Still Not Happening

I made it through weekend. Nothing eventful happened, I just took it easy. I realize though, that I am not going to be able to make it through work on Monday and keep my fingers crossed for that maybe I can do Tuesday. I emailed my principal, Lynn, and ask her what I should do. I don’t have any time left, I don’t want things to go badly at school, I don’t want to be missing my kids. She tells me to take the time that I need, everything will be fine. I call my teammate, Cammy, and ask her if she can make some copies of worksheets for my kiddos, because I don’t think I left enough to have made it through last Wednesday, Thursday and now Monday too. She tells me not to worry about it, and put in for the sub. She’ll make sure that there are things to do.

Off to see the Doctor

I head to the doctor to see my P.A.at the office I've been with since 1999. I've been with this P.A. for about a year and a half of that time. The office is in Tempe and I live in Peoria, its about a 40 minute drive. I know I should find somewhere over here, but I like that the office knows me and my history. They know about my appendectomy, the history of my migraines; and all the approaches that we took for that. Plus, I like the P.A. she is friendly, listens and is knowledgeable. She recommends that I get an x-ray taken so we can see what is going on. She changes me from Valium to Flexeril, which is an actual muscle relaxant. Cody and I leave the office and I call the radiology place near our house to find out what their wait time is, it’s about an hour. The radiology place near the doctor only has a 30 minute wait, so we decide to head over there. At this point the pain isn’t too extreme; I sit a little uncomfortably in the waiting room reading. The process is fast, the tech was awesome helping me move (I’m still slow and twisting at the waist for some of the different images is painful and hard. They let me know that the doctor should have the images by Monday afternoon. I head home to start the weekend.

Another Long Day... This Time in the E.R.

I woke up at 6am while Cody was still asleep to use the bathroom. When I stood up from the toilet I screamed and nearly passed out! The pain was horrible. When I feel like I’m about to pass out, something in me tells me to lie down on the floor. I don’t know why, that’s just my go to reaction. I lowered myself to the ground. I was hot and clammy, and in pain. Going to the ground was the dumbest decision I could have made. I spent an hour trying to get up from the bathroom floor. Even with Cody trying to help, the pain was overwhelming. I was on my stomach and tried going onto my knees, I tried rolling over, and I tried pushing up. Every little movement of my back was horrible. The only thing that got me up off of that floor without just calling for an ambulance was Castro and the fact that I had to give him his insulin. Once I was up and Castro was taken care of, I got dressed and we decided instead of the appointment that was scheduled for chiropractor's office, it was time to go to the E.R. Cody drove us over to the nearby hospital, and the wait wasn’t that bad. They got me back and I saw a PA who said that it was something called sacroiliitis. She said that she didn’t believe that any imaging was necessary at this point because of my age (34). She gave me a shot of something in the E.R. (I think it was Toradol) and prescriptions for Valium and Percocet. She was using the Valium as a muscle relaxant; even though that’s not really its function (I worked in pharmacies for 9 years before I became a teacher). I was feeling pretty good when I was at home that night, thankful though that we didn’t have school the next day because it would give me extra time to relax and let my muscles loosen. I even felt well enough to take a shower and watch some t.v. (Thursday night is Vampire Diaries night!)

Trip to the Chiropractor

I woke up and went into work because I needed to finish getting things ready for the sub to come in and work with my kids. I had to go in that morning, because I had spent after school on Tuesday hobbling around on campus trying to locate my favorite subs to see if they would be available to fill in, and I couldn’t stay late because I had the appointments for the pedicure and massage. I called the chiropractor’s office recommended by my mother in law, as soon as they opened, and they were able to get me in right away in the morning. When I got there, the chiropractor did a basic exam, palpating the muscles and did a small little massage on my back. He used some kind of tool (I don’t even have any idea what kind) that sounded like he was using a stapler on my back. He said that it would help get between the discs and loosen up the muscles. He told me the same thing that the masseuse had said, the lower lumbar muscles are tight, and we need to loosen them up. He recommended bed rest, and that I come see him the following morning and I booked the appointment. I put in for a sub for the next day at work, thankful that I had left a lot of worksheets on my desk, so I won't have to go in tomorrow morning and make more copies. I didn't really notice a change in the pain or discomfort during the evening.

Long Day

I attended a professional development at another school in the morning. I noticed I was moving a little bit slower, and even sitting was uncomfortable at this point. When I got back to school I took 600 mg of ibuprofen and was thankful that I only had the kids for a little bit that afternoon due to specials and recesses. I made an appointment for a massage, called my mother in law (Donna), to find out who her chiropractor was and made arrangements to not be at school the next day. I treated myself to a pedicure (which was a little hard to sit through), and then had my 45 minute massage. Samantha (one of my favorite masseuses at Dolce Salon and Spa) spent the entire time working on my lower back. At the end, she even did a few extra minutes no charge stretching out my glutes. She had said that all the muscles in my lower back and butt were tense and that was probably what was causing the pain and discomfort. After the massage I did feel a little better… not a lot, but a little. I made it through the evening and was looking forward to getting into the chiropractor the next day.

Not So Bad

Today was bearable. I made it through work, although it hurt a little to bend. nothing notable really pain wise.

In the Beginning...

It all started really on Saturday, April 21st. I had a minor backache.... nothing unusual. I figured that I was about due for a massage; the stress was just starting to build because the end of the year was coming and I knew that there would be a lot to do for school. I didn't do anything differently; I hadn't picked up anything heavy, or twisted funny... I was just feeling a bit sore. I went about business as usual, maybe took it a little easier on Sunday than I normally would have (okay, not really, I kicked back and read a book).