So much rain

Pain level: 6/7 depending
Dislocations so far today: left elbow
Subluxations so far today: Right shoulder a couple of times, right wrist
Meds: meloxicam--1 tablet. 
Major complaint: Spinal stenosis pain down both legs,  stiffness/pain/swelling in the joints of my hand (R>L) 

It's raining like mad again and my stenosis pain hasn't gotten any better.  My hands, however, have!  *dances*  The past two days, my fingers have been nearly back to the "normal" I was at before the Meloxicam started to crap out on me.  So maybe it's working after all.  :)
 
Okay, maybe this is just my experience, but Kohl's has the WORST wheelchairs--hands down.  After being on 24hour puppy-duty, M and I went out to eat at our favorite restaurant and she wanted to walk around Kohl's (next door to the place) afterward.  I walked for about 5-10 minutes with my cane, but the nerve pain was starting to get really bad so we were going to go back to the car to get my chair.  Oops.  We had left the seat at home.  I had wheels and a frame... Go us.  Nicely done.  So I decided to use one of the chairs offered by the store.  Man, that thing was messed up.  

The first one I sat in had no footrests.  At all.  Now, I'm wicked short--5 feet even--but even my feet were dragging on the ground in this one.  We did manage to find one that had one footrest.  Just the left one.  What?  In what situation would that ever be more functional than both?  So that one it was.  Luckily, I have tiny tiny feet and was able to balance my cane on the footrest and smoosh both feet on top of it to keep it there.  But when I pushed off, only one wheel really worked.  Like having a bad shopping cart that really really wants to go left no matter how hard you push.  AND the front casters/wheels were so big that anytime I tried to maneuver the chair around, left front wheel would slam into my ankles.  Who designed this thing?!  Anyone who has tried to go shopping in a chair can tell you how hard it is to fit a wheelchair down the winding aisles--and when you can't maneuver correctly?  Man, I was bumping into everything.  It was like my first day in a chair all over again.  M tried pushing me, but she slammed me into things just as bad as I did.  At least we had fun laughing our butts off about it. 


I assume they put these chairs there to be helpful.  Maybe they assume no one really uses them? Maybe they should try sitting in them sometime.  Maybe they're just there for the employee's amusement as I bash my leg into things.  Who knows.

I was absent here yesterday as we were pet-sitting this little munchkin of a Shih Tzu named Casey.  Cute and emotionally high maintenance.  Her Daddy (6'3", general contractor, super straight, dating M's mom)  calls her Casey-girl and Little Miss Waggy Tails.  Adorable.  She's a complete sweetheart but was horrifically abused by the first woman who owned her.  (she's a rescue pet.) Which equals: no one but Daddy can be trusted.  She warmed up to us eventually, but is just a twitchy little pup.  Kept us busy.

Hand stiffness using middle finger has measure
Time: 7:38 PM
Can touch forearm?  Just just barely.  Ow.
Angle of extension of the center joint of finger: 60º
Angle of extension of the last joint of finger: 125º
R
Can touch forearm? not even close
Angle of extension of the center joint of finger: 55º
Angle of extension of the last joint of finger: 115º