Hitting the Wrong Nerve

In yesterday's blog post, I alluded to my back problems...now, here's the full story.

I went out with Heather on Friday night (she'd had a rough week and needed to get out on the town, and I'm always up for getting out, myself). I crashed at her place because of the late hour.

Saturday morning dawned cool and glorious, and while we sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and tea, we decided to go to the Folsom Factory Outlets and do some shopping.

We'd been at the Outlets for a couple of hours, having a grand time. I was trying on a dress and some jeans in a fitting room, while Heather sat in the room next to mine, waiting. I had just finished trying on and was pulling my own jeans up when a very, very sharp pain hit me in the lower back and then shot down my right leg. I froze for a full minute with my right foot off the ground and concentrated on not falling down.

Pretty soon I realized I had a Real Problem, and intervention was necessary.

"Ummm, Heather? I hurt my back..."

Heather, bless her, jumped up and let herself into my dressing room (at this point I was in jeans and a bra, clutching my T-shirt and not caring). I managed to sit down and pull my shirt on. I was dripping sweat and my stomach was lurching--I felt like I was going to be sick. Heather helped me empty one of my shopping bags into her own and I held it under my chin while she ran to buy me a soda.

I heaved a couple of times but managed to keep from vomiting--thank goodness! Imagine throwing up in a public dressing room!

Heather had told me to breathe through the pain--in through the nose, out through the mouth, so I concentrated on doing just that. That calmed my stomach and helped wit the pain. When she came back with a soda and a pretzel ("just in case your blood sugar is low!"), I was able to stand and start gingerly walking around.

At this point, I had tried on a fabulous red dress that suits me perfectly, and I wasn't leaving the store without it! I quickly paid and then we walked out to Heather's car.

If you're familiar with the greater Sacramento area, you'll know that to get me back to my parents' house, it was quite a trip. We took Highway 50 from Folsom to Sacramento (approx. 30 miles), and then from Heather's house, I took I-80 (approx. 30-40 miles) back to Lincoln. Fortunately, I was able to handle driving--especially as the pain was shooting down my right leg...the one that controls the gas and brake.

I had called home from the dressing room, as Dad has had sciatica, and my symptoms seemed to be exactly the same. As I drove up into our neighborhood, he called me.

"I'm almost there--just a mile or so from home."

"Oh, good."

I pulled into our driveway and there was Daddy, standing outside, waiting to help me into the house. [heart]

I took a pain pill and put ice on my back for a while. Later, I switched to a heat pad, which actually seems to work better. I went to bed feeling okay--not great, but better.

Then came this morning.

I only got maybe five or six hours of sleep. I woke up a little after 6:00 this morning, and experimentally moved my right leg about an inch.

Oh, the pain. Excruciating.

After twenty minutes of struggle, tears, and hearing Heather's voice in my head telling me to breathe through it, I found myself standing by the side of my bed, leaning against the nightstand, tears streaming down my face. By this time, Dad was at my bedroom door. He's an early riser, but I wonder if he'd heard my occasional yelp of pain.

"Are you okay?"

"Noooooo!!!"

He brought me one of his canes and a 500 mg ibuprofen tablet while I got myself into a sitting position at the foot of my bed. After a few minutes, I was able to get up and slowly hobble to the living room with my hot pad.

Throughout the day, the pain has lessened considerably, but my leg still hurts. Sometimes when I'm walking, a sudden pain will shoot down my leg, in addition to the near-constant ache I have. Remarkably, my lower back feels fine, even though that is where the pain is generating.

I am trying to walk around some, and stretch as much as possible. I'm also spending a lot of time on the sofa with the hot pad on my back. Sitting at the computer is actually quite comfortable (and my leg doesn't fall asleep like it does when I'm on the sofa).

Tomorrow is Monday, so Kaiser will be open. There's an office in Lincoln, and I'll get over there as soon as I possibly can.

I've never had this problem before...and seriously, I hope I can avoid it in future!