The Pain! The Pain!

Yesterday morning, after squatting next to Kyle's bed to check his blood sugar, I stood up and pain shot through the small of my back, over both hips and down both legs to my feet. I couldn't even stand up straight. After hobbling around and getting the kids ready for school, I could actually move a little easier, though, my back was still really hurting. I dropped the kids off at the sitters and headed into work. After 30 minutes in the car, I could barely get out. My back and hip muscles just didn't want to cooperate. Walking seemed to really help and although I was in pain all day, I could work. Each time I would sit down for a few minutes, I had a hard time standing up straight. I would hobble around bent over and then finally my muscles would cooperate a little and I could straighten up. It's a good thing I already had my physical therapy appointment scheduled. My therapist could see me walking from my car in the parking lot, so she knew it was bad. After the electrical stimulation, heat, and lots of pounding and working the joints and muscles by my therapist, I could move a little better but my back still hurt. Thank God for heat and ibuprofen!

It is the wierdest thing -- I've been getting physical therapy since early December because I had frozen hip joints. This past weekend, in spite of the busy-ness, I had virtually no pain. It was the best weekend I've had (pain-wise) since last fall. And then, this all happened on Tuesday. I wish there were a cure for aging other than death! In therapy yesterday when it was time to get off of the heating pad, I couldn't remember how to sit up -- it was too painful to sit up the way I normally do and every time I moved, the pain would shoot through my back. At one point I commented that it was really funny that I couldn't move when I actually had to think about it. The therapist made a soothing remark (something like it's not really funny) and I just laughed. I said, "when you get to this point all you can do is laugh." I mean, really, what else can I do?