What a week: Part II

This part has some overlap into the first part.  You see, the night before the 22nd, I had pulled something in my back.  I thought I’d sleep it off.  When I woke up Friday morning I was so stiff.  It was hard to sit up without grimacing.  It was a pain I’d hardly notice while at the dentist.  I mean come on, what’s a back ache when you’re being drilled on?

By that afternoon the back had started to worsen.  The long ride didn’t make it any better and certainly added to my discomfort though it wasn’t the biggest thing on my mind at the time.  Just staying conscious was my first priority!

I got home that evening and took it very easy.  Now my mouth was sore and my back was sore.  I re-medicated and got some sleep.  When I awoke Saturday morning I could barely move without my back sending stabbing pains through me (cue the music from psycho!).  I was going to a wedding later on and knew I’d be on my feet to some degree.  Finally around 1pm I couldn’t take it anymore and went to the local family medical center.

Here, I waited and waited and waited.  It was busy, as expected.  I’m sure half of the people in there figured they had swine flu.  Some people looked pretty rough though.   I didn’t look it but I felt it.  I got back to the room after about an hour of waiting.  I spent another 45 minutes waiting.  I got checked out, poked at, etc.  I knew the diagnosis from the start but something about a medical professional telling me makes me feel a little better.  Pulled muscle.  I’ve had them before and they suck.  I needed a bandaid for my boo boo.

Two shots were ordered.  Thank God!  I knew they’d sting and burn but the relief would be worth it.  I got one in each hip and yes, those suckers burned.  I got some prescriptions and was out the door!

I got home just in time to get ready and leave for the wedding.  I will say the ride this time was much, much more enjoyable than the previous day.  Our son did great in the wedding even though he was starting to get “boring” and tired.  We promised a video game if he pulled it off.  He did and we ended up owing him a video game, haha.

We got home late that evening.  Our son passed out on the couch within 2 minutes of sitting down.  The week had gotten started on a wild and somewhat painful note.  The rest of the week was smooth and mostly relaxing.  I did a lot of nothing and it was awesome.   I can’t wait until we take another week off.

Next, I’ll talk about the home improvement project that got started!

What a week: Part I

I just got back in to work from having a week and one day off.  It was a “vacation” but at times felt hardly vacation-like.

To start with, Friday May 22, I went in for some extensive dental work.  Instead of spreading appointments out over a long period, I’m having a lot done all at once.  The procedure was some five hours long, but that’s ok because I was highly sedated and remember just bits and pieces.  I did have to use the restroom at one point.  That was fun.  Aside from that, it was straightforward.  I got a ride home where I normally would have slept the rest of the day.  Not this day.

I elected to accompany my son to a wedding rehearsal.  The wife couldn’t due to work so that left it to me.  It’s 1:30pm and I’m so very sore from the dental work.  She brings our son home along with my pain meds.  So I pop two Lortab (take 1-2 as needed for pain).  I was miserable, so two was the magic number.  Around 2:15 they’d kicked in and I was feeling rather good.  The doorbell rings and it’s our ride to the rehearsal.  I didn’t know it but I was about to go on the TWO longest rides of my LIFE.

First of all this has nothing to do with the driver, a friend of ours.  I was coming off of IV sedation and had just jumped onto an opiate pain medication.  While some might have found this prospect exhilerating, it can be incredibly uncomfy when you’re riding in the backseat of a large pickup truck.

My head was spinning about 15 minutes into the over hour long drive.  I couldn’t tell if I was getting motion sick or what.  I got a cold drink to help calm my nerves.  NO not that kind of drink, geez.  It was so hard to keep my cool.  I tried very hard to not let my extreme discomfort show in front of my son.  I felt horrible and thought I was going to a) pass out b) puke or c) both in no particular order.

After we got there, I was ok.  Weird?  The rehearsal went down, we all knew our places, etc.  Now, time for the ride back.  I thought the worst was behind me.  Oh no, indeed it was not.

Ten minutes into the ride back it all starts again. WTF man?  Head spinning, sweating, heart pounding.  Ok, not fun, let me off the ride, argh!  This time though it’s 5pm and people are getting off work.  We weren’t going anywhere fast.  Again, trying to keep my cool in front of my kid.  Again feeling as if I was going to die.  As we neared home I started feeling a tad better.  I had a hard time standing up straight.  I was invited to a dinner that evening.  Needless to say, I did not  attend!

I never passed out or lost my lunch.  Hell, what lunch? I hadn’t eaten since midnight the night before. I forgot to mention that part.  Lesson learned: after my next dental appt.  I am going home and sleeping! :)  I seriously had no idea that I’d end up feeling so bad, geez!

Oh but we’re just getting started.   I’ll have to write up the part about my back later.

The final (hopefully) shoulder update

Well it’s been nearly 6 months to the day since I injured my shoulder.  It has taken that long for it to heal.  Let it be known that the shoulder takes LONGER than any other body area to heal!  That and the back, which I threw out last week.  That’s an entirely separate post.  Eh I’ll write it here.  Bottom line: shoulder is almost entirely healed.  I still favor it out of habit when doing certain things.  That was a hard hard lesson learned in how to correctly assume push-up position.  Still though, it was just the perfect, freak, circumstances that led to it.  Even the doctor said it was random and kind of freakish.  Well, it is true, I am a freak.

So my back.  Yes, I did something to my back last week and it hurt pretty solidly up until Saturday night.  I went to a gathering of friends that evening and proceeded to drink and get a little “wooo”.  That was fun but I noticed that no amount of inebriation helped my back.  I knew it was going to be a long night once I got home.

So we got home and took care of home things… At that point I tried to lay down.  My back was throbbing at this point.  Nothing helped.  I was on the verge of passing out at one point.  I finally got up and started walking around which seemed to help a tad.  I grabbed 4 advil and 2 benadryl and popped them all at the same time.  One for pain and the other to just plain knock my ass out.  I knew one or the other would have to happen.  It worked.  Finally, around 4am I drifted into sleep.  I’d already made me mind up (yes, me mind, yar! I’m a pirate!) that I was headed to the family medical center over near Belks.

I walked in at 1pm sharp.  Filled all the paperwork out and then waited.  After about 20 minutes got called back.  Waited about 10 more minutes and the doc came in.  We went over the routine.  He poked around, pushed around, tested reflexes, etc.  He concluded that nothing seemed serious.  It’s just that a back will protest very highly if thrown out of whack.  So he ordered some shots.  Big, fat, steroid shots.  The needles were 3″ long.  I couldn’t look.  Needles don’t bother me but geez!  Anyhow, it was actually painless minus some burning.  I got some pills for the road and for help with sleep … mmm zzzz.

I’d say within the hour the back was noticeably feeling better.  Today it’s still a little stiff but it’s vastly better than it was a couple of days ago.  I am certainly not getting any younger!   I told the doctor that I’m reminded on a weekly basis that time doesn’t run backwards.