I am well rested today ...

Had a wonderfully restful sleep last night.

All night.

Never woke up once.

Not once I tell you.

And my hips knew it too.

But I am rested.

And not at all stiff and sore.

What made the difference, you ask?

I had my physio session yesterday. That's what made the difference.

Duhh! Why have I not seen the pattern before this?

Obviously, I benefit from the sessions or I wouldn't keep going. They are one of my pain management tools and my weekly chats with my physiotherapist also give me lots of good tips on how to control whatever little naggy problems might come up in the intervening days. My physiotherapist has a very deep knowledge base of interesting ways to deal with pain.

It was my physiotherapist who convinced me to get the TENs machine and the acupen -- so that I could better manage my pain without having to run to her every other day (which is what I used to have to do when I was working). And both the TENs machine and the acupen work to their own strengths.

That would also explain why, when we travel, I sleep not so badly. I use my acupen on my hips every night before I go to bed when we are not at home; that's the next best thing to an acupuncture session! And I always have the TENs unit with me when we travel so that I can slap it on if need be.

But I have to use these pain management tools to gain the benefit of their therapy.

So I will start using the acupen again tonight, and I will use it every night before I retire, just like I used to when I was working (before I retired - ha ha)!

Now, one might wonder why, if I have these tools at home, do I need to bother going into Ottawa at all then?

The simple answer is, I'm not an acupuncturist. Seriously though, I can't place 40+ acupuncture needles into strategic locations in my body (from neck to ankle); preceded by the insertion of ice packs under my groin; followed by the careful placement of heat packs on my back.

Then I lie there for 30 minutes and let the needles do their thing. When my physiotherapist comes back, she sometimes disturbs my just-about-to-go-to-sleep state. She tells me that most people hit that state at about the 15-minute mark (I often NEVER get there).

The needles are removed in reverse order to which they were placed, providing maximum therapeutic benefit to the areas that need it that week (always the hips). It often takes up to fifteen minutes to insert all the needles (sometimes there are interruptions); less than two to minutes remove them!

In Other News:

My boys lost the game again last night -- with Doc on the mound. And he went the distance for them again! Why, oh why, can't those guys give my man the run support he deserves?

Oh well, 23 games left boys. Tempus fugit!!!!!