Videos from April 24th

Getting Better

Just wanted to do a quick update to let you know that physio is going well. I am starting to be able to stand and sit longer and the physio therapists say that I should be able to start swimming again next week. Then about a month later, I will be okay to fly. So we are aiming for the end of May.
They told me something interesting yesterday. Apparently, this injury was not caused from the time Lee slammed me on the back of the sofa. It is just a particularly bad case of Degenerative Disc Disease. It usually starts in people when they reach their late 50s or 60s but it can happen with people as young as me. Actually, the doctor thought I was a little too young to have this problem but the good news is that the disease tends to improve as you get older. The other issue I have is arthritis which adds to the problem. The traction is helping a lot though. I feel way better.

Drai is doing great. He is rolling around like a mad man and almost crawling. He started sleeping the whole night about a week ago, which is wonderful. Last night, we finally couldn't take it anymore and buzzed off the back of his head. He was growing a sweet mullet. Business up front- party in the back. My dad told me that I wasn't allowed to cut his hair because us Usher's have to cherish what hair we have. However, there was no way I could let my son crawl around with a hairstyle like that. Now, he looks way better. I also got him some Baby shades for when we take him for walks. We were worried he wouldn't like them but he seemed to not care at all. He is a really social baby and is always excited when other people are over. Grant came by to visit and had just bought a storm trooper helmet toy. He was playing his music for Draidan, who quickly let it be known that he wasn't impressed with Grant's taste in music.

Down and Out

I am in a really bad head space tonight. After having a great day yesterday, I was tidying up and starting to pack for our trip next Monday. I have been working my ass off in the pool, stretching, walking a lot every day and avoiding anything that could possibly injure my back. I have been feeling awesome and was saying to Jenny two weeks ago that if I lost the two kilos I gained the last time I hurt my back, I would be in the best shape of my life. Then, at about 8'O clock last night I was cleaning the kitchen and completely destroyed my lower back.

I blew it out in the most ridiculous fashion. I was literally just emptying a small box of paper into our recycling bin when suddenly it felt like a knife was driven through my lower spine. This dropped me instantly. I caught myself on the table to stop from falling all the way down which might have made it worse and then I ended up on my back, where I had to lay for about an hour. How can pouring paper into a box destroy my back? It's kind of ironic as I was lecturing my students on Friday night about how important it is to recycle!


Jenny wanted to call the ambulance but I have played that game before and knew I would just end up getting an IV and an uncomfortable bed for the night while I waited for the spinal doctors to come the next morning.

I finally crawled to the bedroom and luckily had some Robaxacet that Gail had just sent me. I got in bed and there I stayed until this morning. I can't even take a shower or put on my shoes on my own. When I got to the back specialist today, I told her right away that we were flying out a week today. She kind of shook her head and said, "Well, let's take some X-rays and see." Hospitals here are really efficient. Chaotic but efficient. 30 minutes later I had my X-rays. She took one look at them, shook her head and said I have a compacted spine, sciatica, scoliosis and a small hernia. (I always have the hernia though.) My spine is totally twisted above my pelvis. She said that there was no way I would be able to travel with it like this and said the best case scenario would be a month from now. And that is only if I do physio every day for the next month and recover fast.

The muscles are spasming so much that the physio therapists won't even work on me. They said it will be three days before it is safe enough for them to start manual therapy. For now, I am just getting electric currents run through my spine. I am not supposed to work for three days and they gave me a huge injection to bring the swelling down. Then, sent me off with a huge bag of pills. (6 different kinds.) I absolutely hate lying around in bed. I don't watch TV and I can't get comfortable for long even when my back is okay. So three days of bed rest is anything but restful for me.
I have been writing this blog in 5 minute intervals throughout the day because I can't sit long.
So needless to say, I am really depressed. Today is Drai's 3 month birthday and I can't even pick him up. A year and a half ago, I was planning my move back to Canada. Then Jenny got pregnant, so I had to put off seeing my family. Now, for the last three months, I have been dying for my family to meet Draidan. It is so hard not having them be able to hold our baby. He has changed so much in the last three months. Even day to day. He will be like a different baby in another month and a half. He is babbling up a storm now and rolling around everywhere. It's really hard. I hate not being able to help Jenny with him and she has to help me do everything as well. She is awesome with everything as usual. She doesn't complain, stays calm and then tries to keep my mind off of everything.

So anyways, we will try and aim to get back (no pun intended)- to Canada by late May or early June. I am sorry I got everyone excited about us coming back and then pushed it back again.

Lot'sa love,
D

Two Weeks

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I have been crazy busy in baby land. Jenny is working more and more which gives me less and less time to do things like blog. Drai seems to constantly love to be the center of attention and screams if he isn't. Must get that from his mother...

Baz has joined me in Daddyhood. Congrats Bazzins. For those of you that don't know or forgot, Baz is the Kiwi we adopted about 7 years ago. Baz is built like a hobbit and his girl is Asian, so their baby boy is SUPER little. But damn cute. He hasn't named him yet though. I keep pushing for Windthrup because that is what my father would like. He has such a knack for naming that father of mine.

Chances are, I am the only Danny you know.
Growing up everyone would always get confused when I would tell them my name.
"Derny?"
"No...Danny...with an 'A'"
"Oh, Darny. Darny?"
"No...Danny. With two n's and an a."
"Dannay?"
"Danny. One 'A'. No 'R,' No 'E.'
"Oh! Danny...such an interesting name? Where does it come from? Japanese?"
I would then always have to explain that it was my hippy father that had come up with it and as best we could tell, its origins were steeped in Hindu/Goa mythology. Yes... Danny such a strange, yet wonderful sounding moniker. Could you expect anything less from a man named Norm though?

Don't even get me started on my middle name. That combined with my avant garde first name would totally throw people for a loop. For those of you that don't know, my middle name is James.


So anyways. Baz has a baby and he hasn't named him. What's up with that? You got nine months to name a baby and you can't come up with one in time? Oh come on!

I just hope he doesn't name him Danny or I will be robbed of my originality. Speaking of which, if any of you bite my style and name your baby Draidan- I will loathe you. Moreover, I will have a Taiwanese fortune teller put a curse on your baby. I am not above cursing your babies.

In other news, our bathroom sink was leaking so Jenny called in a repair guy. He showed up with his a sidekick. How many guys does it take to fix a leaking sink? Apparently, more than two. I came home tonight and they had managed to tear the handle off the sink, cause the water pressure to run at a trickle and we now can't control the temperature of the water anywhere in the condo. It just goes from ice cold to scolding hot over and over again. Which will probably destroy our hot water heater.

I am going to get in trouble from the Taiwanese friends reading this but they know it is true. Don't buy things made in Taiwan. They will break or fall apart quickly. To illustrate my point- about six months ago, I had to buy a new scooter. I went to a Yamaha shop and the guy had two scooters. They were the same color, same year, same make, same engine etc. The only difference was the price. Which was almost $500 CDN. I asked, "Why is this one $57000 and this one $72000?" The guy really answered, "This one is made in Taiwan and this one is made in Japan." I am not making that up. That is exactly what he said.
Also, never get a Taiwanese plumber to fix your sink. They will screw s**t up!

TWO WEEKS! Two weeks and I will be home. I mean seriously, can you even contain your excitement? It's like Christmas in April.