Adventures in Agony

Woke up in the middle of the night to the most debilitating back pain ever. Flat on my back, could barely move my torso or legs even an inch. Felt like I was lying there, impaled by a sword driven through my spine.

I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead, my lower back was on fire. Every time I tried to adjust the slightest bit, searing flashes zeroed in on my lumbar. I was almost to the point of tears, it hurt so bad. Steeling myself against the agony, I made quick work of checking that all my limbs, hands, feet, fingers and toes were still functioning, for fear that an even greater symptom would go unnoticed. Luckily, there was nothing else -- no numbness, nothing felt broken, no additional localized pains, everything that I attempted to move could move.

So I lay there, wanting but unwilling to move and tried to sleep.

Thankfully, I did eventually drift off, though I'm sure it was fitful sleep at best. At one point I had roused awake, the pain had subsided enough, so I made the effort of trying to get up. It was still pitch dark in the bedroom and I could barely see the glow of the window. Gritting my teeth, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach and slid off the side of the bed, feet going first. One hand on the night table and the other against the mattress, I made an attempt to stand up on my own. Supported by my arms it was bearable and didn't seem too poor a task, but the instant I tried to stand without being propped up by anything but my legs, my back screamed that it wasn't going to happen.

I dropped back down onto the bed as quickly as I could, taking care to again find a position for my body that wouldn't keep me awake the rest of the night. Noticing that only one pillow remained, I reached over the other side to the floor, blindly feeling for the other. Locating the errant cushion within a few grasps, I returned it to its rightful position at the head of the mattress and tried to make myself somewhat comfortable.

Since I haven't been plagued with chronic back pain, I reasoned that this was just some freak occurance and that that the only thing that would help at this point was waiting it out with as much of a good night's rest as I could muster. A few more lapses in unconsciousness amidst my dozing reaffirmed this, the pain still there, but lessening gradually as the darkness wore on.

Morning came and my radio alarm clicks on. DC101 and the oftentimes amusing, sometimes annoying voice of shock jock Elliot and class tell me it's time to get up. My seemingly daily ritual of laying there continues for several minutes, listening to the banter, snuggled up against a pillow and sheets while my brain attempts to slip out of neutral and into first gear. I test the waters a bit, wriggling around atop the bedding and hoping for the best.

It's still there, the pain... But it's considerably dulled and feels no worse than what I experienced a few weeks ago after apparently pinching a nerve in my leg and abusing my back further with a long and hard run. I am ever so glad I have a friend who's a licensed physical therapist, that I can call on a moment's notice and squeeze in a rehabilitative full body massage when I'm in pain and/or in need. Thanks Kim!! =)

Taking a morning dose of Aleve and Glucosamine Chondroitin with breakfast, I don't recall dutifully ingesting my ration yesterday. Up until very recently, I've only been dosing myself with Advil or Aleve prior to doing a run as a preventative measure, but I'm sure the timing is merely a coincidence.

So I still feel *something* back there, but I feel much better and don't have to mince around, carefully coordinating my movements when traipsing about. And I have yet to figure out what brought on the sudden pain. But I do feel the need for additional upright support from my arms when negotiating anything that might compromise the relief and bring it all back.