Tired of the Increasing Limitations

It's been a week since my last gym foray, and a lot has happened in that short interval. My kid went back to college, my dog got X-rays, my husband returned from months away in Australia. My kid is safely ensconced at school and classes have started. The dog's odd rib lump appears to be composed of calcium and cartilage, perhaps a sort of bone callous. The husband raved about how great the food was over there in Oceana, did several loads of laundry and then slept for a good day and a half. 

I did also repot a bunch of my supermarket Venus flytrap plants as some pots appeared overcrowded, and one with a wee baby plant sprouting up at the edge (it got its own pot and I split a bigger plant in two -- their tiny rhizomes remind me of baby bok choi plants), and an outdoor plant looked relatively unhappy compared to two other plants that might be different subspecies based on coloring and size of their traps. It got repotted and actually looks happier now. When you buy them from the grocery, all the label says is Venus flytrap, as if they were all the same, but assuredly, they are not all the same.  

I have been dragging my feet about making the appointment for a consult with the neurosurgeon, because surgery, even laparoscopic surgery, is an invasive procedure that no one should take lightly. But the increasing discomfort of my inflamed sciatic nerve (bundle since it's not one giant nerve) is creating limitations in my daily activities. It's not getting better. I don't really have great days anymore where there's no pain. Instead, I monitor how often I cave to the pressure to pop some OTC NSAIDs, preferring to limit myself to just a single acetaminophen (500 mg) and 2-3 tablets of ibuprofen (200 mg each) all at once. 

I took that at 5 AM today when I couldn't go back to sleep because there was no position that didn't hurt. After 15 minutes, I was asleep until my phone's alarm chimed and I got up to take the dogs to the park, like I do every morning. I stopped going to the chiropractor because I didn't feel any improvements, not even with the decompression machine. The only movement that offers any relief is laying on my back and pulling the afflicted leg up and forward for "nerve flossing." It's rather painful, but as the old adage can be paraphrased, "It hurts so much that it feels good when you stop."

Barely anyone was at the gym when I arrived, and I arrived late. But it was also quite a nice day outside, sunny and not blistering hot, plus school in our county starts before Labor Day (as opposed to NYC where it starts immediately after the long weekend). No one else on the elliptical machines, and only two people on the treadmills. Eventually though, the gym did fill up a bit. 

Getting started on the Precor was painful. Pedaling the lower elevations was unpleasant with my forefoot growing numb and tingly, and the outside of my calf burning. There was less discomfort when the program increased the elevation. Pedaling backward was easier than moving forward. I'd probably progress if I suffered through cardio more than once a week, but lately I have had other things to do. I'm lucky to have registered the distance and steps that I managed today. It could've been worse. What seemed odd was the low HR the Precor was reporting. I've never seen this machine report 71 bpm. It sounds entirely reasonable but we all know that these machines are horribly inaccurate, not that the FitBit is that much better. But it does seem more likely with a range from 42 (while I was sleeping) to 118.  

VFT rhizomes

I did work up a mild sweat but that was hard to achieve. I would've had to pedal faster and I'm not really able to maintain it because of all the discomfort. I managed pull-ups but even before the first rep, my right leg was buzzing and the foot had gone numb in the toes. Because I knew I was reluctantly skipping push-ups later, I decided to revisit the DB routine with some modifications: less reps so as to baby that wonky right shoulder. It's my entire right side that appears to be failing me: right eye has much worse vision loss due to glaucoma, right shoulder has an undiagnosed joint issue, right lower limb has progressing sciatica. The left side seems relatively unscathed. Like I was two different halves, and I am by no means visibly symmetrical either... 

While I kept the higher reps with the lighter warm ups weights, I dropped the reps once I picked up the 20s. Those really shouldn't feel heavy but it's been more than a few months since I last did these exercises so maybe next time I'll add back a few reps. The Aerobics Room was a bit warm and totally empty. Nerve flossing gave me relief, while other exercises toyed with nerve aggravation. I've revamped my routine to complete skip everything that makes my leg hurt worse. Except for Air Squats. Those never used to bother me. Now they do and I do my 25 reps but slower and much more deliberately. 

Yeah, tomorrow I have to reconfirm with my health insurance company that they cover this doctor, that he's in their plan. New reports have come out in favor of acupuncture as a lower back treatment for pain but I doubt that the insurance company will change their stance on it. Which makes no sense. They'd rather pop you full of addictive pain meds or subject you to surgery than allow you to potentially gain relief from a few sterile needles...  

25 August 2026 1:09-3:01

Sciatica Tuesday

Sunny & pleasant & SCIATICA

Precor elliptical #1 (1:46

Program #3

Time: 30 + 5 (5132)

Distance: 2.70

Cal: 292

Precor HR: 71-129, 175

Google Health: 42-118

(Foot numb / calf clenched )

HGPU 15.5 ugly

Sciatica makes this so painful

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Bent Over Flys (slow & EZ)

10 lbs x 25/15/25 (2:07)

15 lbs x 25/15/30 (2:15)

Inclined Reverse Flys

20/15/20 x 15/15/15 reps

Set 1 (2:25); Set 2 (2:36)

Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!

20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:43)

15 Hamstring / nerve flossing

Skip Dead Bugs too painful

50 crunches x 2

Numb toes intensify during crunches if feet on floor; better if knees to chest

12 Piriformis stretches

Child’s Pose

Cat/Cow stretch 12

Child’s Pose

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Arm rotations 20

Skip Push-Ups 26

Air Squats 25 (aggravating sciatica!)

Skip Neck Stretch / eye yoga