An aching back and more photos of Venice…
Well, my silly little Venice fever lasted about 24 hours, not much longer…no big deal.
But then, on Wednesday afternoon, for no apparent reason (I mean, I hadn’t been hauling around heavy bookcases!!!), I was suddenly struck by a terrible pain in my lower back. I haven’t had that sort of pain in ages…years, methinks. Of course, one of the first thoughts that popped into my mind was: MYELOMA!
But then Reason took over, and I remembered that I’d had lower back trouble/pain since I was a rather young thing. It’s just that I haven’t had it in such a long time…and I’d forgotten how crippling it can be. That’s all. 
And then I remembered that I hadn’t taken any curcumin since Friday…A FULL FIVE DAYS PLUS WITH NO CURCUMIN…So I got back on curcumin immediately, et voilà!, today I’m feeling much better. Working and up and about.
Just being careful when I have to stoop. Little Prezzemolo didn’t understand why I didn’t bend over to pet him this morning, as I usually do. 
Now, about those five full days without curcumin, I noticed something else that might be connected (or not): my urine was foamy on Sunday night.
Foamy is not good, as we know! Anyway, point is: it remained foamy until I got back on curcumin. And now it’s perfectly clear again. A mere coincidence? Probably!
And that reminds me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had blood tests. Way too long. Must go. Soon.
But not today. My back is much better, but I have a TON of work to do. I need to get cracking, in fact! But I did want to post a few more of my favorite photos of Venice, including that glass puffin I noticed in a Rialto store window, how about that? (Well, okay, it’s a toucan, NOT a puffin, but I like to think of it as a puffin…And you should have seen the puzzled looks on the faces of Venetian glass shop owners when I asked them if they had any glass puffins, hehe…)
Have a super weekend, everyone!
Hi Margaret! It’s so awesome that you got to visit Venice and I love the beautiful pictures! I just wanted to encourage you to go ahead and have those blood tests done…better to be safe, you know.
Don’t ignore what your body is telling you. I am intrigued by the Curcumin! I’m going to have to read more about that. It sounds pretty powerful! I very much enjoy reading your blog! Take care, Sara
Sara
8 Feb 13 at 2:08 pm
Love your pictures Margaret! I enjoy hearing all about them!
Thanks for sharing!
Donna
9 Feb 13 at 3:57 pm
Your photos are lovely and vibrant. I have never been to Venice but these pictures are a compelling reason to make the trip. Thank you for posting your recent travel log.
Andrea
11 Feb 13 at 6:33 pm
Hi Margaret, Just a reminder…. even if your bloodwork looks ok…stable…that doesn’t mean you can’t have MM bone damage. Take it from one who knows first hand! My numbers were still MGUS when a 6cm lytic lesion in my hip was finally discovered. So maybe get an X-ray of your lower back…or better yet, an MRI as X-rays tend not to show bone damage until there is 30% trabecular bone loss. “Conventional radiography reveals lytic disease only when over 30% of the trabecular bone has been lost.” source: International Myeloma Foundation http://tinyurl.com/a2n6m6m Best, Steve
Steve
12 Feb 13 at 11:08 pm
Hi Steve, yes, that’s always in the back of my mind whenever I feel any pains or even just dull aches. But in this case, well, my back pain is gone (thank goodness! and, as I wrote, this sort of pain is not new to me, though I hadn’t had any in years now, so it did make me wonder for a few minutes, there! If it were a lesion, I think I would still feel at least some pain, especially since I’m quite active. However, if it does return, I will get an X-ray or an MRI. Don’t want to take any chances, of course. Thanks for your input!
Margaret
13 Feb 13 at 8:38 am