Therapy

Went to my first therapy session today. The people there were really nice! The therapist who worked with me was of course a gamer (like a good chunk of the people who live in this area are), and he identified me as one by my Sonic t-shirt, so he and I discussed games and other nerdy stuff throughout most of my session. I really hope physical therapy actually helps me this time, since it never did much good in the past.

I need to get into a new game. I'm not in the mood for playing any console stuff, since the places where I lay down make it kind of hard to see my TV. That leaves handhelds and PC. I'm leaning towards a PC game. Hmmm....what to play! I'll have to pick something from my immense library of unplayed games.

I can't believe how big Kai is getting! He can now almost reach the top of his tank when he presses himself against the side and stands up on his back legs. My little guy is growing up!

If I don't have a specific image/images to include with my posts, I guess I'll just do things Con-style and start including a random one that I find humorous or cool.

Random picture:

You must watch these

These videos make me laugh every time I watch them, so I just had to share:




Watch this one after watching the first one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0PAgrm8nqg

I linked instead of embedding to not spoil it.

I dare you to watch these without laughing!

Parents and such

My parents were in town for the last few days. It was nice to spend time with them, since I don't get to very often. We also spent time with my grandma. We went out to eat a whole bunch, like we always do when they're around. My favorite place we went to was HOOTERS!!!!! MAN I have been craving those wings lately. Now I have about five meals worth of leftovers in my fridge, since I can never eat an entire serving of anything from a restaurant.

I had my doctor appointment yesterday. The people at that office seem to really know their stuff. I think this is the best I've ever felt about any of my doctor appointments over the years since I've had this problem. I was put on to a treatment plan, so I'm doing that now, and if there's no improvement within a couple weeks, I'm to call them back and we'll try something else.

While I was at a store with my mom, I found this crazy clothing brand that I loved. My favorite piece out of everything was this weird coat that I want really badly. It's one of the weirdest things I've ever worn, and I absolutely love it.

Those photos aren't very good quality. You can't see how pretty the colors are. Here's a better one:

The problem, though, is the price. It's ridiculously expensive! However, I did find it online for about half the price. There's a problem with THAT, though. They only ship to Spain! Right now, I'm trying to find a person who lives in Spain who I can have purchase it and ship it to me. I must have that coat! I usually don't freak out over clothes. This is pretty unlike me.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

I managed to toss a costume together at the last moment. Here it is:

I was a Lemming! If you don't know what Lemmings are, Google it. It's an awesome game that's been around for a long time. My dress is too short to be exactly accurate, but I did the best I could with my limited time. If I ever decide to dress as a Lemming again, I'll be sure to sew an outfit that's perfectly accurate to their classic designs!

I wore this costume to a Halloween party on Saturday night, and I also wore it to work today. Since it's a gaming-related costume, I was allowed. :D It was fun! A few people recognized what I was, so I'm pleased.

After work, I went to my aunt's house and spent some time with my family. We gave out candy to the kids that were trick-or-treating. Then, we went to my grandma's and I watched Evil Dead with my parents. Overall, it was a nice and relaxing Halloween.

So, tell me! What did you folks do for Halloween?

National Reptile Breeders' Expo 2010

You probably already saw the video on youtube, but here it is if you missed it:



This is a reptile show I went to back in August. I've actually had the video ready to upload for about two months! The only reason why I waited this long is because I was trying to find some good music I could use for the background audio. I didn't really like the background noise, but I finally decided to just use it anyway since I never found music that fits.

I decided to go to this show when I met a person who offered to carpool with me. I'm so happy I went! I was super excited to see the albino iguanas in person, because I've been wanting one for a long time now. I hope to buy one some day, but they are super duper expensive. I was also really happy to see all the different kinds of blue tongue skinks. The only kind that I ever saw in person before was....well, Kai! I pretty much recorded every single skink I saw.

I recorded so much footage at the show that I couldn't fit it all into the 15 minute time limit. I had to cut out a lot of it. I think I kept in the best stuff, though. Kai sure did love those worms I brought home for him! He would go nuts whenever I gave him one. I had to clean up a lot of worm guts!

Thanks everyone

Thank you so much for all the kind comments on my previous post. It means so much to me. I'm going to be calling a doctor tomorrow morning to make an appointment, so I guess we'll see how things go from there.

I forgot to mention that I went to see Back to the Future on Monday! AMC theaters had a couple of screenings of the movie in honor of its 25th anniversary, and I caught one of them. It was so awesome to see it on the big screen! It was originally released before I was even born, so it was really neat to have the opportunity. I was supposed to get a commemorative poster after the movie, but they had handed them all out before I got mine. That's what I get for being nice and sitting through the credits! :<

So I apparently just got accepted into Youtube's partnership program! This is very unexpected! I really didn't think they were going to approve my application, but I did it anyway for the heck of it. I guess I should try to upload videos more regularly now. I need to create an alternate account to upload videos with copyrighted content. Hmmm, I'll have to try to think of a good name to use for it.

Life is hard sometimes

I'll try not to make this too depressing, but I'm so bored right now that I don't know what else to do. Before I get into my present situation, here's a little back story to put it all into context:

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I developed back problems. No one has ever been able to determine the cause of them. I certainly don't recall ever doing anything to injure my back, and neither do my parents. The only possible cause was something I may have done to it while studying martial arts, but once again, I don't remember a specific event that triggered it. I've seen many doctors, and after getting an MRI done, it was shown that I have two herniated discs in my lower back. I've tried many different treatments over the years, and not a single one has helped. These herniated discs cause a constant pain that is only relieved when I'm laying down.

In the beginning, it wasn't all that bad. It hurt all the time, but I could still live a pretty normal life. I would occasionally have flare-ups that required me to rest it here and there, but it was more of an inconvenience than anything. It did make it very hard for me to exercise, and I had to quit martial arts because it was too painful to continue. The lack of exercise resulted in my weight fluctuating a lot during my teenage years.

As time went on, it got worse and worse. By the time I was in college, it was very difficult for me to sit up. I could walk okay, but sitting upright was very painful. Standing still also caused me pain, and it became difficult for me to attend any events that require a person to stand still in long lines and such. Whenever I went to see movies, I would have to lean against the person next to me (usually my mom or my then-boyfriend) because I wasn't able to sit up. In school, I had to slump down in my chair and lean back as far as I could, and it usually didn't help much. I spent a lot of time in my classes doing nothing besides groaning in pain. After my classes, I usually just went back to my dorm room and laid down for the rest of the day. A good majority of my time was spent laying in bed.

At one point, I had a series of epidurals injected into my back. They completely removed my pain for a short time, and it was incredible. With the freedom to move without pain, I worked very hard to shed my excess weight and get myself into shape. It was a success, and I managed to get nice and thin before the pain returned. I've been in good shape ever since. However, once the pain came back, my life returned exactly to the way it was before.

When I was 19, I moved to another city in order to attend a different college. Right around the time I moved, my back miraculously stopped hurting! It happened out of nowhere, with no explanation whatsoever. For the first time in my adult life, I could live like a completely normal, healthy person. It was absolutely amazing. I loved the freedom I had, to do anything without fear of needing to nurse my sore back. There was a fear in the back of my mind that the pain would return some day, though. I expected it to happen when I was older, but after two and a half amazing years, the dreaded day arrived.

That day was three days ago. On Sunday, the 24th of October, 2010, I woke up with the familiar pain in my back once again. Just as it went away, it returned out of nowhere. I don't remember doing anything to strain it. It's just there. When I first woke up that morning, the pain wasn't too bad. It was annoying, but I figured I had just slept on it weird and it would go away. It didn't. As the day continued, the pain increased more and more. By the time I got home from work, I could barely walk. I stumbled around my apartment, wondering what on earth had made this happen again.

I got myself set up in my bed once again, the familiar place I used to spend most of my free time. I've been spending as much time as possible laying in either my bed or on the floor. I'm on the floor at the moment. It's been only three days, and I can already barely take any more of this constant laying down. I want so badly to get in my car and drive somewhere, but it's too painful to drive. I'm hoping and praying with everything I have that this isn't the end, that this is only temporary and I'll have my freedom back again soon. Realistically thinking, though, I doubt it will happen.

Before this happened, I was making plans to move into my own apartment very soon. I already have the place picked out, and I was hoping to move in the next couple months. If this back problem has returned permanently, though, then that is no longer an option for me. I'm unable to work and support myself when I'm like this. I'm thinking that I'll probably have to move back in with my parents. With them, I'll have more of a life than I could possibly have anywhere else. I'm going to give it a few more days, and if there's no improvement, then I'll most likely be putting in my two weeks notice at work.

I'm so very thankful for the last two and a half years of my life. It was an incredible experience, and I'll never forget it. Despite how depressing this blog entry sounds, I'm not unhappy right now. I just felt like sharing my story. It's nearly impossible for anything to bring down my spirit. No matter what ends up happening to me, I'll be okay.