One step back

I have taken lots of steps forward in my health odyssey this fall, so one step back shouldn't frustrate me as much as it is.  While I was at PT on Friday evening, I suddenly had my right calf muscle cramp up and immobilize me. I was doing an exercise I have done other visits with no problem, and actually thought I had been moving at a snail's pace that session.  We immediately stopped that particular exercise, and they rushed to fill up a plastic teaspoon with yellow mustard which they had me swallow with a water chaser....now, I actually really like mustard. As a child, I routinely got my burgers "mustard only." I've never ate it without a piece of protein or in something yummy like potato salad before though. While not hideous, I'd rather not repeat it. I posted something on Facebook and one of my high school classmates explained the effect-he's now a doctor. Apparently, it helps muscle cramps because of the acetic acid which does something with the production of acetylcholine in the body and helps ease muscle cramps. I'm happy to learn something new every day. 😁 Unfortunately, the muscle cramp has not eased as the weekend has progressed. As a result, I'm now slathering on Ben-Gay and limping a bit. The limping motion has made my right hip ache and I just feel like I have lost so much ground. It's kind of depressing. I just want to move forward more quickly than I am and this is frustrating.  

It does speed up my search for a home TENS unit as well.  My doctor wrote me a prescription last week so I can use my FSA account to pay for one. For my readers who don't know what a TENS it is, it stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.  At the end of each therapy session, they hook me up to one of these units, slap a massive ice pack over my back and hips and let it him along for about 15 minutes. It is probably the second best part of each session...I'm going to have to rank the personal massage as the best part each time.  After my initial 15 sessions of PT, my doctor ordered 12 more and insurance only approved 8. I view that as a sign that they want to wean me soon, so I figured it would be good to have one of these available at home. I've been doing research online and just can't make up my mind.  The best site to help me that I've found is http://www.tensunitreviews.net.  There are just too many choices! While the costs are reasonable for one unit, they lose reasonableness if you pick wrong and have to buy another!

I am choosing between a unit from LGMedSupply, a Healthmate Forever unit or one which isn't rated on this site but has terrific customer service reviews on Amazon.  I need to quit suffering from analysis paralysis and just purchase! That is my goal this week....beyond work related goals like finalizing grades and curriculum planning!