Not Approaching Normal

In these pages, I've mentioned my leg problems, which started about three weeks ago today. Earlier, I got an e-mail from someone asking if things were back to normal now.

Not so much, unfortunately.

My problems aren't as severe as they were, but I still have continual pain in my thigh muscles on my right leg, along with some calf pain. I have trouble straightening my leg fully, which makes lying in bed difficult, leading to fitful sleep. I have severe pain and muscle weakness when I try to bridge my back, lifting up with my legs to raise my hips from the floor; the right leg just doesn't want to cooperate.

Now I can avoid this exercise, but one of my daily activities involves corralling Anna and Mischa, our two cats; Mischa loves to get under the guest bed and wait for me to get her out. This involves getting on my back and pushing myself under the bed, like an auto repairman sliding under a car (only without the wheeled platform). I can get under there just fine, but I have to use the those leg muscles to pull myself back out once I've got Mischa in my arms, and that's where the problems come in.

Will it get back to normal? Can't say. Some folks say it has taken them six months to get back to normal, but others have indicated that the improvement they saw in the first few weeks was all they ever saw. Hope I'm not in the latter group...