Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 29

Another Back Update

It’sbeen 166 days since I blew out my back. As you all know, I’ve had many miserabletimes during that stretch, but I have had just as my mediocre days. Days when Icould at least take a comfortable walk down my road or lay in the sun on my deck.I can’t say the totally pain-free days were greater than a dozen, but they werestill there, somewhere throughout the summer.

Yesterday,I had my steroid injection at L-2 to L-3 (if that means anything to any ofyou). It wasn’t very painful, and my back hasn’t hurt at all since I left theroom. Of course, they tell me that is just the effects of the local anestheticthey numbed my back with before putting in the spinal needle, and that within24 hours, that will wear off, at which time my nerve endings will go, “what inthe name of all things bright and beautiful did you do?” Meaning, the pain willmost likely return with a vengeance, until those nerves figure it out andsettle down in any where from seven to fourteen days.

Iknow, right? Did I really sign up for that?

Thedoctor was very nice and had a decent sense of humor, which you know Iappreciate. I had never met him and the staff already had me laying on mystomach with my head in the donut pillow, when he walked in and introduced himself.I answered him, “the back of my head is glad to meet you too.”

Hedid mention my nice tan and I told him that was because all I could do allsummer was lay on my deck in the sun. He said he thought I’d been gardening allsummer, which made me chortle and reply, “yea, right.”  

Anyway,it went smoothly. And all I can do is see what happens from here. Thank you,everyone, for all the prayers over the last five and a half months. I love youall.

I always try hard not to be frosty towards new people I meet in health care - I've been where they are.
 But I will admit, I was a chicken yesterday. 

Historic Prairie du Chien - Camping at Wyalusing, Blog post #2

The first full day we camped at Wyalusing State Park, wetook a drive into nearby Prairie du Chien. It is considered Wisconsin’s secondoldest city. Younger only than Green Bay, it was established in 1673.

Being that old, Prairie du Chien does have a long andinteresting history. Which you’ll have to look up on your own if you want toread about it. I’m mostly about the pictures.

We first toured the Fort Crawford Museum complex. Itincluded the Fort Crawford Hospital and the Prairie du Chien Museum.    

 

Unfortunately, walking through the buildings and stopping to study all of the displays did not agree with my back. For me, I took an amazingly few pictures. We’ll have to go back another day.

There was so much more to see in the town. I’ll share more next time. 

What is Beauty Anyway?

    You should not use outward aids to makeyourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you puton, or the dresses you wear. Instead, your beauty should consist of your trueinner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of thegreatest value in God's sight. (1 Peter 3:3-4, Good News Translation). 

I love the hardwood floors in my house. Some of them are pretty worn, and some have even endured some major abuse (before I moved in, by the way).
 

But to me, they are all beautiful, and I wouldn’t change any of them.

God sees us the same way. No matter what scars or flaws we carry on the outside, and even if we carry faults on the inside, God loves us no matter what.

But if you have a kind and caring soul, it will make is easier for others to love you too.

  

My back has been exceptionallypainful the last few days, and I have been feeling less than beautiful on theinside or out. More like feeling just plain ugly. That’s what got me thinking about my hardwood floors. Beauty issomething different to everyone, but there is beauty in everyone, no matter howthey look or feel. And there would certainly be nothing beautiful about me thesedays if it weren’t for God.  

Camping at Wyalusing, Blog post #1

August 6th thru the 9th, we tookour second and final camping trip of the year. We drove all the way to the farsouthwest corner of the state to Wyalusing State Park. 

The park sits on 2,700-acres overlooking the confluenceof the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. It is one of the oldest WisconsinState Parks, having been established in 1917.

Views from the bluffs above the two rivers arebreath-taking. There are also miles of hiking trails, but with my back stillcausing me trouble, I wasn’t able to hike any of them. Hopefully, next time. 

Native Americans, fur-traders, miners, and some of thestates earliest Europeans all passed through this area and left their influencein one form or another. The Civilian Conversation Corps built roads, trails,and shelters in the park during the Great Depression.

 Overall, Wyalusing is steeped in natural beauty andhistory.

Meditation?

 

          Peace I leave with you, My peace Igive to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart betroubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27, NewKing James Version)

Ifyou may recall, I’ve been suffering from back pain since the first of April.I’ve tried nearly everything, and most treatments seem to help for a few days,and then pain starts acting up again. It seems like a new treatment (physicaltherapy, CBD salve, TENS unit, etc.) helps to a certain degree, and then Ireach a plateau where I am stuck. Overall, however, I think I slowly, oh sovery slowly, have been getting better.

Istarted thinking, and even feeling in my body, that the back is actually healedas much as it can be, but my brain keeps me stuck with the pain. I'll feel a sketchyfeeling in my back, and right away, my brain is like, “Danger, Will Robinson, it’sgoing to be painful.” I know, it sounds crazy, but that’s where I’m at.

So,I found some guided meditation videos on YouTube, which tackle what I’m goingthrough. And it seems to be helping. I even wrote what sounded like ameditation on my August 13 blog post. Then I ran into that brick wall which confronted me with the question – is this a Christian thing to do?

Iread some thoughts on it on the internet. Yes, meditate is mentioned in the Bible, a lot, such as, "meditate on the word of the Lord." But there are also different types of mediatation. I could go into it, but I still comeback to the belief that it is all where your heart and soul are. My heart andsoul believe that God is always with me, that Jesus is my Savior, and that theHoly Spirit guides me. And when I relax my mind and body, and the words belowrun through my head, I think I’m going to be okay. No, I know I’m goingto be okay.

          Bestill, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10a, New King James Version)

Challenges

Severalyears ago, I challenged myself to walk all of the trails in one of the state parks.

In2021, I hiked one of the trails in Devil’s Lake State Park. It was exhilarating,but I also thought I could have killed myself. I’ll never get to all the trailsin that park.

Lastyear, I walked all of the trails in Bewabic State Park in Michigan. And I hopedto accomplish that goal in a different state park each year. 

Thisyear, as you can certainly guess, I didn’t come close. One day, I stopped byour nearest state park the end of July and walked a very paltry section of itstrails. Okay, to be honest, most of what I hiked was on the handicap accessiblepath. I’m pathetic.

Butguess what? It is only September 1. Maybe we will have a long, comfortable autumn,and now that my back is doing quite a bit better, I’ll be able to get out andexplore before snow falls.

Hopeyou’ve been able to get out and enjoy all that the outdoors of your area has tooffer. And if not, there is always tomorrow, or next week, or next year. Justdon’t give up.

Orif you really want a challenge – well, I still can’t believe I climbed up thiswall in 2015 in Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya. If I could do that, you cando anything.

A Day and Night Away

Well,gee whiz, where has the month gone. I know I mentioned that on my post lastFriday. But I’m looking back at the few road trips I took this summer and am amonth behind. 

 The last weekend in July, my daughter rented a cabin in Jump River and invited me to spent Saturday afternoon and night with her and her dog.

The cabin was really nice.

I suppose I could have gotten a picture of my daughter instead of just of my grandpuppy.  

But what’s a grandma to do?

And if you’ve never heard of Jump River, or been there, look it up.

There’s always something to do no matter where you go in Wisconsin.

And always something beautiful to take pictures of.

Relevant or not? Too long or not?

 

Ialways hate posting a long passage from the Bible. I’m afraid you won’t read itall, because you will find it boring, or had to understand, or irrelevant. 

Last night, I read2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, and it said so much to me. I wanted to pick out themost pertinent verse to try to pick apart and explain in my own words. Butreally? Like my words are ever better than God’s?

Sohere is the entire chapter. I hope you read it all.

          God, with his mercy, gave us thiswork to do, so we don’t give up. 2 But we have turned away from secret andshameful ways. We use no trickery, and we do not change the teaching of God. Weteach the truth plainly, showing everyone who we are. Then they can know intheir hearts what kind of people we are in God’s sight. 3 If the Good News thatwe preach is hidden, it is hidden only to those who are lost. 4 The devil whorules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannotsee the light of the Good News—the Good News about the glory of Christ, who isexactly like God. 5 We do not preach about ourselves, but we preach that JesusChrist is Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus. 6 God once said, “Letthe light shine out of the darkness!” This is the same God who made his lightshine in our hearts by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face ofChrist.

          7 We have this treasure from God, butwe are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great poweris from God, not from us. 8 We have troubles all around us, but we are notdefeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living.9 We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but weare not destroyed. 10 We carry the death of Jesus in our own bodies so that thelife of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. 11 We are alive, but for Jesus weare always in danger of death so that the life of Jesus can be seen in ourbodies that die. 12 So death is working in us, but life is working in you.

          13 It is written in the Scriptures, “Ibelieved, so I spoke.” Our faith is like this, too. We believe, and so wespeak. 14 God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, and we know that God willalso raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we willstand before him. 15 All these things are for you. And so the grace of God thatis being given to more and more people will bring increasing thanks to God forhis glory.

          16 So we do not give up. Our physicalbody is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new everyday. 17 We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain aneternal glory that is much greater than the troubles. 18 We set our eyes not onwhat we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time,but what we cannot see will last forever.

(2Corinthians 4, New Century Version)

And Summer is Over

Wow,look at that date. The last Friday of summer. (I don’t know why they still saysummer lasts until September 23. It’s got to do with the moon, I think, butlike why are we still living in the Middle Ages. Come on, summer is June throughAugust and that’s all she wrote.)

It’salso four months until Christmas. I was thinking about getting a start on myshopping by at least buying my kids’ yearly packages of socks, maybe underwearthis year too, as they have both been struggling with life.

Becausemy back has been tormenting me all summer, as you know and are probably tiredof hearing, I didn’t have nearly as many adventures or go as many places as Iwould have liked. Looking back, however, I guess I got out a little bit. 

A walk with my daughter and her dog in our hometown. Another walk on another day with daughter and grand-dog.
A walk on my own at Council Grounds State Park in Merrill. 
A walk with my sister at a park in her town of Wausau.
Everyone tells me that walking is the best thing for my back. 
An overnight adventure with Daughter and Pup at Jump River.
Our annual camping trip to Bewabic State Park in Michigan. 
A new camping site, Wyalusing State Park in the far southwest corner of the state. 


And on days when I can't get out of the house, sometimes, all I have to do is look out my window. 

Don't Compare Wings

Thewings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wingsand feathers of the stork. (Job 39:13, New International Version)

Thursday,I had my appointment with the spine specialist. I didn’t have high expectationsthat this visit would magically heal my back, but I thought I should at leasttry it and see what they said.

Isuffer a fair amount of anxiety, and this ongoing back pain has worsened it. AsI was sitting in the car, trying to calm myself down before entering thebuilding, I wished I had dragged my husband along for moral support. (He wasmore than willing to come with me, but I told him I got this.) But there I was,all alone. Not really.

Sinceit was too late to have anyone else join me, I decided to invite Jesus into thedoctor’s office.

Thestaff person finished rooming me and asking me a million questions, one ofwhich was, “Is your blood pressure usually this high?” And I was left alone towait for the doctor.

Isat back, closed my eyes, and imagined Jesus sitting down in the chair besideme. And then I started in on myself.

Whywas I even there? I already had my mind made up that this doctor wouldn’t helpmy back. And so what? So many more people were out there with problems moresignificant than mine. Sure, it hurt to walk, but only 75% of the time, but Icould still walk. What about paraplegics? What about amputees? Sure, they canwalk on a prosthesis, but wouldn’t that get old after a while?

Yes,Jesus was with me, and while I was waiting for the doctor to come in, beratingmyself for being such a whiner when other people have it way worse than me,Jesus told me not to compare myself with others. Everyone has their own battle,and this is mine. And Jesus will fight it with me just like He fights the onesthat other believers are fighting.

I’mnever alone, and God hears and answers all of our prayers. But today’s reminderis: You may have ostrich wings, or stork wings, or even eagle wings, butwhatever kind they are, don’t compare them with others. They are your wings andyours alone.