ouch

So despite the fact that this story will make me seem one-hundred percent more pathetic than you ever thought me to be...

...i want to tell it. because it's kind of funny. in a pitiful/miserable kind of way.

so the other day i was in the shower minding my own business. i was washing my hair and singing. and then the water had the audacity to go cold (such a temperamental water heater) so i reached behind me (i admit, at an awkward angle) to turn up the heat, and. dun dun dun. my back spasmed. yeah, i know. kind of anticlimactic. but seriously? pain. like, how-am-i-supposed-to-stand-back-up pain? so i stood there clutching my lower back slightly bent over thinking, "alright. ouch. so how am i supposed to rinse out my hair? and turn off the shower? and get out? HAHA. figures this would happen to me!"

so, how did i get out? let me tell you: with extreme difficulty. i wish someone had been there to share in the hilarity of me clutching my towel in the most awkward position to turn off the shower (awkward--as in the only position i could find that didn't bring pain, to reach the stupid shower controls made for abnormally small people). and once that chore was done, i walked into my room (down two steps, i might add) and realized that all my clean clothes were on the floor. (bad habit, i know). i laughed out loud and then yelled for my grandmother. i would have thought that my face would be burning with shame or embarrassment, but this is not the case. i was laughing at my situation at the same time that i was tearing up from the pain. quite pathetic.

thankfully, my cousin is studying to be a physical therapist, my aunt is a nurse, and my mom has had this happen to her. so between the three of them, i was under strict instructions to basically do nothing for the next three days. to ice my back. to lay on the floor with my knees up. and to take lots of ibuprofen.

probably the most pathetic moment of the last few days was the first time i tried to get up off the floor. my grandmother had gone to the grocery store (i couldn't stop her --how could i when i'm completely incapacitated?) and my back had started to hurt from being flat on the ground for so long, so i decided i needed to get up. but every single position killed my lower back. i mean, every. single. one. i gave up a few times, staring up the ceiling, half laughing, half crying at my pathetic situation. but don't worry, i totally got up on my own without hurting my back more. i just did it really slowly and carefully. whew.

you don't realize how grateful you are for a body that works until something like this happens. i mean, one small muscle spasm (it could have been a herniated disc) made it impossible for me to sit, stand, walk, even move without pain. but, thank goodness, it's getting better. my back aches a bit, but there is no more pain. and i can walk again without having to stand ramrod straight (although i'm still doing that because i'm super-paranoid about tweaking it again).

regardless, i have had a few pathetic days the last few days, but i am thankfully on the mend. thank you cousin melissa, aunt martha and mom! (And grandma for not laughing at me when she had to do some ridiculous things that I couldn't do on my own!)

ps- the picture of the old lady i used in the previous post now applies to THIS post. for real, that is exactly how i looked when my back spasmed. even the wrinkles... ;D