pain in the... back

Pictures from a recent visit with the cousins to Temple Square.

Have you ever been so incapacitated that you couldn't pull up your own pants after visiting the bathroom? It's rather embarrassing, isn't it? One a scale of leaving your umbrella on the bus, to tucking your skirt in your nylons, it definitely up there. 

I've had minor back problems all my life, which mainly became a problem during my pregnancies. So when I started suffering some lower back pain at the end of the day about two weeks ago, I didn't think too much of it. But soon I started feeling pain earlier in the day. Then one day, I had pain pretty much all day long and, finally, I was taking painkillers every so many hours just to be able to even  function at all. I even had my dad (another notorious sufferer of back issues) bring over his 'girdle' in an attempt to find relief.  It was all to no avail. The pain reached a peak when I had the bright idea to get on the treadmill at the gym. My logic was that if I could just get some movement going, my back would remember what I needed it for, and go back to being normal. Yeah. Bad idea. I had to be carried off the treadmill and into a chair, where I tried to keep my face as expressionless as possible until the pain subsided enough for me to attempt the walk home. Lucky for me we literally live next door to the gym...

That evening was horrible. I couldn't move an inch without hot pain shooting up my spine and down my legs. I made sure I drank as little as possible to keep the excruciating visits to the bathroom to a bare minimum (I was also afraid my screaming would wake up the kids). The next day my mom brought me a muscle relaxant and took the girls to school for me, Sander dropped the boys off at my sister's (thank you again Marissa!), and I enjoyed a drug induced nap until my mother woke me up. She took me to see a doctor who examined me and had some x-rays taken (try climbing onto a steel table to lie on your back, when you can barely move!). The diagnosis? Tight hamstrings! Yes, apparently hamstrings can wreak this kind of havoc, whod've thunk it? The doc also noticed some mild disc degeneration in my lower spine but that was probably just due to aging, he said.

Aging? Excuse me?? I am 31... a mere spring chicken!

Good thing I have issues concentrating and this doctor was wearing a very distracting African Safari themed shirt, or I would have let him have it. He prescribed some intense drugs (2 painkillers and a muscle relaxant), heat, compression, rest, and physiotherapy. He said that once the pain got better -and it should, within days- simple daily hamstring stretches should keep me going strong. I was so relieved to hear there was nothing more serious going on. And sure enough, yesterday I was able to get out of bed and walk around smoothly. I even picked something up off the floor! Unfortunately that was all my body could handle for the day and I'm back in bed, but this is progress, and progress means my body is going to recover.

I also gotta admit, it's not so bad being waited on in bed for a few days...