That was short-lived

Posted on September 29, 2022 by the_everything_pony

Things were looking up for a pretty good amount of time, so I kept my eyes open for another horse in maybe the near-ish future as my back kept improving and I was feeling more confident to ride. I joined some FB sites, and just browse all the sale ads to see what I like and dislike to get a better judge of what I’d be willing to go see. I’ve had a few that I’ve gasped at and just loved, but timing was wrong and I just couldn’t spend their asking price when considering what I needed vs the greenness of the horse. I’ve of course showed my mom all my favs, and she has appropriately oohed and awed over them with me haha.

Can’t get much cuter than a dachshund snuggling with his dinosaur toy ❤

Unfortunately, just before I was going to try a horse my trainer had for sale on Labor Day Weekend, I got into a car the wrong way and immediately knew something was wrong. Sure enough my back worsened over the holiday weekend, I couldn’t see the horse, and it is unfortunately extremely similar to when I first hurt it back in February. My PT has been very concerned about how it’s reacting, and that has been very validating in me knowing with this setback that we really need to do something else to help it. Thankfully my GP is on the same page, so I’ve got an appointment with a spine surgeon in October. This way we can hopefully identify why my back isn’t allowing me to progress any further and is causing me such pain. I’m a bit nervous about it, but also hoping that I’ll get some good answers with a positive prognosis and that it will be a “simple” fix. As the weeks have gone on it’s gotten less painful, but I have noticed a click in my back when I raise my right leg any more than a few inches off the ground. Since that irritates the hell out of the area, most activity is still a no-go.

My favorite plant of Lindsay’s that I’ve taken over is blooming! I didn’t even know it bloomed!

On a positive note, I finally discovered what was influencing a lot of symptoms and issues by being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. If anyone is unfamiliar with what that is, it is where my thyroid doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone. This can lead to extreme fatigue, hair loss, tingling and numbness in the extremities, and many other symptoms I was experiencing. It’s been relieving to know why I’ve felt so fatigued – so much so it was difficult to get out of bed in the mornings or on weekends. We aren’t sure yet what caused it, but I do know that for probably 2-3 years I haven’t really eaten much iodized salt. Not for any particular reason, I just liked using sea salt better, but we’re wondering if that was a big factor. So, use table salt guys haha.

He was a little clingy this day, so he put his head in my hand while I scratched him ❤

I’ve already been on medication for a few days, and so far it’s definitely helped. I’m still tired, but not to the extent of trying to pry my eyes open in the morning or remaining sluggish, brain fogged, and weak-legged all day. That feels like a big win to me, and it certainly goes far into helping my mental health since I’m feeling better – especially knowing the numbness and tingling hasn’t been from my back but from low thyroid hormone. There are foods I need to stay away from and others I should incorporate into my diet, but thankfully, most are already foods I have/haven’t been eating, so I thankfully don’t need to change too much on that front.

Now, we just have to figure out my liver and my back… One down, two to go!

When I sit outside (now that it’s finally been nicer) he likes to make sure he’s between me and whatever may “sneak up” on me from the house lol

All animals are doing just fine! Amber is doing well, and I’m hoping now that I’m not feeling so horribly fatigued I’ll be able to actually go over and give her lots of grooming and love. With my fatigue I’d only be able to manage 10 minutes if that, and I haven’t done chores because of my back so I miss her. Whenever I can see her, I ply her with treats so she won’t be mad at me. So far it’s working, just don’t tell her my secret lol. I don’t have any new pictures of her, but plenty of Oscar as you can see. He remains bestest buddy and sits close when I’m not feeling well or he’s clingy, and provides lots of laughs at his silliness. Just the other day, I got him to howl at Zootopia lol Please enjoy if you haven’t seen it on Instagram yet lol.

That’s about it so far! I hope everyone is doing alright!

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(And to anyone who’s read this, thank you! I am mostly cataloguing these issues I’m having so I can go back and look if I need – doing it for myself doesn’t really motivate me, so putting it in a post while updating everyone on the animals helps me to actually sit down and write about it!)