I don't make them.
Because I don't like not keeping promises, even to myself.
But I do make notes to myself, and around the first of the year, I wrote "Notes to Self," in long-hand, seriously, knowing that if I would do these things, I would do better.
NOTE TO SELF
Do not kneel down....ever! I've already broken this one, the other day.
Do not shovel snow....ever! You can be a wimp inside looking out at the work that you are leaving your husband to do...or you can be a HURTING wimp, for days and days, inside looking out. Either way, you are inside looking out. I've sort of kept this one so far, though I did "push" a little bit of melted ice with the snow shovel, but that doesn't count, does it?
Focus on what you CAN do instead of wanting to hold onto pieces of what you used to do. Your husband will be exponentially happier the more often you are not in pain. I've kept this one really well. Maybe philosophical changes are easier for me than physical ones!
Wear collar. Several times throughout the day. Collar use makes posture better. Better posture means less Tethered Cord symptoms. Collar assists both head pain and below the waist. Fusion would also do the same, according to Dr. B. The posture is the key thing. Uh....you don't want to know....I have stopped wearing the CTO in the vehicle and can travel a little bit better. I don't have that "put me into painful passing out thing" going on when I'm not wearing the CTO. I do wear the collar in the vehicle now, that seems to work okay for me. I wear it into the stores...and to the movies yesterday (saw "Gran Torino"...great movie). But around the house...not so much.
Pain meds. Take less when you can. The less you take, the better they work! Embrace pain sometimes and skip pain med so that when you do take it, it works. This absolutely works!
Don't give up on fusion. Think of people you know who say fusion was helpful. Kara, Kathymichelle, Grma Lee, Lisa. You do not have EDS. Many people, if not most of the ones you know online who are struggling post craniocervical fusion have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. You have instability from severe trauma. Your situation is different. Don't forget it. Absolutely!
Quit Caffeine. It's bad for bones. Done!
The less you weigh, the easier on your feet and legs, and possibly you will have less pain. Ah, this one is harder. It's durn near impossible to lose weight when you can't do any activity. The snow is gone and I perhaps could start walking across the road, something I so love to do...but when I do it the first time, I'll find out how that works for me. Just walking through Home Depot makes me pay dearly for days.
Lay down often, rest your head, take the weight of your head off of your spine. I try. Most days, I do this.
Well, I didn't do as badly as I'd thought I'd do. It never hurts to remind ourselves of what must be done to get along as best we can. We all have our challenges.
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