A pain in the backside

So, when I drove home from Minneapolis a few weeks ago, I drove straight through – somewhere around 18 hours or so.  My car is NOT the most comfortable car to ride in, and my back gets stiff sitting in it too long.  So, when I got home, my back was a little stiff from riding so long.  Got home Monday morning, somewhere around 5 AM.  Slept Monday, took Tuesday to get reorganized here at the home front, and Wednesday, I went in to where I was going to be working, I thought to get acquainted with the building and look around.  Well, I went to work that day.  Worked Thursday, and Friday, too.  On Friday, Boss/friend asked me if I would want to install some laminate flooring the next day.  (of course, this is after we had run to Home Depot and purchased said flooring.  (455 sq. feet of it)  I agreed, and worked Saturday to install the flooring.  Got almost half done Saturday.  Sunday, we can’t do maintenance in the building, so I was off.  Monday, I went back and finished up the flooring.  Worked Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Thursday, I started working on a ceramic tile tub surround.  Got the backerboard installed, and Friday, I started tiling the wall.  Got the tile installed, and had to wait for the adhesive to dry before applying grout.  It was almost quitting time by this time anyway, and my back was pretty sore, so I went home.  I had been staying in a condo there in the building, which Boss/Friend has access to.  It is furnished with a futon to sleep on. 

Well, by Friday night, like I said, I was pretty stiff, so I went back home, to lay on the floor with the heating pad on my back.  By the time I got home, I could barely stand up, let alone walk.  I felt horrible.  I came in the house, went upstairs to my room, dug out the heating pad, and laid down on it.  I think I spent most of the weekend laying on the floor on the heating pad.   So many times I felt like I was just not going to be able to stand up, or walk, or anything.  My roommate, D, was VERY helpful and sympathetic to me.  I don’t know what I would have done without her.  I felt horrible, because she REALLY doesn’t need someone ELSE to take care of!  But there wasn’t a whole lot I could do.  I felt, (and was) helpless.

Monday morning, my gracious and helpful roommate agreed to drive me to the chiropractor, so I called and made an appointment.  Of course, my appointment wasn’t until 4, so not only did she have to leave work to drive me to the chiro, but she also had to drag along her two sons, and her nephew, to sit and wait for me to fill out all the forms, and have my first chiropractor adjustment at a new office.  She was on a conference call with work for most of this appointment, too, so that made it all that much more difficult on her.  Thank you Lord, for giving her the strength, consideration, and love for me it must have taken on that day. 

I was still VERY stiff, so the following day, she took me again to the appointment.  I’ve seen the chiro at least once every day for two weeks straight, except for the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as the office was closed because the Dr. was going out of town.  (and they’re closed on Sundays)  I also didn’t go in last Saturday or Sunday.  Last Thursday I was beginning to feel some relief.  Friday it was about the same, pretty good, but still there.  Saturday and Sunday were okay, a few “wrong moves”, but overall, pretty good, with just some “normal” (?) pain there, but manageable.  Today, I went in for my appointment, and felt pretty good afterwards.  I was going to go back to work today but decided to stay home because D needed something done at the house, so I stayed home to help her.  While waiting to help her with that, I decided to clean out the garage some.  I broke down some boxes, and took them to the recycling center, and rearranged the rest of the stuff in the garage, so much that I can now fit my car in the garage again.  I also finished building the rollaway basketball hoop that the boys’ father had started to build last Friday.  Once that was completed, I played some hoops with BE.  After that, I helped him in learning how to ride a bicycle around the cul de sac.  He needs to practice starting out, and then just a little bit of practice “riding”, and after that, he’ll be ready to ride his bike down to Home Depot, if I need anything.*  Now I need to work on Ox…  I also took my bike down and aired up the tires, and rode it around the cul de sac a little. 

So, as you can tell, my back is feeling much, much better.  I can still feel a little stiffness in it, but overall, I don’t have to support myself with my arms when I’m walking, and am able to actually stand up straight, so I would say it is a wonderful improvement.  It sure feels better to me!  I was wondering what I was going to feel like tonight, whether I’d overdone it today or something, but I’ve sat here in the chair for a few hours, and it doesn’t seem to be bothering me any more than it did when I sat down, so I think I am finally mending! 

I like standing upright again.  I’m proud!  hehehe  I’m going to work tomorrow.

 By the way…  I read that last entry, and I didn’t realise how bad it really sounded!  I want everyone who wished me a happy birthday to know that it really DID mean a LOT to me, and I wasn’t REALLY as upset as I made it sound!  Sure, turning 40 isn’t giving me warm fuzzies, but all of your well wishes did.  It’s great to know I have such wonderful friends!  I care about each and every one of you in your own way.  For the well wishes, I truly DO thank you.  (just wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn’t being snobby and “shoving off” your well wishes.

(D would never allow this, mind you, but I thought I’d put it in just to see what kind of reaction I get from her)