You all know the pain scale? 0 = no pain, 10 = worst pain... yes? Well, I have found my new 10. Yeeow-zaw! I have had back problems for a while now: degenerative disk disease, mild arthritis... it usually requires a cortisone injection 1 o 2 times a year to be tolerable. It had been almost 100% for quite sometime. In fact the night before my new 10, I remarked how good I had been feeling. I went to bed that night (Wednesday) with a mildly sore back (which is normal for me, esp. after some house cleaning), and thought nothing of it. I got up early Thursday morning and started getting ready. I bent over to pick up some clothes and just like that, I'm in major pain and can't move! Horrible. I was still determined to get ready for work, I thought maybe this would pass, like a cramp does. Not so much. To walk, to stand, to sit, to lay was sheer agony. I honestly was pretty scared. It took one hour for me to dress myself. I managed to get out to our living room and had to sit in the recliner before I passed out from the pain. I could not get up! It was a very dismal feeling. I waited for Tony to get home from work. (fortunately, Aria was at Uncle Dustin and Auntie Kim's house that morning and Taryn was sleeping soundly in her room). Tony got home and i was in a sort of panic: there was no way I could go to work much less get out of that recliner. Tony made a few phone calls for me and then we discussed what to do next. I took a muscle relaxant and would see if that would help while Tony slept. He got in about 3.5 hours of sleep when Dustin showed up to drop off Aria's stuff the the night over with them. Talk about good timing, cuz as he walked in, the school called to tell us to come get Aria from school as she wasn't feeling well. So Dustin, bless his heart, went to Chester to get Aria and Tony helped me get ready to go to the ER. I couldn't stand up straight, and to move was terribly painful. I kept saying I hope I'm not being a baby about this but it's seriously the worst pain I've ever had. We got to the ER. The doc didn't think it was disk related, but ordered x-rays to be sure. If I had symptoms like numbness and such, he would've ordered an MRI, but I didn't have those symptoms. Getting on the x-ray table was rough, but we got it done! The x-rays didn't show much changes from previous ones, but he did not that the normal curve that is in the lower spine on me today was completely straight due to muscle spasms. Yikes! I got Morphine and Toradol IV and that was a bit helpful. Tony remarked that I was catching up to his ER experiences as that is what he gets for kidney stones. Toradol is a great drug. I spent most the day in the chair or up trying to walk around. The doc encouraged me to get up and walk as long as I could tolerate. I've been taking strong pain meds and anti-inflammatories, and it seems to be working, slowly. I woke up Friday morning feeling a bit better. Saturday, if it weren't for my left side feeling so tender, I'd feel pretty good. Once this lets go entirely, I'll be working on getting a strong core and strengthening my back. I will have to be very careful, esp. bending over, and use my legs. Tho, I must add that went I bent over, I was sitting. I do not want to go thru this again! Throwing out your back, as they say, is much more painful than it sounds. It should be called so painful you can't move or do anything for yourself back... or SPYCMODAFYB.
I should add that Tony and Aria were so wonderful to me. They always are, but they went above and beyond! Tony took over in every aspect of the household; from cooking, to cleaning, to baths, he was so helpful. And Aria, my little attentive nurse; she would look at me every so often and say "okay, mom, time to walk again", and she would even try to help me up and let me lean on her shoulder as I shuffled throughout the house! If I asked her to get something for me, she wouldn't even complain or procrastinate! Such a sweet family that I have been blessed with- thanks Lord!