Back troubles

After the Salty’s Half Marathon I had a little sciatica in my left butt cheek so I decided to go to my chiropractor and have him give me an adjustment.  I went and he gave me a hard time for not having seen him in nearly a year.  Really?  Had it been that long?  Well, in any event he ushered me into the room and we exchanged pleasentrys.  I laid down on his table, face down, and apparently my left leg was shorter than my right.  Crack, adjust, crack some more and I’m out of there.

The next morning I had my Weight Watchers meeting (down 0.2 lbs this week) and I squirm in my chair.  My lower back aches.  I finish the meeting and head home.  Morrie and I get our stuff ready and we head out for a 6 mile run at Seward Park.  The road in the park is slanted to the right and my right knee begins to hurt.  I switch over to the other side of the road where it’s flatter.  That seems to help.

We finish our run (we actually call it a shuffle.  The Shuffle of Death to be exact) and we head home.  I do some tree trimming and yard work.  My back is stiff and a little sore when I bend over to pick up branches.  It sucks getting old.

Sunday was a little worse.   I went to Target with a friend and we walked around Westwood Village.  I was a bit stiff and sore getting in and out of the car and I had sharp pains every so often in my lower abdomen.

Then came Monday morning.  I couldn’t bend over to put my socks on without having a searing pain shoot through my low back.  I had to walk with my hips way forward.  I went to work but instantly regretted the decision and made Morrie come get me and take me home.  I took some Flexeril and went to bed laying on an ice pack.  It felt a little better but then the muscle relaxer wore off and I had pain in my low back and low abdomen.  I laid around and took several Ibuprofen and iced my back several times.  Nothing seemed to be helping.  Morrie came home around 9pm and we debated over whether or not I should take a whole muscle relaxer or just 1/2.  We opted for half since I might need the whole one the next day.

Tuesday was worse yet.  I woke up and tried to get out of bed.  I couldn’t use any of my back muscles to help myself sit up.  I finally stood up and couldn’t put any weight on my left leg without having a shooting pain down my leg.  I hobbled to the bathroom and sitting was just as bad.  I had to hang onto the door handle and the sink and ease myself down.  And the dogs were of little help.

I took more Ibuprofen and iced the heck out of my back.  It did feel good to put the cold pack on it.  I imagine it was pretty inflamed.  I laid around the house all day making sure to get up every once in awhile to move around and limber up.  I took a walk around the block just to get away from the computer (one can only lose so many games of Solitare before it starts to wear on a person).  I went two blocks down and one up and by the time I got home it was time to ice again.   I iced and took Ibuprofen all day.  When Morrie got home we had dinner then we decided to hit the hot tub.  Now *that* really felt good on the back.  I loosened right up and I could stand up without grabbing onto things.  When it came time for bed I laid on an ice pack for good measure.

Wednesday morning I felt pretty good.  The back was a bit stiff and a little tender still but nothing like it was.  I went to work.  We went to get coffee and as we stood around chit-chatting I could feel my back getting tighter and tighter.  I was so distracted by it that I didn’t hear someone saying my name repeatedly (he apparently said it about 5 times).  This is going to be a long day.  I’ve been sitting in my chair for 6 hours and my back is very sore.  I miss my ice packs and I want to lay on the floor of my cube, flat on my back.  I get up for little jaunts to the water fountain or the fax machine but they don’t help much.