Slowly But Surely

I would love to be able to tell you that the first round of editing and proofing my new book is done and it’s off to the second proofreader today. That was the plan going into the weekend, but we discovered that when I narrated so much of the book into my digital recorder some unexpected issues came up that really slow down the process. The good news is that we are getting there, slowly but surely.

But before we do that, we have to go to my pain management doctor in DeLand. For a while now, while we were running back and forth to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville dealing with all of the things leading up to Terry’s InterStim implant, my back has been bothersome, but nothing I couldn’t deal with. However, it seems like now that we have her doing better, my back pain has returned with a vengeance. So much so that I’m back to having to use a cane just to get around the house.

Since every neurosurgeon I have consulted with has told me that I am not a candidate for surgery, and that if I did have it, it would probably only make me worse, Dr. Kent and I have talked about nerve ablation. Basically, this is a process in which they go in with a needle and use radio frequencies to burn the nerve that sends the pain signal from my back to the brain. My research shows that success rates are 70% to 80%, and many people get relief for as much as six months to a year before the nerve regenerates and the procedure has to be done again.

Something has to happen because it seems like every time I move I get sharp pains in my back that almost make me want to scream. Yeah, I know, we’ve all heard it before, but it’s true, this getting old nonsense is not for sissies.

I really need to get the pain under control and this book out because we are scheduled to leave here around February 1 to go to Arizona for Terry’s father’s 90th birthday and a family reunion. We will be driving because we have several stops to make along the way there and on the way back to gather more stories for the blog, to research future projects, and for some meetings with other authors I know to discuss things we want to accomplish in the next year or so. While we have both done plenty of flying in our lives, Terry and I much prefer to drive, seeing the country along the way, sampling the local cuisine, and getting to see new places while also revisiting others we have been to before that deserve a return trip.

Congratulations Jon Ensminger, winner of our drawing for an autographed copy of The Ghost At His Back, the first book in my friend Cameron Lowe’s Rankin Flats supernatural thriller series. Cam is a great guy, witty, intelligent, and creative. We had 51 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon.

Thought For The Day – Being old is like being a dog. The high points of your day are scratching, peeing, and waiting for the mailman.