My back problems have definitely been a major life event for me multiple times throughout my life. Sometimes these are good things, sometimes they are bad things.

In June of last year I ended up having a Lumbar fusion surgery. I underestimated in a huge way just how life changing that would be. I came home and struggled with even being able to get off a piece of furniture. Less than 24 hours after coming home I ended up purchasing a lift chair, just so I could get up out of a chair. Luckily my neighbor could come over and unload and put it together for me.

For the next 3 months, I struggled to walk, balance issues, numbness issues, nerve pain, all sorts of crazy things. After surgery I was incredibly thirsty, and I was hot all of the time. I ended up keeping my house at 67 degrees because otherwise I would start sweating. Heck! Even at that temp I would wake up sweating like crazy.

Sometime in September my doc ordered another MRI because I was having severe cramps in one leg and it didn’t matter how many bananas, how much water, how much anything I had, I couldn’t get them to go away. Now when I say I had severe cramps, I mean SEVERE cramps. The best way I could describe it was if I stood for longer than like 30 seconds my leg would get a Charlie Horse. Luckily my mom stayed to take care of me because I couldn’t stand long enough to make a sandwich let alone actually cook! Anyway, this wasn’t just any Charlie Horse, this was the Charlie Horse from He**!

My leg would literally feel like it was being ripped in half. After 15 years of dealing with back problems, I had a pretty good tolerance for pain. This was like nothing I had ever experienced before though. Every time I sat on the toilet, took a shower, stood for too long or sometimes even just sitting in the lift chair, the pain would come. It was like it would build up though, I could always feel it coming on, the muscles would slowly contract, and then bam!

It would make me grunt and sometimes scream in pain because it hurt so bad. If you have never experienced nerve pain before, my suggestion is to avoid it as long as you can!

So the MRI showed I had another disc herniation, so I had to go through the whole steroid injection thing all over again. Spoiler alert… They don’t work on me. Finally I was told I would have surgery… Again. Luckily this time just a discectomy and not another fusion.

The problem is that when I went to do my pre-op, they discovered my blood sugar was waaay to high. Remember that extreme thirst since surgery… yeah, that’s because my blood sugar was suddenly sky high.

So back to a waiting pattern for me. I stopped eating carbs, started walking more (very thankful for the 40-60 degree weather in January and February in Wisconsin!), and stayed off medication. I finally found out Friday March 15th, that my blood sugar was within range and we can move forward with surgery again! Got all the appointments scheduled, everything planned and then went into the office for a meeting.

That’s when the real hammer fell for me. The corporate team called me into another meeting unexpectedly and informed me that my role was being restructured and I no longer had a job.

It was a shock, but it is giving me some time to think about what I want to do moving forward. With surgery looming in less than a month, I don’t know anyone that will hire me. So I am looking into and doing some task driven work. It isn’t glorious, but at least it is some income. I am also looking into becoming a voice actor for Audible. I am going to use this time to finish my book finally, I know I have said that in the past, but I always let work take priority. I have no work anymore, so no need to worry about that!

I am also going to work on this blog a bit more, turn it into something hopefully. Maybe by the time I am cleared after surgery and am able to find a job, I won’t need a job. So, if anyone has any suggestions, roles they think I would be a fit for, know how to turn this blog into $$$, or tips on voice acting, please, reach out!

For now, I will keep being me the best I can and tackle this new roadblock full steam ahead!