The Back
Well, my back had been sore for a few weeks. I
had stretched something playing football here at work. It wasn't bad and I
didn't think much of it. Last sunday, I went to play some disc golf. I did my
usual stretching before playing and we doing fine. Until the 8th hole. I threw a
shot up over some trees, throwing the disc like a baseball. It strains the back
doing this. After my next shot, a putt, I bent down to get my bag. That's when
the pull happened. I felt something tweak on the left side of my lower
back.
I started to tighten up right
away but I keep playing. The tweak wasn't bad, I could go on. I finished the
round and was rather tight by the end. We had planned to play best disc for the
second round, so there would be a lot less throwing. I managed to play a few
holes, then only threw shorter shots, then just had trouble walking. I finally
said enough was enough, wished John and Lloyd luck for the rest of the round and
hobbled to the car. I had to stop 3 times to rest. My back was incredibly
tight.
The drive home was 30 minutes of
constantly readjusting in the seat. I got home, grabbed two beers and the advil
and sat down. Neither helped. I spent the night awake on the futon mattress [its
firmer than our bed]. Around noon I said to Heather [who was home from work to
care for me] I wanted to go to the hospital. The pain was really bad. She asked
if I had eaten anything, which I hadn't. She made me some quick food, I tried to
take a shower but the almost passed out, finally got dressed, and it was 2:30 by
the time I was checked in.
We waited 3
hours in the waiting area. My back stiffened to the point where I was ready to
scream and punch stuff. Finally, I got to see a doctor. She had me do a few
things which hurt and I was sweating. She finally get the nurse in to hook up an
IV and get some medication.
The nurse
said she was giving me morphine, which kind of scared me. That seemed like
something too strong. But I didn't argue. It took a minute or so, but the pain
started to recede. She said that people often feel hot when they get morphine
and I did. The sweating was back. That finally stopped but I was wet. The AC was
blowing on me and I started to shiver quite a bit, uncontrollably. I wasn't sure
if I was having some kind of allergic reaction. I was about to vocalize my
problem when the nurse came back. She looked rather concerned to see me shaking.
I said I was really cold and she came back with some blankets. I finally calmed
down and fell asleep for the first time in over 30 hours. But it wasn't long
before the back started to hurt again. The doctor approved more morphine and I
was happy again, even though the second dose [which was the same amount as the
first] didn't completely remove the pain.
After two hours, the doctor came back
and talked to me. I got instructions to not move for days, some meds to take
home, and some prescriptions.
I only
wish I had gone in earlier.
So, I spent
the week on the futon. Each day involved less pills and more ability to move. I
got out of the house once with Heather- I stayed in the car while she picked up
some stuff at the store.
By the
weekend, I was still having issues spending time sitting up or on my feet. I was
worried things weren't healing. But on sunday, I was able to spend 40 minutes
doing all of the dishes, trying to start making up for all of the stuff Heather
had to do for me all week.
I'm back at
work today, Monday, one week after the hospital. I have one emergency vicodin
left. My back hurts a little but its so much better. Walking is slow and I need
to move around a lot but its still better than spending another day on my
back.
Heather and I are going to have
to cancel our trip to the common ground fair this weekend since I won't be able
to walk around. And I'm going to have to be a spectator at the disc golf
tournament I signed up for weeks ago that's this sunday. Bill is going, so I'll
be cheering him on.
Also, I cleared the
latest Harry Potter book, a 870 page paperback, in 3 days. It was the best one
yet!
Posted: Mon - September 20, 2004 at 11:03 AM
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