I must be odd...

I am taking the Teriparatide injection for  Severe Osteoporosis. It fairly fine for the first month. I think. It is not painful to inject and it was actually easier to remember to do. Easier than taking the Fosomax pill which was icky beyond belief.

After 3 weeks I started to get some aches and pains in my legs. Charlie Horses, pain behind the knee, pain in front of the knee, what felt like shin splints [if you ever have been a runner]. I wrote the issues off to the fact that I was hiking looking for morels and gardening more. 

Then I realized that I was not actually hiking more or being more active at all. In fact I was so tired some of the time I'd elect to take a nap rather than get out and do yard work. 

Sunday night it came to a head. I'd had a great day. But after sitting for a bit and watching Rich's new favorite series -- Wicked Tuna -- my leg and hands started to hurt more. My hands I'd written off to all the gardening and the Heberden and Bouchard nodes [arthritis of the finger joints] just being angry at pulling weeds. But they also felt swollen. I had a hard time picking small items up.

OH NO! How was I to mess with my tiny Lego People and my Squatch!  HMMM???

Yeah, my mind is strange.

By bedtime I could barely walk. 

I hurt so badly that I decided not to take an injection. It hurt too much to even walk into the other room.

By midnight I was sobbing in pain, wondering how to resolve this issue. Did I drive to the local ER? No! I couldn't leave my hubby along in case...well, in case something went terribly wrong.

I used ice, I used heat, I elevated the leg. I rubbed it, stripped it and found out that the only way to stop my pain was to simply stand up and stand still. 

This MADE no sense. Sorry for the shout out. But it made no sense and I was so worn out from the pain and from the worry. NO way was I going to stand all night.

Ok. So I looked up the medication I am taking. It works by activating the parathyroid in your body to produce hormones that will build your bones. That sounds like a miracle.

Side note. If your parathyroid is over active it can cause something called hyperparathyroidism which leads to Hyercalcemia.  Big Words for some icky feelings. That is my oversimplification. 

Bone pain, muscle weakness, muscle pain, joint pain, fatigue,...side effects from this medication can cause bone pain, muscle pain, fatigue, brain fog, increased thirst, ... well you know how those labels read don't you? There is always a mile long list of things you really need to know...but don't want to know.

That all said, it remains to be seen if the medication is doing its proper work or am I suffering from a side effect that caused my parathyroid to release too much calcium into my bloodstream which causes more injury than it helps and can eventually cause well...

death.

One shouldn't look this sh-t up in the middle of the night when they are suffering from pain, right? But we all do it in the internet age. Was I over reacting? I don't know. But in the middle of the night

the boogey man likes to visit those sleep deprived minds.

8AM rolled around and I called the nurse at the Endocrinology department. She asked several questions and I answered. 

Pain level at its worst? Can it be more than 10? Can it be passing out bad?

She said she'd get back to me after talking with the doctor.

I waited all day. I gimped around the house and sat in my partially completed flower garden. By afternoon I decided to put pillows up under my legs and take more Tylenol. 

Later I went back outside to plant some seeds and wait.

No calls.

I gimped up the hill to water the mules. I gimped around to move the goat and the pony. 

I skipped another injection. This medication doesn't stay in your system for long periods of time.

So I am doing my own experiment. 

The pain level was 10 on Sunday night.

The pain level was 8 all day yesterday.

I can walk today. I have stiffness in the leg and a minor ache. 

Pain level this morning? Like a 3!

But.

I am not in agony.

I'm very curious as to what the doctor will have to say to me if the nurses ever decide to call back.

Today? I have other things to do.

Charlie goes in for a tooth extraction! How that little dog cracked a tooth is beyond me.

So it goes. 

What next?

November Pasture Fun

 So I'm sure this Election Day will be well remembered.

What did you do? I'd voted already, voted early. My goal for the day was to mix up Chicken soup, make bread, and head out to the woods to do battle with more Buckthorn trees. 

I'm doing the easy route first before I go tackle the harder stuff. I'd cleared 8 trees from one area that I've been working on. I didn't use the Black Bag method, but I did saw them down with a hand saw, then applied brush killer to the stumps [per instructions from DNR videos and foresting videos]. I then wrapped them in white bags and painted other stumps yellow so I can see if they sprout this coming spring.

The Black Bag method is supposed to deprive the stump and roots from getting sunlight and nutrition. I thought since I didn't have the bags, I'd brush the killer on the stump and wrap it in a plastic bag to deprive it of...I don't know...water? If nothing else, it will keep me from tripping over them for a while.

I've let the trees sit for three weeks to dry out a bit. Then I've chopped them up and put them in a small pile to burn. I make a small fire and just add to it.

That little job took me all morning. But the trees were burned and the coals raked out. I moved west to work on another section of pasture. Rich had cleared things with his skid steer quite a few years ago. I personally think that all that disturbed soil let in more Buckthorn Trees and nasty weeds.

Below are more piles I've made by clearing out multiflora rose bushes and Elderberry trees that have choked the area. In the spring I can pull most of those plant stumps up right out of the ground. But here I have won the battle of against the burdock!

There is a small outcropping of rocks that are really neat. Over the years they have become overgrown with the dreaded Buckthorn too. But since the roots have to be very shallow on the rocks, many have died leaving a huge mess.

I'm going to take that little area and do 'something' with it. Clean it up for sure, but I'd love to make it a place I can walk to and sit. 

The soil is very rich and fertile around the rocks.

I'm thinking of moving some ferns into the area.

Maybe I'm just a dreamer. But I needed an outdoor project to keep me from going nuts this November. 

For my inside entertainment, I've taken the huge balls of material that I inherited from my Grandmother by way of a cousin...and I am crocheting a new rug to be placed by the kitchen sink. Grandma used to weave her rugs, but I don't have room for a loom and crocheting is easy. Well, sort of. My rag rugs have usually turned out lopsided. However they are very functional.

Off I go early tomorrow as the sun comes up. 

Staying home is a good thing.

Covid-19 has sickened a whole house on our ridge as well as infiltrated assisted living in town, as well as one of the nursing homes. 

[One house is a lot ... we have 5 homes on our ridge.]