Pain Update

It's better.

It's still there, but the Crunchy Man said he saw visible improvement in my lower back as soon as he looked at it today. And I could feel it was a bit better too. And not just 'cause of the vicodin that I took for the first time today. Though that sure helps in its own way too.

So I'm not out of the woods yet, and I don't want to speak too soon, but certainly better. And I will take what I can get.

And I am now a fan of chiropractors. Who knew?

Pain, Pain, Go Away

Last Monday night I was washing dishes after dinner and felt my lower back kind of twinge and tighten up. It wasn't too terribly bad and it had happened a time or two before and usually went away fairly quickly. I didn't think much of it. It was a little worse on Tuesday morning. Ok, by "a little worse" I mean i couldn't stand up straight without feeling like I was going to puke or pass out, so I took my time getting to work. By Tuesday afternoon I was walking around like I was 8 months pregnant. By Wednesday, I was walking around like I was 90 years old. I couldn't stand up straight. At all. I wasn't sleeping well. There was constant pain, especially when getting up/sitting down and walking. Which basically covers your whole day. Sometimes it shot down my leg. But mostly I could tell that the rest of the muscles in my back were getting even more wacked out by trying to compensate for the lower back pain.

So on Thursday I took the advice of a friend and called his chiropractor. I was nervous as I'd never been to one before. But this guy came highly recomended and I was beyond desperate. He ended up being very reassuring (even when I cried while telling him I was nervous about the whole thing) and the treatment was very helpful. He said he thought it was a pinched nerve, and that the natural response of your spine was to bend away from the thing that hurts - hence my semi hunchback state. By the time he was done I was nearly standing up straight again. But then I had to go straight to an opening night at the theatre and sit for two hours (apparently the worst thing for me) and then stand in heels for another two. Which I can imagine isn't a ton better.

Friday morning I was almost back to where I'd been two days before. The chiropractor wasn't as helpful as he'd been the previous night and the whole day was pretty painful. I tried to go back and see "the crunchy man" (as mom had taken to calling him) Friday night (as he is not open on the weekends) but work prevented me from getting there before he left for the evening. I cried in the middle of 7th Avenue when I found this out. Out of frustration, pain and just general exhaustion. But I went home on Friday night and tried to make the best of it. There may or may not have been wine involved. Purely for pain management purposes, of course.

The weekend was spent alternating ice and heat and sleeping with two pillows under my knees. Wasting the gorgeous fall weather due to my invalid status. And figuring out that the mornings were far more painful that the evenings. Taking two walks a day, incorporating some great stretches and marveling at how back pain affects not only your body, your sleep habits and your social life, but even your ability to carry on an interesting conversation. Or any conversation at all that doesn't involve your current pain. So I felt a bit sorry for Geoff. And we both spent a good deal of effort trying to avoid thinking about Monday. For him, it meant jury duty. For me, a full day of auditions and a three hour class to teach.

Monday dawned early for us both and regardless of the extra time I spent trying to warm up my back (hot shower, heating pad, stretches), it was a painful commute and very difficult morning. Geoff did get released from jury duty and auditions didn't go too badly. But my body didn't feel any better until nearly 5pm. Not sure why it likes the evenings better, but I suppose I cant blame it too much. I will also choose not to dwell on the fact that in addition to the all day pain, my "fat" jeans were tighter than I would have liked this morning. I am moving on from that. Well, I'm not really, but there are bigger fish to fry at the moment.

So here we are exactly a week after I felt that first twinge at the sink last Monday. I go back to the chiropractor tomorrow and he and I are gonna have a bit of a chat. Get a game plan and get me fixed. Cause here's what - Im over this whole not being able to walk/sit/stand/sleep thing. I have a feeling at a ton of it is stress related. But work will be madness until Thanksgiving, so that stress isn't going anywhere. We'll just have to find a way to handle it better I guess. I'm thinking wine, massages and puppies might be the perfect prescription. But we'll see what the Crunchy Man has to say about it.

Down with Wednesdays

I’m not having it. Work makes me want to hide under my desk and never come out today. This job has absolutely made me dyslexic. My job + Geoff’s crazy season = minor melt down for both of us. I definitely almost cried when they didn't have my prescription at the pharmacy today. If that tells you anything.

And now I feel I’m potentially on the verge of splitting personalities.

I don’t like today.

Ow.

We started a new workout DVD yesterday.

And everything hurts. In a good way. But really hurts.

Geoff had to offer to help me put my tights on this morning, as I can barely bend over. I managed, but just barely.

Stairs are a challenge.

Bending slightly at the waist to brush my teeth is also a challenge.

It's all good, as it means my body is really working.

But ouch.

Lunges will get you.

Like Ships in the Night

That's what Geoff and I have been this past week. He's had events on evenings when I was free. And I've been booked when he was free. I've come home exhausted and gone to bed while he stays up working. Which then means I leave before he is awake.

And I gotta say, it's tough. It puts a strain on things. On us. We shot a wedding this weekend (which was very cool and kind of unconventional, which I loved), but it made for a long day. And then we had about half of Sunday together before I headed out to a birthday party. And there went our weekend.

We don't like it. And on top of everything else, it makes me not want to blog. And then I get blog guilt. And feel...listless. I want to be blogging all kinds of cool things, including this wedding we shot this weekend. I want to be working on our blog book, which I started three months ago and haven't touched since. But I don't have it in me. I had to work on three things at once at work yesterday and even though that is fairly normal workload from Sept-May, yesterday it caused a meltdown. And I couldn't hack it. I watched my co-workers gently take things off my plate and kind of steer clear, as if I were a crazy person. Which sometimes I am.

I'm hoping this week will be better.

If our life is like this now, in the summer, when my job is a little slow, how will I possibly ever get anything done when we have kids? Sweet Lord, give me strength. And more hours in the day. And 14 hands. Or maybe just 2 go-go gadget super fast & productive hands, 'cause actually having 14 hands might not really be the look I'm going for.

This is picture of Butch, a dog who lives part time in our neighborhood. This photo is a year old, and he is a grown up now, but it makes me happy. Even though he is completely unrelated to this post. I don't even care. So here he is to make me smile.