Great writing as always (only ever read Sontag’s essays).
Sorry to hear about your sciatica. A three-times herniated disc sufferer, I used to strap a hot water wrapped in a towel to my lower back, where I also use to apply a creme called Fatsum (I think). The physiotherapy I did was designed to stengthen the area around my waist (abdomen, glutes,...). I was a translator, so very sedentary and I am stick-thin so a bit mechanically inefficient. The last physio said I more or less needed to exercise all day. So I would translate for 20 minutes then do glute, abdominal and stretching exercises for two minutes.
I now do several salutations to the sun a day(modified slightly so not to have to stretch forwards to the floor,...). Good luck. I hope you start feeling better soon.
You’ve done it again. You’ve shone your flashlight into a dark place and filled it up with your ineffable energy. Thank you.
Ohhh sciatica. Such a lyrical name, such an excruciating condition. My husband had a bout of it a few years ago. His pain shrieked out from his thigh and the walls reverberated with his suffering. It was so potent, so relentless, so unbearable to witness that I feel like I lived through it too.
When I go back to the States, I fill my bags with over- the-counter allergy pills, aspirin, Ibuprofen that come in XL bottles. You can find all of them here in France, but they’re packed in dainty blister packs and cost a fortune. My narcotic supply nearly ran out as he swallowed fistfuls of oxycontin to kill the pain. I worried that he would be sent to rehab once the agony subsided.
He tried everything - acupuncture, “medical” marijuana, homegrown weed, meditation. He walked, he rested, he eliminated gluten, he drank lots of water, he watched hours of well-meaning but badly produced youtube videos, he tried to exercise but NOTHING WORKED until… he had a corticosteroid epidural. Wow. Having exhausted all the options (short of surgery) he had one well-aimed shot and just like the doctor promised … on the 15th day, he woke up and said “It’s over. It’s gone.” That was 4 years ago. Since then, my beloved does a series of yoga exercises and pushups every day, walks lots, avoids lifting stuff and has never had a relapse. Baruch hashem! May you find something that helps you too!
Sorry to hear about sciatica. As for Sontag, I've always dismissed her bc of how she faced her own death--every last treatment and possible drug, never acceptance. But I'll give this a try, and Trollop, too.
Wishing you piles of analgesic literature and a speedy recovery!
"I was feeding the engine of my contempt."
Thousands of books have been written, but this one sentence encapsulates our abysmal era of social media madness.
Great writing as always (only ever read Sontag’s essays).
Sorry to hear about your sciatica. A three-times herniated disc sufferer, I used to strap a hot water wrapped in a towel to my lower back, where I also use to apply a creme called Fatsum (I think). The physiotherapy I did was designed to stengthen the area around my waist (abdomen, glutes,...). I was a translator, so very sedentary and I am stick-thin so a bit mechanically inefficient. The last physio said I more or less needed to exercise all day. So I would translate for 20 minutes then do glute, abdominal and stretching exercises for two minutes.
I now do several salutations to the sun a day(modified slightly so not to have to stretch forwards to the floor,...). Good luck. I hope you start feeling better soon.
To Ben Dolnick – On Pain
You’ve done it again. You’ve shone your flashlight into a dark place and filled it up with your ineffable energy. Thank you.
Ohhh sciatica. Such a lyrical name, such an excruciating condition. My husband had a bout of it a few years ago. His pain shrieked out from his thigh and the walls reverberated with his suffering. It was so potent, so relentless, so unbearable to witness that I feel like I lived through it too.
When I go back to the States, I fill my bags with over- the-counter allergy pills, aspirin, Ibuprofen that come in XL bottles. You can find all of them here in France, but they’re packed in dainty blister packs and cost a fortune. My narcotic supply nearly ran out as he swallowed fistfuls of oxycontin to kill the pain. I worried that he would be sent to rehab once the agony subsided.
He tried everything - acupuncture, “medical” marijuana, homegrown weed, meditation. He walked, he rested, he eliminated gluten, he drank lots of water, he watched hours of well-meaning but badly produced youtube videos, he tried to exercise but NOTHING WORKED until… he had a corticosteroid epidural. Wow. Having exhausted all the options (short of surgery) he had one well-aimed shot and just like the doctor promised … on the 15th day, he woke up and said “It’s over. It’s gone.” That was 4 years ago. Since then, my beloved does a series of yoga exercises and pushups every day, walks lots, avoids lifting stuff and has never had a relapse. Baruch hashem! May you find something that helps you too!
Also, if you haven't read it, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.
Sorry to hear about sciatica. As for Sontag, I've always dismissed her bc of how she faced her own death--every last treatment and possible drug, never acceptance. But I'll give this a try, and Trollop, too.