The Road to Recovery

Today is Wednesday, almost one week after my big back implosion, and I think I’m on the road to recovery, which makes me wonder if I did in fact slip a disc. I’ve never had really serious back injuries, but I do get regular neck pain in the form of a pinched nerve, and my recent back woes were very reminiscent of all that. I tend to get these deep, sharp pains in my neck (and now my back) that don’t chronically hurt but if I turn in just the right position, it feels like a knife going into my neck (or spine).

It makes life miserable because you just never know when the pain is going to strike, just that it will, and when it does, it’s going to hurt. It’s even worse for the back, because your back supports so much of your weight and is involved in so many different types of motion, you don’t realize it. When the pain comes, it is both blinding and debilitating.

I was bed-ridden for three days, and even sleeping was a chore. Just a slight shift in position would make me cry out in pain. It scared the kids, they didn’t know what to make of it all. For the record, they were troopers and incredibly helpful, making me feel, as usual, completely unworthy, but more on that later.

By Monday, I was a little better and felt like I couldn’t just lie in bed and waste away, even though that’s exactly what I wanted to do. I tried to do some cooking and an occasional chore, low impact stuff, but just being upright was hard. Even sitting down was tough, because not only was it painful, but I had a really hard time getting up out of the chair. As for getting dressed and putting on socks, forget about it.

By Tuesday, however, I was feeling a lot better. In fact, so much so that it made me question if in fact I’d blown out a disc, because I don’t think they recover that quickly. I was in pain, no doubt, but I could move, and even, if you can believe this, filled the wood box. It just took me four trips. One of the pitfalls of heating with wood is that someone has to fill the wood box. R was prepared to do it, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Adding to this challenge was the fact that it snowed. We got about 4-5 inches, which made me want to cry. Sure, I love snow and pine for more, but in my present state, the thought of shoveling snow was intolerable. How I felt made no difference, however, and I had to go out and shovel a path so I could push the wheelbarrow through. I managed by just taking my time. The snow was wet and heavy, which makes for good snowballs and snowmen.

We had a busy day planned, as well. There was a lot of catching up to do on the domestic front in terms of food and activities. We had to cancel assorted appointments and were running out of food. Again, R was taking off work and was prepared to do all this, but I felt like I could manage. Driving is a little hard, though the hardest part is getting in and out of the car.

The kids, once again, were amazing in all this. They helped out so much, it was too cute for words how eager they were. We went shopping and I literally stood there as they ran off and got all the stuff. We had to go to three stores, and we also got A her new guitar, for which I have more thoughts, as well.

Then off to the big city for A’s lesson and to return/check out books. From there, we got home late. I made supper and then laid down to rest. Quite a long day for a man in traction. I’m not complaining, just thankful that I’m feeling better. Even though we do it all the time, we should never take our health for granted, especially our backs.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Ariel da Silva Parreira for the pic.