July 2023

Still figuring out how best to create these entries. I may switch to monthly entries instead of yearly, with each month as a section. Further, I will try subdividing things regarding movements to distinguish between prescribed (by a professional) and additional movements I’m putting in. Finally, I’m considering separating improvement areas from degradation (wins and losses).

Feeling pretty depressed.

Questioning whether I’ll actually be able to consistently recover.

Feeling consistently recovered and positive 3 days in a row. Thinking the introduction of vagus nerve stimulation breath work and pelvic floor work.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Left neck, trapezius; moving does not help.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Left neck, trapezius; moving does not help.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Left neck, trapezius; moving does not help.
  • Right wrist; moving helped
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Mild: low back, upper thoracic spine, lower thoracic spine,
  • Moderate: left-hand middle finger.
  • Severe: right wrist.

Woke up in high spirits despite the pain.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Left neck, trapezius; moving does not help.
  • Left scapula; moving helped.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Mild: low back, upper thoracic spine, lower thoracic spine,
  • Moderate: left-hand middle finger.

Woke up in high spirits despite the pain.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: No.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Mild: low back, upper thoracic spine, lower thoracic spine, both wrists, left-hand middle finger.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: No.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Mild: low back, upper thoracic spine, both wrists, left-hand middle finger.

I’m writing this after the fact and don’t remember much. Therefore, I’m presuming the wins and losses are unchanged.

The Whoop arrived today. All I remember was that it felt like a good day.

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: No.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • Mild: low back, upper thoracic spine.
  • Moderate: both wrists, lef-hand middle finger.

I’m writing this after the fact and don’t remember much. Therefore, I’m presuming the wins and losses are unchanged.

Bad day.

Becoming increasingly tired of this.

Had a whole bunch of blood drawn for lab work.Daily questions:

Was there stiffness?

• Morning: No.
• Afternoon: No.
• Evening: No.

Was there discomfort or acute pain?

• Morning: Yes.
  • (discomfort) Low back, hands.
  • (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, both wrists, the left-hand third digit, the left-hand second digit, foot second digit.
• Afternoon: Yes.
  • Same
• Evening: Yes.
  • Same

Does movement improve stiffness, discomfort, or acute pain?

No movement, stretch, or exercise has relieved the symptoms in the upper thoracic spine area when present. Pain in the upper thoracic spine occurs with movement and is not present in a neutral position.

Massage and manual adjustment temporarily relieve the left-hand third-digit symptoms from 10 minutes to a few hours. Pain in the left-hand third digit is not present when in a neutral position. Pain is consistent when moved laterally (abduction and adduction) under its own power. The pain gradually increases when moving into flexion.

How does this impact quality of life?

Losses (top five):

1. Almost every joint seems crispy and crunchy.

Wins (top five):

1. Muscles seem to be waking up. Like the top of my left foot and left hamstring. I can tell because they are finally starting to have the same pain and discomfort as the right.

I decided to take another recovery day, skipping all prescribed active movements.

I did do regular housework and grocery run (drove instead of walking).

Daily questions:

1. Morning:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot second digit.
      • Sometimes moving helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
2. Afternoon:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot second digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
3. Evening:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot second digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.

Losses (top five):

All of these have the caveat of better than Friday.

1. Hands hurt overall.
2. Feet hurt overall.
3. Lower back hurts overall.
4. Second digit on my left foot doesn’t abduct like the other digits.
5. My rib cage area hurts overall.

Wins (top five):

1. I was able to touch the tops of both feet with straight legs. (Even as a child I was not able to touch my toes. Ankles were a stretch—pun intended.)
2. I gave myself another pedicure, and it appears that the toenail on the great toe of my left foot might be able to grow back flat.
3. The fungus (guessing) on my right great toe seems to have stopped spreading with consistent use of the topical treatment. (The secret, if you will, seems to have been in using the buffer block every week or so to help the treatment penetrate better—not necessarily applying it twice a day.)
4. I’ve found a movement that stretches my hamstrings instead of only feeling the stretch on the backs of my knees. The stretch does hit my keys.
5. Back to the pedicure, I was able to maintain a more neutral spine for the whole thing.

I decided today I wouldn’t do anything. Well, I would do as little as possible. No prescribed active exercises. Minimal passive exercises.

While lying in bed I did do some passive stretching. Just putting my body in positions I’m normally not in until it became normal, so to speak.

Daily questions:

1. Morning:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit.
      • Sometimes moving helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
2. Afternoon:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
3. Evening:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.

Losses (top five):

All of these have the caveat of better than Friday.

1. Hands hurt overall.
2. Feet hurt overall.
3. Lower back hurts overall.
4. Second digit on my left foot doesn’t abduct like the other digits.
5. My rib cage area hurts overall.

Wins (top five):

1. The fungus (guessing) on my right great toe seems to have stopped spreading with consistent use of the topical treatment. (The secret, if you will, seems to have been in using the buffer block every week or so to help the treatment penetrate better—not necessarily applying it twice a day.)
2. I’ve found a movement that stretches my hamstrings instead of only feeling the stretch on the backs of my knees. The stretch does hit my keys.
3. I’m able to do a one-legged squat while getting into the couch quad stretch position.
4. I increased the height of the bench for the couch quad stretch to increase effectiveness.
5. My massage therapist complimented the range of motion of my shoulders.

Had my first rheumatologist appointment on the 20th. She recommended keeping a journal; already on it. She wants me to do daily entries; was also already heading that way. She wants me to answer 3 questions about how I feel physically in the morning.

1. Is there stiffness?
2. If so, what areas are affected?
3. And, does moving help?

I asked if we are differentiating stiffness from pain and discomfort. She said we were. So, I decided to add these daily questions to these daily entries.

I decided to try a two hour massage therapy session followed immediately by 90 minutes in a float tank. The massage was effective, but the change wasn’t as drastic as the first time. The float tank session was odd.

I’m not sure if it was due to the massage or not, but all the tendons and area that normally hurt were worse; to the point of not wanting to move them.

I don’t think this counts as stiffness.

I classify stiffness as the inability to move smoothly. Any lack of movement in this situation was in order to avoid pain. And, after moving through the range of motion and some clicking and crunching, the pain reduced to what is becoming normal levels; even if they’re not acceptable.

Daily questions:

1. Morning:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit, both hip flexors, both groins.
      • Sometimes moving helps, sometimes it makes it worse. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
2. Afternoon:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it makes it worse. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.
3. Evening:
   1. Is there stiffness? No
   2. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
   3. Is there discomfort or pain? Yes
   4. If yes, what areas are affected? And, does moving help?
      • (discomfort) Low back, feet, hands, rib cage area. (pain) Upper thoracic spine area, right wrist, left hand second digit, left foot secured no digit.
      • Sometimes movement helps, sometimes it doesn’t. Either way it goes back to where it was prior to moving.

Losses (top five):

All of these have the caveat of better than Friday.

1. Hands hurt overall.
2. Feet hurt overall.
3. Lower back hurts overall.
4. Second digit on my left foot doesn’t abduct like the other digits.
5. My rib cage area hurts overall.

Wins (top five):

1. The fungus (guessing) on my right great toe seems to have stopped spreading with consistent use of the topical treatment. (The secret, if you will, seems to have been in using the buffer block every week or so to help the treatment penetrate better—not necessarily applying it twice a day.)

Losses:

My right middle finger started feeling like it was jammed or sprained along the extensor tendon. Do this:

1. Open your hand (fingers in extension or neutral).
2. Keeping the middle finger straight, bend it toward the palm (flexion).

If you feel a slight pain or burning on the first finger bone (proximal phalanges) along the back (or top), then you’re experiencing what I was (am) experiencing. This pain sensation was present even when putting all fingers into flexion, though it was reduced. Further, try this:

1. Open your hand.
2. Spread your fingers apart (abduction).
3. Now, without moving the other fingers, alternate between trying to touch your index finger or ring finger with the middle finger (lateral movement).

If you feel a similar pain or burning in the same spot, you are experiencing something similar to what I was (am) experiencing.

To overcome: I found that pulling the finger straight (in line with the palm) and moving the fingers into extension seems to reduce the pain and increase mobility. Even though these movements are about relieving pain, not increasing mobility, for the sake of documentation, I will say I can extend the finger roughly 45 degrees beyond neutral, while most of the others can go farther.

The other major loss this week was my perceived limited ability to perform the prescribed exercises for their full sets and reps. I tried to keep the transverse planar slouch as much as possible, as it seems to be reaping the most total-body benefits.

Some minor regressions aren’t impactful enough to mention. Suffice it to say, I’m feeling more pain and discomfort, but none of it is debilitating or causing me to be laid up for a week, as has been the norm this year.

Wins:

1. Finding a way to reduce the pain in the left middle finger (see the stretches in this video).
2. We drove a couple of thousand miles, and at no point during the trip did my right ankle or knee complain as they have in the past; external rotation of my right leg seems to be improving.
3. I got to see Cyan headquarters in person and meet Rand Miller. (Scratching that off my bucket list.)
4. I got to see where Becca was a kid and take some tours and things.