by BabyAngelSalutations, Reader.
With some luck this could be the last entry in the Covid-Dairies. Here’s hoping that Lady-Fortune is willing to smile upon me for a change and tip the scales away from misery. Ever since that fateful day on December 16th, 2020, when I tested positive for COVID, there have been no cornucopias of gold for me. If anything, my faith was placed in the hands of Miseria and daughter of Nox, soaked in Pain and Distress. How do these trials and tribulations of your favorite angelic anti-hero, whom you love to hate, lead to Tai-Chi drawing?
Skimming through the backstory (read earlier episodes), it appears that the main event is Corona; Highlighting and exploiting your weakest link. For your humble narrator, his Achilles’ heel first appeared and caused havoc in 2009, remaining a ‘Medical Mystery’ until recently. Because last week, the culprit and cause of immeasurable pain surges have been positively identified through cervical corticosteroid injections. What happened fifteen years ago was the sudden loss of arm movement or function on both sides, lasting for months. As illustrated above, there was a constant Vein of Pain which felt like there was Hot Lava flowing through them.
At the time, the best the doctors had to offer me was the awe-inspiring advice: Take-It-Easy and Don’t-Work-So-Hard or Suck-It-Up! Can’t believe I let them get away with such trivialities while enduring such excruciating torment. Seems like before the age of fifty, every ailment is solved by prescribing paracetamol or more potent over-the-counter pills. Anyway; Spilled Milk…
It Hurts Here, …But Starts There?
However, this ‘Dark-Period’ of 2009~2010 led to a life-hack where I cut back on carpentry and got back into drawing. Another change is that I switch from Hard to Soft martial arts and improve my posture in the process. To say that my life turned into one flowing “meditation in motion” would be a slight overstatement… Nevertheless, words from my Sensei stuck with me: “You can apply Tai-Chi to anything, Tai-Chi dish-washing, Tai-Chi window cleaning, etc…” The point here is to be mindful of correct stance and posture, and I applied a form of Tai-Chi carpentry.
Whatever caused the pain in 2009 remained a ‘Medical Mystery’ and stayed dormant beneath the horizon for approximately ten years. It would rear its ugly head and briefly surface periodically after a stretch of hard labor on a project. Until Corona came along and poured gasoline on the smoldering fire and caused ‘Exploding Pains’ in both of my wrists.
From that specific day on June 20th, 2021, (2 days after receiving the vaccination jab), it took 205 days with Exponentially Increasing and Excruciating Mind-Bending Pains until the MRI of 2022 to determine the root cause of the endured torment.
Diagnosis:
| Severe Discopathy at C5-C6 with Severe Neural-Foraminal-Stenosis, Left more than Right with probable influence of the Root_C6 on both sides. |
How that story ends, we will summarize as follows: After a steady diet of Tramadol, the pain had ebbed away and left me burned to ashes. The remainder of the year 2022 is spent on rehabilitation through physical-therapy and developing a training-program that works for me. Which is continuously sabotaged by Long-Covid, and the year 2023 is spent on sports-therapy and a better understanding of energy-reserves. With another Covid-Crash imminent early in 2024, it became evident that the Discopathy would flare up again.
In short, there is a vicious-cycle at work between Discopathy and Long-Covid that prevents me from picking up a pencil. Non-surgical treatments are nothing more than temporary band-aids for a persistent problem and do not provide a solution. Meanwhile; This ‘Cat & Mouse’ game is dominating my life and I’m sick of this shit and want this over with!
So, I wanted to get informed about surgical options, and step one in the process is Diagnostic Pain Treatment. And what do you know? It is like; ‘Turning Off The Light!’ Almost instantaneous: Pain~Away!! For a temporary period of time until the medication wears off…
Experimenting With Postures…
The administered Cervical Nerve Root Injections confirm my personal suspicions; Having pain on two levels, Electrical (nerves) and Mechanical (muscular). Now that the lead singer (pain-maker) has been removed from the stage (via nerve block), what remains are exhausted muscles from being continuously electrocuted. The mechanical fatigue in the arms gradually faded away within days, whereas the Neck Discomfort remains Prominent and Persistent.
Due to the pain-relief, I am noticeably a happier-person and start this experiment into postures in search of the cause. Since ‘drawing’ remains something that can only be undertaken for a ridiculously-short-period of time each day and needs resolving.
With the Pain~Away, I can better understand how my body reacts to certain positions.
Position 1: Computer
Sitting-Up Straight: Good!
Ergonomically, when eyebrows line-up with the top of the computer, one can hold-out behind the screen like a true cyber-marine!
Truth be told; Certainly not 12 or 24 hours like in the halcyon days and top-score anymore…
The body remains upright and there is no-bending of the-neck, and I play the keyboard like a piano with shortcuts…
So, no major-issues to report here.
Position 2: Drawing-Board
Lean-In & Look-Down: Bad!!
Since my early twenties, this has been my ‘Default’ drawing position within my own Studio or Work Place: 15 degrees.
Possibly spending days on one Artwork…
This year I had a few good weeks, but mostly I can’t hold the pencil and concentration for longer than 15 to 30 minutes these days.
Note: Besides hurting like a mother… a pinched nerve impairs your fine motor skills!
…Diminishes By Elevation!!
The tricked-out and custom-built Drawing Board above is fixed in a permanent position, which used to be the golden ratio. (15°)
Still have my first drafting board from Studio TBH-Q and upgraded it with a hinge so I can draw at other angles.
A small experiment clearly indicates that the more I need to lean-in, the more likely I am to use profanities.
Discomfort is less at a Higher Angle!
Position 3: Work-Bench
Worse: Look-Down Neck-Tilt!!
Having experienced an all-round career as a Wood~Smith, from renovation to interiors at the Timber-Factory, one fact remains: You Stand All Day!
As can be seen in the given example, when you operate behind a Work-Bench you cannot escape the look-down neck-tilt! …Simply because you need to keep an eye on the sharp objects you are working with!
If you are right-handed, you tilt to the left to have the best view of tools or details.
Which got me to thinking: How To Avoid That?
Taking advantage of this window of opportunity where I feel no-pain, yet can still perceive the discomfort from the poses. It has become abundantly clear that Leaning-In and Neck-Tilts enrages my cervical region, causing discomfort that feels like a Downward-Pull.
Figure A: The downward pull feels much like the straps of a heavily loaded rucksack pulling your shoulder blades together. Something that actually agitates my neck rapidly in real life.
Figure B: When the weight is evenly distributed _like an inverted plumb-bob_ and my neck remains straight, there’s no problem! As proven by training with the dog-vest out in the field.
Figure C: Acknowledges that bending the neck when the C6_Root-Nerve is agitated is not beneficial to the operator’s health. Solution: Bring the workspace up to the Comfort-Zone!
Adapt, Improvise and Overcome…*
Tai-Chi Drawing!?
So, armed with these insights, some wood from the shed, ordering a sheet of metal online, and some cheap hinges from the local rip-off store…
A plan was put into motion to provide a new level of drawing that will test true Stance and Stamina!
I think this is a variation of “If Mohamed doesn’t come to the mountain?” …Any which way; …If This Is What It Takes!?
…So Be It! …Bring It On!!
While writing this article, your humble narrator visited his physical-therapist and mentioned this little research in not so many words… Marking the location-of-discomfort with my middle and index-fingers on the neck, I asked, “Can you tell which vertebrae these are? …And what do you know, Spot-On, C5 and C6, the exact area of the nerve-impingement, taking away all doubt!
In this period when the Root-Nerve-C6 is silenced, it is time to ramp-up physical training and strengthen the problem areas. Drawing ‘Standing-Up’ I’m sure will prove to be a challenge in itself and a form of training unseen by most. This is where Chi-Kung meets the Metal Drawing-Board!!
In Addendum
After receiving initial feedback, I realized that I need to conclude with a status-report of sorts for good measure. Based on personal observations, long Covid has an Ebb & Flood cyclic rhythm to it, like recharging a battery. Understanding how to conservatively maintain your Energy-Reserves is key in managing the Low-Tide and not get stuck in the mud! Somehow, this year the Covid-Crashes endured have had a softer landing than before, and faster Reboots.
The ergotherapy catch-phrase is, “You need to budget your energy for the day…” Well, Pain is the biggest utility-bill and depending on your daily energy reserves; Cuts your budget in half or less! Now that the brief pain relief is in effect, there is more energy to spend and put to good use!
I’m also glad to mention that my fine motor skills are gradually returning to my hands.
What I do not share is the optimism expressed by several regarding how Cortisone could pave the way to recovery. In my opinion, not so much as a pessimist, but more as a realist, the neck has lost its Structural-Integrity. So it is only a matter of time and unfortunate conditions when Nerve-Entrapment occurs again and causes Hell-on-Earth once more.
This is why I am researching other avenues and exploring alternative solutions that lead to:
*Tai-Chi Drawing!!
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Next: The Operation?
