Back OFf
Posted By Kathleen David on October 3, 2007
Or rather back out or almost out or possible almost back to being my back. Lost yet?
I have had back problems off and on through out the years. It probably all started when I pulled a set of muscles in my lower back at a gym in Virigina when I was trying to put a weight bar back that someone had let out so I could use the bench. They hadn’t collared the weights so when I picked it up the weights came spilling off one end wrenching the bar and my back a very bad direction. It took me 3 days to be able to stand without screaming.
Since then things have happened including Caroline that has aggravated my back on occasion and it is really something stupid like turning the wrong way that will set it off. Right now I can move but there is a warning twinge that if I move the wrong way, I am going to be flat on my back for a while. Right now I can’t afford the time. So I am moving rather tentatively. Trying to get what I can get done without too much pain.
If things hold to the usual, in a day or so things will be fine and back to pretty much normal.
Caroline thinks I am mad at her because I wouldn’t let her jump on me or pick her up and give her big hugs in the morning which is part of her routine. I think we explained it to her now in a way that she understands. I guess she will add this to the list of things she inquired about when she asks about my health.
I know things could be a lot worse for me. And believe me I am very grateful that this is a minor inconvenience rather than a major problem.
So I am taking it easy and working when I can then sitting when I can’t stand anymore. I am very careful about getting up and sitting down. It has slowed me down but it has not stopped me.
I am grateful that I can still move relatively well.
I injured my back in 1989 when I caught a client who threw a seizure on stairs. I was 10 wks pregnant, and they couldn’t even Xray me. I had problems on and off, until 6 years or so later they sent me for 6 weeks of traction, which kept me pretty well for @ 10 years, as long as I avoided my triggers (digging dirt, leaning over a sink, etc). 2 years ago, after a dying thyroid made me gain huge amounts of weight very rapidly, my back objected and went serious down – I couldn’t stand, bend, and my leg dragged when I tried to walk. Uneven ground was torture. Finally, the physical therapist traced it to a pinched sacroiliac nerve, and the stretches and exercises brought immediate relief. I have good days and bad days, but because it’s a nerve, not muscle, it’s like flipping a switch – it’s either all good or all bad, no in between. I’ve had 3 solid months of good, knock on wood, and I’m amazed that, as we pack and lug and haul all our stuff back to our old house, my back is holding up well.
Feel better soon, Kath! Ibuprofen is your friend.