Kingsland, Jekyll Island, GA and a doctors update (2017)

I had hoped to stop in Jacksonville for a few days before heading to Jekyll, but where I wanted to stay was full.  So I ended up in Kingsland, GA. While there I went to Bosque Bello Cemetery in Jacksonville.  It was established in 1798, I love old cemeteries!!

I visited the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge twice while I was there.  I found a trail that was about a mile long, but had benches along the route.  So when my legs and back started hurting I could sit down.

I stayed at Jekyll Island for the month of March.  I arrived one day and the next day, I drove to Athens, GA for a doctor’s appointment.  At the time she thought I might be having back and leg problems because I was biking so much.  Since I was not walking due to my foot problems, I was biking every day.  She also suggested a few stretches.  She said to try less biking and doing the stretches for several weeks.   

After a couple of weeks, it was worse.  I could barely walk 1/4 mile.  I would bike a very short distance to Driftwood beach and walk just a bit.  My legs and back hurt so much that after a few minutes I would find someplace to sit down. Sometimes it was back pain (from very slight to very painful), sometimes my hamstrings would hurt and other times my feet and lower legs would start tingling and go slightly numb.   What was interesting was that biking didn’t seem to hurt at all. 

I figured it made more sense to put all my health stuff together for this blog, even though it happened between March and August.   (note, I wrote this blog in late 2017, just never posted it.  Some of the updates below are no longer accurate, but I am leaving as is and will put the 2018 updates in the appropriate blog)

To make a very long story short--

In mid-April I  started Physical Therapy in Watkinsville, GA (near Athens) and also got a MRI.  At first I thought the physical therapy was not working but after several weeks it started helping.  Based on the MRI, I have Degenerative Spine Disease or Degenerative Arthritis of the spine, plus a few other things but the Degenerative Spine Disease is the main thing.    I found out in August that I am a candidate for surgery based on how bad my spine is, but because I am doing much better I will not  be getting surgery any time soon!!!  I have lost some weight and I do my physical therapy stretches and exercises every day.  I can walk longer distances, usually 2-4 miles every other day and I did 5 miles at Fort Yargo in August.  I was not quite up to the 6-7 miles around the lake, but I hope to  be able to do that when I get back there in November.  The neuro-surgeon’s assistant talked to me about the surgery and basically said (I was reading between the lines) that I would probably have to have surgery at some point, but not now. She said what I was doing was working for now.   So now I am learning to live with a slight back ache all the time.  But most of the time I can ignore it.  Every now and then it hurts more than other times so I am trying to learn what I can and can’t do. 

Because of my health issues I had to cancel my summer plans and stay in or closer to GA. 

Below are some pictures I took in March while on Jekyll.

 

I visited Saint Simons Island a couple of days and while there I found several “Tree Spirits”.  Ok, I cheated and got a map from the welcome center of some and had read online where some others were.  These are basically carvings in trees that a guy who lives on the island has done.  They are scattered around St. Simons.  He carved a bunch in some woods that was later made into a small subdivision.  They tried to save as many as they could. One of the pictures below you can see they had to remove the tree, but they cut the carving out of the tree and put it on an outdoor fireplace.  The mermaid can be found at the St. Simons welcome center. 

I also toured the Christ Episcopal Church and the gardens across the street from it.  The church was established in 1736, with Charles Wesley conducting the first service.  John Wesley was also a part of this church. 

The first prayer and service that Charles Wesley gave was under an old oak tree, now called the Wesley Oak.  Supposedly a small cross in the front of the sanctuary was made of wood from that tree.