I don't want to jynx this, but my back is surprisingly better at the moment.  I woke around 5am Tuesday morning, nearly in tears from the pain.  I just wanted to curl up (impossible with my back in this state) and die.  So after drugging myself back into oblivion, I woke again a few hours later feeling a lot better.  I was even walking around the house without the cane...for the most part.

Then I slept again in the afternoon (these drugs really knock me out), and when I woke in the evening, it was as if someone had flipped a switch in my back.  There's still tension and soreness, but nowhere near the pain I was having before.  I got right out of bed.  Before, getting out of bed was a five-to-ten minute process, involving carefully rolling back and forth until I was in a good position to sit up, then grabbing hold of a walker (yeah, those things really old people use to get around) and easing to my feet.  But this time, I just stood right up.  Then I had to pick my jaw up off the floor, I was so shocked.  It's been that way ever since.

I'm not at 100% yet.  My back's still stiff and sore, and I get a small flare of pain if I move the wrong way or too fast.  My right leg feels oddly weak and is still partly numb (that's from the pressure on the nerve), but I'm able to get around without a cane (inside the house, at least), and I can sit up for a helluva lot longer than before.  So hopefully, I'll be able to start making all the fan art I've been putting off so long!

So everyone keep your fingers crossed!  I worked tonight for the first time in a week, though only about half my normal workload.  I'll be slowly adding more over the course of the weekend, so hopefully I'll be back to making my full (pathetically small) income again by Monday.  I'll also be working on art, and should have some things to submit by then, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going off to rap my knuckles against every wood surface I can find, just to be safe.