journal. Distracted I suppose. I have a free membership with the Avila Bay Athletic Club for eight weeks through the Cancer Well Fit program. It is such a nice club! I wish I could afford to join it forever. Everything is nice there and the people are incredibly friendly. I meet someone new every time I go.

Our group has a trainer that is helping us get back into shape and focuses on safety. I want to take advantage of the time there as much as I can. Unfortunately, I caught the ugly cold/cough that is going around and I have not been well enough to go to the class. I hope I feel better in a day or two so I can go enjoy the exercise classes and such.

When I had my two falls last month, I gained a slipped disk in my lumbar spine right above the sacrum, so I do have some low back pain that has been aggravating me. Sitting is difficult and standing in one place is painful, but moving around seems to be the best thing. It has finally eased up some, but I really want to strengthen my core muscles so I don’t end up having to have surgery in the future. I saw a sports medicine doctor on Monday, and he of course told me there is arthritis and some degenerative narrowing of the disks from aging and the slipped disk. So there are three things going on there. I will be starting physical therapy next week, and he said if it doesn’t improve with the physical therapy, he will refer me to a radiologist who would give me a cortisone injection which is given with a guided image to miss all the nerves and such. Sounds like fun to me. NOT! Then the last thing would be surgery. Oh boy, more surgery. I really don’t want to go there. I still have my reconstructive surgery that I have to have this summer or in the fall of this year. Haven’t I been though enough without having a back issue? I would appreciate prayer for this.

Anyway, I am ready to get myself into shape again because I know it will help me tremendously. Strengthening the core muscles will help my low back so maybe I won’t need further treatments after physical therapy.

I picked up another pet job where I just go over to the house and let the two little dachshunds outside three times a week. They are very cute and tiny. I sit outside on the patio and let them enjoy the outdoors for a while and then one of the girls decides she is ready for her biscuit and starts barking and runs to the door. Am I being manipulated or what? Ha. I am enjoying them nonetheless. Their names are Niki and Callie. Tomorrow I walk the beloved Bert.