Bad Bad Back

This has not been unfolding into the carefree, memory-creating Christmas week that I had envisioned. I imagined Christmas music wafting through my house as we sugared our treats and glittered our crafts. I planned on working up the enthusiasm for Santa to a fevered pitch. This was going to be the best Christmas season ever.

Monday night I went to sleep with thoughts of baking cookies with Robby. I was looking forward to waking up in the morning and turning my kitchen into a cookie factory. Instead, I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.

I consider myself as a heavy weight when it comes to pain tolerance. I've survived an amputation and chemotherapy treatments. It takes a big blow to knock me down.

I woke up with a painful back. After lying in bed for nearly an hour, contemplating whether or not the pain would subside, I finally conceded and knew that I needed ibuprofen. After another 20 minutes of moving gingerly and contorting, I finally managed to get my leg on. Putting on the liner was torturous because every movement released another sharp stabbing pain in my back. I was miserable!

After managing to don my liner and prosthetic, I walked towards the closet to retrieve my housecoat. I was hoping that sitting in my rocking chair would alleviate some of the pain while I waited for the medicine to take effect. I reached to take the robe off of the hook on the closet door.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment. I was standing in the closet with my arm extended, and I could no longer move. It was as if I the intensity of the pain had turned me into a statue. I felt as if everything was becoming darker as the ringing in my ears became louder. I screamed for Scott to help me.

I remember Scott standing over me as I was lying on the closet floor. Apparently he had arrived in time to watch me pass out. I have no memory of my falling or hitting the ground. I was terrified.

I stayed on the closet floor for nearly an hour, partly because I couldn't move because of the pain but also because I was scared. I have never felt pain so intensely debilitating.

A visit to my doctor Tuesday morning confirmed that I had an "intense muscle spasm." I could have saved myself the $15 copay with that diagnosis! My doctor also confirmed that I fainted because of the intensity of the pain. If I wasn't hurting so badly I am sure I would have said something witty about his medical deducing powers. I held my tongue primarily because he held the power- which in this situation was in the form of his prescription pad.

After a day of rest and medication, I am feeling better. My back continues to feel tender but the pain is not nearly as strong. Instead of enveloping ourselves in the sights, smells and sounds of the season, I found myself sitting in a physician's waiting room and listening to the jingle of pills in a bottle instead of bells.

My Christmas baking plans have been hijacked, but I will not surrender. I'm sure everybody will welcome a box of cookies for President's Day instead of Christmas. And while I'm at it, maybe I can substitute family Valentine's Day cards in lieu of Christmas cards?