Hmph

I had a little chat with the doctor (complete with x-rays and bone models) about my foot this morning. It was as he suspected, the bunion has pushed the sesmoid bones out of their groove and they're scraping bone on bone. The cartilage is compeletely gone where they're scraping and I've got arthritis and I think some other issues. This complicates the surgery and recovery because he'll add in some procedure that will help tissue rebuild where there now is none however it means I need to keep weight off my big toe for a much longer period of time to let the tissue have the best chance of growing. I'll be on crutches for 2-3 weeks instead of 5-7 days. For a while it seemed hopeful that I could do at least a few runs at the May trials but now I'm not so sure. I'm a stickler when it comes to rehab and I won't risk recovery for a stupid agility trial. I'll be on the couch for a good week and I'll have to work from home for a month or so. I'm particularly irritated about this because I was willing to go through surgery 7 years ago when I first went to him but he talked me out of it. I specifically feared the situation getting worse and losing cartilage, etc. but he said the bunion was stable so don't worry about it. He didn't mention that it would get so bad before I'd notice it though.

I've been juggling 3 deadlines at work and had to work through the weekend (of course it was in the mid to upper 50's) so I haven't had much time to worry about this until now. To add to the fun I started having back pain on Saturday and yesterday my back went into a full blown spasm right before lunch. I couldn't stand up straight and could barely walk. Took some Ibuprofin, applied some heat, and did some stretching until finally I could walk, sort of kind of, well enough to take Strummer out to the field across the street from work for some exercise and jumping practice. I love that portable all in one jump, it's so light I can carry it even when my back is messed up and it sets up in seconds. Spent last night on the couch on a heating pad and after more Vitamin I and heat today at work my back is finally feeling a bit better. Hopefully after one more night on the couch I'll be able to walk the dogs tomorrow morning. I think working at home and for so many days in a row is what set off my back. I'll need to make some adjustments to my home computer setup if I'm going to work at home for a month. Right now I'm working on a laptop on my dining room table and something about that setup is painful.

I managed to sneak in a run on Sat. and an agility practice and bike ride on Sunday. It was a bit too hot for the dogs, they're acclimated to 30 degrees, not 58 but I think they had fun anyway. We practiced some distance stuff. Wow, I 'm not sure when or how it happened but Lola is not happy working distance at all. She used to be so good at it too. There was barking and confusion which of course let to more barking. She got it after a while though but we're going to have to work on that more. Cody is my distance boy, he loved the exercise. No rear leg shaking from him but I had him out at lunch today practising some jumping and I noticed a bit of shaking but it went away after a bit. I was working on his hind end strength last week but everything got pushed aside because of work and then my back.

Lucky dogs get to go to the chiropractor tomorrow. If I'm not better tomorrow I'll call mine and see if they can sneak me in. If all else fails there are the heavy duty pharmaceuticals left over from all my various injuries, fractures and surgery. I've got a really good muscle relaxer but the trouble is I can't do anything while I'm on it. Well, except for hallucinating and talking gibberish but unfortunately I'm not a rock star or politician so those activities aren't terribly helpful at work.