I hope your pain gets better soon. I went through several rounds of trying to deal with trigger point pain after my second hip replacement.
thanks for posting about Linda. I had missed it and I’m so sorry to hear it. I’d love to at least send a card if anyone who knows her address feels comfortable PM me. I live in Somerville, MA, and I think she lives just north of me. I could be wrong!
Likewise, is there a special secret address we could send a physical card?
@Madrid & @mts — I hesitate to give out her address without her permission & will let her chime in. Any attempt at organizing a ‘secret’ surprise card/flowers is moot now, anyway, since she can see all y’all’s posts here 
@Madrid — thank you for your kind words. The pain started up out of nowhere in March '23 at the site of an injury I sustained 3 years prior. Randomly, pretty much constantly, and often unbearable.
I don’t need to tell you about the intricacies and beauty of the US health care system, but it’s been quite a year since. Make that 1.5.
I hope it helps, bc it affects me in too many ways to count, and I’d also love to get off the gaba I’ve been on for months 
You saying that treatment helped you improve eventually gives me hope, at least 
That is fine, I understand completely.
Good vibes to you and remedying your back issues. 
for finding what works perfectly for you.
I have friends (everyone does, it seems) who have dealt with those for eons. For one, the latest ‘remedy’ was an implant that worked for a bit, then failed. Like the Energizer Bunny, she keeps on tryin’ the newest thing…
Waterwalking and light aquarobics works for another. You’ll find your groove.
Well, I’ve not been able to work one of my main jobs (driving peeps around) bc I can’t sit for longer than 20 min, generally. The area is also incredibly sensitive to touch, so it interferes with other very basic human needs/desires.
Time will tell 
oh, I get it! I should have realized Linda can be online while in the hospital. I don’t like secret surprises myself. Sending gold light to her and her cats.
As for pain, what helped me the most was going to a comprehensive pain clinic at Spaulding, a comprehensive rehab center in the Boston area. I got connected with a really fantastic, gifted physical therapist out-patient there who listened to me and watched how I reacted to particular movements in a really extraordinary way. She didn’t insist I work through the pain that certain movements caused. Working through the pain increased my inflammation. She found alternative movements and stretches that didn’t set off the pain immediately. This was so different from all the physical therapy I’d had before that didn’t help.
She specializes in back issues. She was able to use her incredible skill to help my hip.
It gradually got better as she continued to listen to me and my pain. Surgical and medication interventions evaporated and my functionality greatly increased. A small lift in my shoe at the back helped enormously, too.
There is a food element: my pain was an inflammatory process. I tried all the anti-inflammatory diets and none helped. I still have flare ups now and then and I go back to her exercises. She changed my life for the better, by far.
I hope the same for you!
Lunch lady action: I made Uzbek plov with leftover Thanksgiving beef short ribs and tallow rendered from same. In terms of recipes, I started here and ended here. This video by the author of the second link is a must-watch.
I included the gelatinous braising liquid. Delish!
I also learned some interesting factoids in my research:
Served up with Uzbek tomato, cucumber, and scallion salad with dill and cilantro. Yum.
This sounds like an excellent justification for why the cook gets all the crispy bits!
Linda, best wishes!
I’ve been moved into a regular Cardiology room, as they needed the CCU room I was in. Had time to order dinner.
Beef stew, carrots, dinner roll, ginger ale, and chocolate pudding.
Not bad.
Salmon with peas, yellow eye beans, and bacon, loosely inspired by a version with fava beans from the Le Bernardin Cookbook. Rather than cook on the stove top, I took a note from Ripert’s recipe for halibut and mushroom casserole and cooked this in a 350F convection oven. Go ~5 minutes if you want rare, 6-8 for medium rare, 9-11 for medium, 11-13 for medium well. If you don’t have convection, bump the temp to 375F.
We had cornbread from the freezer on the side (to be fair, the shelled peas, yellow beans and bean broth, and bacon were all from the freezer too, so this came together really quickly on a weeknight.).
Nice plating
Wow, nice job on that sear 
Thanks 
Thanks bruv
Chicken and snow peas stirfried in a black bean sauce and served over rice noodles. “Dessert” is a nojito at the jazz bar.
@LindaWhit glad to see you settling in and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Great to hear from you, Linda, and I’m glad you can get some decent and sustaining eats. Sending golden light for healing to you.
