Saturday, September 13, 2008

a short leg for a tall girl

every morning i wake up with four people in my bed. that is twice as many people as i go to bed with. i have to chuckle when david and i say that it is like a reverse of that scene in mad max beyond thunderdome where two men enter, one many leaves. two people enter, four people leave! this does not bother me so much but david gets the squeeze as it goes augustine> david> olive> me and he has to sleep straight as a pin with no wiggle room between two wiggler siglers. this morning we got up in unison and went to a diner down the street. wildflower cafe has the best steak and skillet potato breakfast in town! i get that every time with a cup of hot tea.

i have chronic back pain, have for years and years. it isn't something that i talk about often. i always thought it was a result of years of pounding my body as a gymnast when i was growing as a pre-teen. last week my dad (chiropractor) told me that my right leg is 3 mm shorter than my left which throws off my pelvis and hips, which causes my to have scoliosis, which bingo! back pain. oh! now that makes a lot of sense. i was scanned for some "foot levelers" which as the name implies, levels you out. i think they should be in sometime next week and i can just slip them into my toms and off i go. i wonder if ill feel all unbalanced (kinda like fox news, nyuk nyuk) for a while.

i havnt been out to the garden for oh, two weeks? it's been chaotic around here with camping, renee's death, etc. i went there today and found all kinds of stuff rotting on the vine (2 kinds of tomatoes, broccoli that had flowered, hot peppers, sweet peppers). it was quite mocking of my emotional state. but then again i had a very large harvest of everything else. God reveals so much of Himself to me in the midst of that growing plot. it is my confessional and alter and getting my hands dirty feels like im studying the bible sometimes. just sitting quietly, reflecting and talking to Him, learning about this world He made with every leaf and bug, failure and success, pollinated flower and withered vine.

i've been working on a compilation to pass out to some of my close friends at sunday's celebration of renee's life. it's been really really emotional to listen to and pick out these songs. i dont know if im going to pass them out or not, is that too emo? many of my friends love music but i dont want to be that weird girl handing out mix tapes. God continues to help me through this loss, i can really feel the prayers of my family and friends lifting me up. so far today i have yet to feel the sting of hot tears on my cheeks so maybe that is a good thing. this year has exhausted me. can a person run out of tears?


this makes my day a lot better

11 comments:

Sarah said...

I've been thinking of you Jenny, I hope you are well.

I also have a shorter leg (according to my chiropractor) which is why adjustments don't always help me feel better. You'll have to let me know how the levelers treat you.. I'd be anything to be rid of my sciatica!

amy said...

i also have mild scoliosis, but no one has ever told me if one leg is shorter than the other...

i don't think there is anything strange about handing out mix tapes, especially since it is for your close friends - people who know you and probably don't think of you as the weird girl.

praying for you tomorrow,
amyjoy

Amber said...

My husband (chiropractor) swears by the foot inserts...they jsut got the scanning machine at his clinic...I hope they work.

That picture of your children is so beautiful!!!

rachaeldear said...

which toms do you have? i've been thinking of buying some but i can't decide which i want...

o + j said...

thats a lot of people in one bed. maybe you should just start steam-rolling back and forth. they'll probrably go sleep elsewhere:)

i'm so sorry to hear about your friend. your in my prayers.

did you go to the indie craft show last weekend?

Olive said...

olivia - which one? either way, no i didnt. craftin outlaws?

~Christy said...

Hi i have real bad low back pain as well, sometimes if i bend funny its real sharp pain....i acually work for a chiropractor so i cant imagen how bad it would be with out adjusments...but....my question is....how did that affect your pregnancies and birth???

Olive said...

christy - i had some pretty bad back pain with my first pregnancy but with regular adjustments it was manageable. really i think the bulk of the pain was related to being on bedrest for a month. that was really bad on my back! i do not feel it worked against me during birth itself in any way though

Kathy Campbell said...

Hi, you don't know me, but I thought I would toss this out there for you.

Have you tried massages? A good massage therapist can do things that chiropractors can't do, since they work with the muscles themselves and its possible that the muscles on that side are tighter. Regular massages can relax those muscles and possibly give you some of that length back. My husband is a massage therapist and has managed to do things that getting my back realignments hasn't been able to.

Olive said...

soup - i have had massages before but it was aimed at the relief of back pain only. would this method you've described entail leg massage?

Kathy Campbell said...

Yes, by working on the back as well as the leg pain, there is potential to getting all the muscles back realigned. It couldn't hurt to give it a try at least. You'll want to go to a massage therapist that specializes in therapy, not a relaxation massage therapist. You should be able to find some through a doctor or chiropractor.

Good luck!