I was innocently reaching for something in the garage Wednesday when my back seized and the pain almost brought me to the ground. Thankfully I could still walk—I just couldn’t lean forward. I had some drugs left over from the last time it happened—and Tom had some pain pills from when he had that kidney stone—so I popped some of those, took it easy the rest of the afternoon, and thought I’d be fine. Except the pills didn’t do THAT much. But I went to bed thinking I’d just sleep it off.
Except I woke up in pain in the middle of the night—so I took another pill that I thought took the edge off a little—but I still only got about four hours of sleep.
And then I tried to get up in the morning and could barely move. As in seriously, I could barely stand upright, let alone walk. Every movement was unbelievably painful, and I immediately wondered how I was going to get dressed, change Owen’s diaper, walk down the stairs, etc. I popped more pills and moved slowly, and things seemed to loosen up a little bit, though it was still agonizing.
I was trying to think how I could go to the ER without Owen, since I knew that can take anywhere from 2-7 hours depending how busy they are, and I didn’t want to have to deal with a nap-less toddler at the hospital (if I could even figure out how to lift him into his car seat!). Then the pain would subside a little and I figured I wouldn’t have to go. Then the pain would come screaming back, so I decided I had to go—I’d just go when Tom got home (or when a neighbor’s kid got out of school and could come down and watch him).
But then Tom was able to move his schedule around (!) and was able to come home—so I was off to the ER around 11:30. It actually went more quickly than I thought it would and I was out of there in 2.5 hours (though most of that time was just sitting and waiting).
I had thought it might be a pinched nerve since the drugs weren’t touching it, but the doc said it was just seized up and the reason the drugs weren’t touching it was because I needed an anti-inflammatory, not just a pain reliever. So I got a shot of Torodol and prescriptions for Oxycodone (for pain), Diazepam (for calming/relaxing/sleeping), and Naproxen (for anti-inflammatory).
Once the shot took effect and the drugs started working their magic, I was almost in heaven—I could actually move, though it was still painful. And then I took a double dose of Diazepam so I’d sleep…and sleep I did. I slept hard from 10p-3a—not ever moving!—turned over once, then slept again from 3a-7a. That’s the best and most sleep I’ve gotten in a loooooong time (too bad it took major drugs to get it to happen).
I felt quite good laying down, but getting up was a big challenge again, since I obviously hadn’t had any meds throughout the night, so I was basically starting from scratch. And it took a good 2-3 hours before the drugs kicked in again…but I just crashed on the bed while Owen was a good little kid.
By this time of the day, I can move around pretty good, though lying in bed still feels the best. But I think tonight I’ll have pills on my nightstand to take when I wake up/roll over so I can hopefully start the morning with a bit less pain.