"There's a ringin'...in my ears!"

Unfortunately, I must report that this very late in the evening, very near to the early morning, I am still up with a headache. Every time I lay down and close my eyes it gets worse. So, I am sitting here, in my bed trying to watch "New In Town". The light hurts, but not as much as the weight of my eyelids.

When I got home after my workout, I felt wonderful. Took a shower, made a fine dinner of grilled chicken accompanied with a tomato and cucumber salad, and then shortly following, I started to feel the "comings-on" of my traditional ache in my lower back (I also have scoliosis - I forgot to mention before! - I know, I know...I have issues) and in my shoulders. After which, when rising from a seated position, the whoosh, whoosh effect of my heartbeat in my head. That is the sign that I had better STOP! And when I say STOP - I mean it! I put an ice pack on my back to alleviate some of the swelling and then my neck and head to numb away the pain. Nothing helps, really...not aspirin, not Advil, not Aleve, not Tylenol. I have tried them all. The only thing that has proven semi-effective is stopping all activity for an allotted period of time. It is hard to do when you have a 9 year old, but, fortunately (and unfortunately) she too understands the signs and symptoms. She is so sweet about it! I hate to tell her that I cannot do something because "mommy is starting to get one of her headaches"! It's gets VERY frustrating and actually angers me beyond words!

I did fall asleep for a couple of hours, and my pain has subsided some. Which is promising for tomorrow. I don't think this one will linger. I may have caught it soon enough. We shall see. In the meantime, I will sit here in an upright position and periodically close my eyes and seriously consider - AGAIN - having the surgery to correct my Chiari. If, in fact, that is the cause of all this turmoil!

I went one whole week without this happening. I think the cause is the dead lifts and the ab workouts. My abs must be SO weak that I compensate by using my back and shoulders. This then causes the swelling that prevents enough flow of spinal fluid and my brain retaliates with a vengeance. I try to apologize, but it just mocks me with another throb and flashes of light!

Wish me luck for tomorrow. I bet Kim is going to make me take it easy! Probably a good thing. This is going to be a long process, I think. Not something I am happy about. But, I will accept it. I have no other options.

Kristi