Back Pain

Friday August 16, 1991

Frank's up early and off to leave the key for the gas man at Lemona and then on to Gledhill to work on the dishwasher some more. Several people stop to see the house.

I clean the linens from Sara and Joey and remake the room before I leave for errands, shopping and Gledhill. I pick up lunch for us and then go pick up parts for Frank. At Lemona I take down the drapes--filthy!

I worry--so much to do and I want to help, but just a little bending or strain puts my back in such pain, I'm afraid. But Frank can't do it alone!

After dinner we go to see Layne and Phil's new house in Moorpark. It's very nice!

I can relate to the back pain, Mom. I herniated my disk between the L4-L5 vertebrae in 2008 and had surgery in September of that year to trim the disk. The surgery helped, but the pain is always there, and doing any bending or lifting definitely aggravates it. Other than headache, it is the most common type of pain in the United States. It affects 80% of Americans at some time in their lives. Mom also suffered from knee pain and shoulder pain at different times of her life. None of this is related to the cancer.

It's a good thing Frank retired from the City of Los Angeles Parks Department when Mom was diagnosed with cancer. Working on rentals can be a full time job, especially when more than one is empty at a time. At this time, Mom and Frank are working on two vacancies. In 2010 we had six vacancies.