Done last week (20140629 Su - 0704 Fr)

[mdlbear]

Yesterday being a holiday, today felt like Sunday, so I'm doing my weekly update a little early. Pretty good week, on the whole.

Naomi, who is using me as a practice dummy for her massage therapy homework, checked out my lower leg pain and pronouced it "classic plantar fasciitis", largely on the basis of it being worst in the morning. ??! Apparently the fascia in question connect to the Achilles tendon, and from there on up around the calf muscles along the back of the leg to the knee. What she did, however, worked wonderfully all week.

I also summoned up the energy to finally do my taxes (I'd filed for an extension on the 15th). They still have a lot of estimation in them, so I should probably file an amended version. And, of course, set up installment payments. Ugh.

Monday I found a bunch of unpaid bills. Bletch.

Wednesday I took a treadmill echocardiogram test. I walked there from Cortiva; about a mile and a half. (The bus would have taken about the same time, and I need to exercise more.) For the test I had to get my heart rate up to 131bpm; I got it up to 181 and called a halt not because I couldn't go on but because I was getting tired enough to worry about doing something clumsy and injuring myself. I think my heart is OK.

Wednesday evening I started having some stabbing pain in my calf muscle (soleus, according to N). On investigation it turned out to be a little, deep knot (aka trigger point); I pushed hard on it with a finger, and it loosened up. I felt very pleased with myself.

Yesterday was, of course, Independence Day. We'll actually be doing our barbecue today; yesterday was just a nice, relaxing day at home. Colleen lay on the bed and watched fireworks. There were somewhere between three and five shows visible; the sound was more or less continuous. We could only see the bursts over the trees and hills, but it worked. Next year we'll have to set out chairs on the deck.

The increased dose of SSRI seems to be helping.

Links, as usual, in the notes.

0629 Su
  * up 8ish; W=210.0; (dropping d, n, etc. because no longer useful.)
  @ Right-Wing Christian Group Tried to Convert This City's Kids — But They're Fighting
    Back | Alternet Look out -- it's crazy out there. f(Nora Rivkis)
  * Went through the stack of unread mail in my cubby.  Found several unpaid bills.  :P
  * *finally* filed the taxes (after getting an extension).  TaxCut doesn't seem to do
    installments, so I'll have more to do.  Head, meet desk.  Face, meet palm.  :P
  @ The history of Android | Ars Technica Interesting, but long; I may give up.  The
    fact that it's split into 26 "pages" doesn't make it more appealing.
  * Massage.  Apparently my lower-leg pain is "classic plantar fascitis" -- that bundle of
    fascia extends up to the knee.  Ouch!

0630 Mo
  * up 6:15; W=208.8; d, n (last time for these)
  % no leg pain!  Yay!  Stayed reasonably pain-free all day, too.
  * Month-end payments, including some late ones.

0701 Tu
  * up 5:40; W=211
  * Looked up installments at IRS -- I qualify to set it up online.

0702 We
  * up 6:00; W=210.8
  * 9:30 treadmill/echocardiogram test at Harborview.
    Walked from Cortiva; took about 40min.  
    I had to get my pulse up to 131 for a valid test.  Got to 181; could have gone on for
    another minute or so but was getting tired and was afraid I'd get clumsy.
  @ Aspiring Model With Crohn's Disease Isn't Afraid To Show Colostomy Bags In Bikini
    Photo 
  @ Doctors, nurses condemn Hobby Lobby ruling, call for immediate action 
  % Stabbing pain in lower left leg; on investigation it proved to be a muscle knot.
    Applied a finger to the trigger point, and fixed it.  Go me!
  % Fair amount (3-4) of lower back pain; took a methocarbamol after noticing that it was
    keeping me from going to sleep.

0703 Th
  * up 6:17; W=210.8, p=1.5
  @ Supreme Court Rules JCPenney Allowed to Sacrifice Employees to Appease Cthulhu - The
    Moonmont Chronicle (gmcdavid/a>)
  @ Measles Outbreak Traced Back To A Single Unvaccinated Child | IFLScience 
  @ Seriously, Stop Refrigerating These Foods - Reviewed.com Refrigerators 

0704 Fr Independence Day
  * up 6:30; W=210.8
  * nice little 1-hour drive with Colleen
  * a little guitar noodling -- have to get back into practice
  @ Independence Day Special: Thirteen Facts About America Conservatives Would Like You
    to Forget 
  : We could see the tops of at least three, maybe as many as five, fireworks displays
    from our bedroom window.  The sound was like continuous thunder -- it didn't stop.

Comments

Refrigerators

[bubbleblower]

The article in the link on refrigerating stuff says you probably don't want to refrigerate other refrigerators. But maybe now and then you might.

Imagine some sort of science lab thing where you want to get down to liquid helium temperatures. It may be easier to build it in several stages, with the hot side of one stage feeding its waste heat to the cold side of the next one up. That makes for less extreme ratios of hot and cold side temperatures for any one unit.

So there you have a whole string of refrigerators refrigerating other refrigerators.

"??!" — "... ."

[thnidu]

pronouced it "classic plantar fasciitis", largely on the basis of it being worst in the morning. ??!

From the Wikipedia article you linked to:
>> The heel pain characteristic of plantar fasciitis is usually felt on the bottom of the heel and is most intense with the first steps of the day.[7] Individuals with plantar fasciitis often have difficulty with dorsiflexion of the foot, an action in which the foot is brought toward the shin.[7] This difficulty is usually due to tightness of the calf muscle or Achilles tendon, the latter of which is connected to the back of the plantar fascia.[9]<<

From the article in reference [7], Diagnosis and Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis (first ¶ in § "Clinical Diagnosis"):
>> Most patients have heel pain and tightness after standing up from bed in the morning or after they have been seated for a prolonged time. <<

From my brain and introspection about that, with harmonizing from courses in kinesiology^WP and human anatomy in my postgraduate and postdoc research on American Sign Language:
[[ Sounds like the muscle & tendon are reacting to suddenly being stretched after hours of quiescence. Not a normal healthy reaction, of course, but it does bring to mind the reason for doing some warmup stretches before an exercise session. ]]

Re: "??!" — "... ."

[mdlbear]

Pretty much. The pain was worst first thing in the morning, and got better as the tendons had a chance to stretch.

Re: &quot;??!&quot; — &quot;... .&quot;

[thnidu]

So what about some warm-up stretches before getting out of bed? As it is, as soon as you stand up your full body weight forces those tendons to stretch. Then, with your first step, you're stretching the back foot's tendon even further.

IANA physiotherapist, let alone an M.D. That said, here's my suggestion: As soon as you're conscious enough and before getting out of bed, stretch your Achilles' tendons gently by bending your ankles to bring the instep (upper surface of the foot) up toward the shin. (Technically this motion is called dorsiflexion.) You can make the stretching process even more gradual by starting with your knees bent, then gradually straightening them as you repeatedly dorsiflex and relax the ankles. This will allow your Achilles' tendons to make their first stretches of the day voluntarily and at leisure, as it were, rather than under the instant compulsion of your full weight, and to pause and regroup if there's any stress or pain.

If you try this, I'd be interested in how it works out.

[amaebi]

I'm glad to hear of your fundamental good health, even with the coincident muscle cramps.

[mdlbear]

Thanks.

[jcfiala.livejournal.com]

So, other than bills and the irs, it was a good week? Well, you take them where you can.

We tried to take Rose out to watch fireworks over the park, but she was more impressed with playing in the park and waving around the glow-stick that a nice boy gave her to play with.