Out Of Action & Best Ever Banana Cake...

Have been somewhat out of action with sciatic pain this week, I needed some serious painkillers just to get out of bed and be mobile. Mind you, I had overdone it on Saturday while helping out at Matilda's cheerleading carnival. I offered to supervise the sub-juniors...they are 3-4 years old and were the sweetest group of little ones. Between myself and one other parent we had 4 children to care for for about an hour and a half. We needed to dress them in their costumes for their dance and keep them amused until their second routine. At interval they went back to their parents who were in the audience in the stands. It was a fantastic night...the moon was full, there were around 2,700 dancers and cheerleaders. It was an organisers nightmare but it seemed to go off without a hitch.

I digress a little...

It proved to be too much for my back. A little history first for you...I have an extra vertebrae, most people have 5 lumbar vertebrae, I have an L6 and it's this that is causing me problems. L6 has slipped underneath L5 so instead of sitting neatly on top of each other allowing my spinal cord to pass through, L6 has compressed my spinal cord causing significant sciatic pain...also quite a bit of pain in my bladder, bowel and other internal organs...all nerves leading to these organs branch out from where the compression is occurring. Some days are better than others. Physio has helped somewhat but will not cure me. It is seeming like surgery is my only "choice". I have been under the care of a neurosurgeon for about a year now and had an MRI last Saturday morning to check how things have changed since my last one (Dec, 2007).

I don't particularly like my Neurosurgeon...he is somewhat of a perfectionist, arrogant and aloof, his bedside manner needs significant work. I see him for no more than ten minutes at a time and for this privilege I pay him no less than $120.00.

However...

If someone is going to be cutting into me and playing God with my spine, an arrogant, aloof perfectionist is the person I want for the job. I am more than happy to forego the warm fuzzies providing my ability to move about unimpaired is not compromised and even improved. I have an appointment in the 2nd October to discuss the MRI results and what comes next. I'll keep you posted and in the meantime will keep up the drugs.

I digress again...I'm good at that...

While laid up yesterday I watched an older episode of Better Homes & Gardens on Foxtel. Maeve O'Meara cooked a fantastic Banana Cake with Caramel Custard Topping. I took down the recipe and made it this afternoon. It's sitting waiting for Matilda & myles to get home from school to cut into...I am hanging out for some but just can't bring myself to do it on my own, that would not be right, I like to enjoy such treats with others.

I tried before to copy the recipe but silly blogger kept trying to change the text colour & font so I gave up and instead you will find the link HERE...

Enjoy, it's quite easy and looks just like the photo...!!!