Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) kickin adventure: 9,10...It's coming to an end

Day 9Throat still sore, but you know...I think that this really was from the plane and had nothing to do with the radon treatment. If I look past that, I'm sure that I'm feeling better. It seems that I am starting to get some mobility back in my neck. Every day that I go into the RR within 5 minutes of arriving, I get a light tingling, almost burning, in all the places of my body that give me trouble. For me, this is my butt (not very lady-like, I know, but this is the only way to really describe it) the back of my legs to my knees, my upper back, my shoulders, my neck. The places that haven't hurt for the past year are just fine - I get no special sensation at all. It's very strange, but it feels like the radon is just going to work on the places that need it...very "Star Trekky". Again at night, just as I'm falling asleep, that same sensation of good energy working on my body becomes very strong. As they say in Hawaii "chicken-skin, ya?"

8:00 - 11:00 RR. I'm just finishing a book by Ed Hiserodt called Underexposed. It is excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading further about Radon. It is written in a fairly easy style and clearly, Dave Barry is his hero.
Mom usually goes back to the motel on our breaks and hooks up her oxygen. Today she forgot about it. She is starting to feel much better too. She was feeling good enough to go to the local beauty shop to get her hair done. Because the girl did her hair differently than usual, it was the first time I had really seen the psoriasis that she has talked about for all these years. It is really, really bad - she has had it for years, so it is basically an open wound. At the beginning of the trip, mom said that if she could just get that skin healed (she's tried creams, medications, special shampoos and nothing seems to work) then she'd be happy. I had never realized that psoriasis is an arthritic disease. It is also common with people who have AS. While mom was getting her hair done, I went next door to the Senior Citizen Thrift Shop. The nicest ladies ever work in there.

It was a virtual gold mine if you like that kind of stuff. I made them go and get a ladder and get me really dusty old things from the top shelves (I'm so evil). I got stacks of stuff and when I asked the price she said, "Oh, $10.00 will cover it!" Ebay, here I come...It'll probably pay for the trip!
Dropped mom off at the motel (she looked so perdy) and then I headed out for another plunge at the Hot Springs.

I'm really getting to enjoy this place! I usually stay for about an hour, with most of the time spent in the indoor plunge.

The water is warm and it is just so relaxing.
4:00-8:00 RR. Visited with new comers. People are starting to come in now since the regular season is beginning. The underground mine closes at 4, so people come up to the RR to spend some time. Tomorrow I'm going to go down and check out the mine itself.
Daily Total = 7 hours
RR TOTAL = 58 hoursMom went back to the motel and didn't plug her oxygen in until she went to bed. That means she went the entire day without it!
Day 10A rainy morning. Even with the rain we both woke up feeling better. Each day we feel improvement now. As we drove up to the Mine, we noticed that just at the cattle crossing the rain turned to snow.
10 - 1 RR. Mom headed into the RR and I buzzed the elevator. It was already there so I didn't have to wait. It took about 3 minutes to go down the 100 feet. It is a spacious Otis elevator. The elevator guy comes up from Helena to keep it well serviced. There is an emergency phone in it and the mine portion can only be used when an employee is upstairs manning the office. The mine is actually very cool. The openings are much wider and higher than at the other mines I saw. As the elevator doors open, there is a sitting lobby-type area. To the left is the "north gallery" .

The entire mine is wi-fi, so there is internet access throughout. Also, I called my hubby in Hawaii on my cell from there, so I know that works too. I was suprised at the size and length of the mine. I walked the whole stretch and it is over 400 feet. There are lights and little lover's nooks all along the way.

I actually think on the next visit I might spend some time there. There always seems to be a card game or scrabble or something going on and it really didn't set my claustrophobia off like I thought it would.