A Pain in the Neck

I have been postponing writing this blogpost, hoping that I would have more positive news to share, but I regret that I do not. Don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot of good in my life, and I have much to be grateful for. Compared to most of the eight billion people I share this planet with, I am a lucky man.

When I wrote that last sentence, tapping away on my iPad while lying on the sofa, I accidentally wrote, “I am a lucky pain.” Freudian slip? I do feel like one huge walking pain lately.

You see, for the past several months, I was been experiencing neck and shoulder pain. This pain ranges from mild to severe, and when it is severe, it is bad enough that I need to take a sick day from work (usually a half-day, sometimes a full day), go home, and either go to bed or lie on the sofa, my neck propped up on a good pillow. Which is what I am doing right now as I compose this post. I have taken a lot of sick days in September, which is my busiest time of year. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING.

In order to find relief, I have paid several visits to my family doctor. He has suggested a regimen of over-the-counter painkillers, which has needed to be adjusted, and probably will continue to be adjusted in my quest to achieve effective pain management. He also sent me for X-rays, which indicate a deterioration in two of the neck joints in the cervical part of my spine.

My doctor sent me to the physiotherapist with a letter, and I have been going once a week so far for treatment (starting twice a week next week). The physiotherapist has given me several exercises to work out and strengthen my neck and upper back muscles, but I am still sometimes in a lot of pain. As with the painkillers, it’s been a lengthy trial-and-error process these past few months to figure out what works and what doesn’t, wht makes things worse and what makes them better. I am exhausted.

My neck and shoulder pain is not only affecting my work; it’s also affecting my off-work hours, too. Yesterday, I posted the following message to Primfeed, which is best and most concisely described as “Twitter for and about Second Life.” (Please note that I have completely given up on all social media in these batshit-crazy times in which we live, except for Primfeed, which is my escape from messy. chaotic, and painful reality. In my opinion, real-life social media platforms are a toxic cesspool and an utter dumpster fire, and are a major contributing factor to a more uncivil, divisive, and polarized society. But I digress from the topic of this post; I will save that rant for another day.)

Because my account is private, I’m just going to post a screen capture of the post, along with the actual text:

OMG, I checked my usual lineup of freebie blogs this morning, and I completely forgot about the Halloween Shop and Hop!!! 🤯

Because my neck and shoulder pain still limits how much time I can spend sitting in front of a desktop PC (and, obviously, that limited desktop PC time needs to be devoted to the full-time paying job that keeps a roof over my head, puts food on the table, pays my power, water, sewer, and broadband bills, and sustains my Second Life obsession), I will NOT be doing my usual notecards with gift descriptions, sizes, and exact SLURLs for this event. Please accept my apologies. I need to listen to my body, and my body is telling me to rest.

Instead, I will be relying on the ever-efficient FabFree folks’ spreadsheet, and on Naria Panthar’s fantastic unboxing videos on YouTube! I will direct you to those resources instead; when those links have been posted, I will update this Primfeed post accordingly. UPDATE: Here’s the FabFree spreadsheet: https://fabfree-hopandshop.vercel.app/

And it’s not only Second Life that I now have to severely cut back on. The last thing I want to do right now is add the weight of a virtual reality headset to my already aching neck and shoulders! So, for now, I am going to have limit my VR usage as well. However, I have read (via the r/AppleVisionPro and r/VisionPro subreddit communities on Reddit) several reports of people with neck and back problems who have successfully used their Apple Vision Pro AR/VR headsets while in a reclining position, either in an armchair with good neck support or in bed, so I might look into that.

I have been spending a lot of time lying on the sofa lately, my head propped up on a good pillow, listening to various podcasts. I think I’ve listened to or watched every episode of the excellent Fall of Civilizations podcast, and I’ve started listening to the Literature and History podcast episodes, starting from the very beginning in 2016 (the podcaster, a Classics professor, is working in chronological order, starting with the surviving writings of the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians, and Greeks).

I’m also feeling extremely fortunate that I can visit many clubs and other musical venues in Second Life via the steadily-improving Mobile app on my iPad (I am still in the alpha test program via TestFlite). The music stream is clear and excellent, and I can listen to my favourite deejays and musical performers, even while resting in bed or on the sofa! I can even use the performer’s tip jar on stage to send them a tip in Linden dollars, Second Life’s in- world currency, which is exchangeable into real-world U.S. dollars!

I’m also spending more time lately off-world, perusing and participating in both the long-running Second Life community forums and the newer, previously-mentioned Primfeed. Even if I am not actually logged into the grid as one of my avatars, I can still keep up-to-date on SL news and events!

Finally, on the advice of my physiotherapist, I’m getting outdoors more and going for walks to the pharmacy, or my local café, or just around the neighbourhood. My plans to walk to and from work are currently on hold, because I don’t want to aggravate my neck and shoulders further with my backpack, even though it was purchased using advice from one physiotherapist, and properly fitted by a second one, last year.

This was after I had experienced numbness and tingling problems in my right arm and hand, due to a pinched nerve, which was caused by a cheap backpack I had bought a couple of years ago. Yes, folks, my sexagenarian body has been complaining for a while now, and now I have ergonomics on my mind for everything! Last weekend, I purchased and assembled a brand-new, high-end office/gaming chair with adjustable lumbar and neck support pillows, for use in front of my Windows desktop PC at home. and I have also scheduled an appointment with the ergonomics office at my university, for a professional ergonomics assessment of my workspace.

As I stated in my Primfeed post above, I now have to stop and listen to my body, and my body is telling me that business-as-usual is not gonna cut it. This means that my self- imposed hiatus from blogging is likely to continue, at least for the short term. However, I can still blog via WordPress via my iPad while reclining on the sofa, which is how I wrote this entire blogpost today (using the handy Jetpack Mobile app).

Everything in my life has been thrown up into the air by my pain the neck, and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to get through all this, and how my life is gonna look moving forward. Stay tuned for updates!

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