Thursday, January 20, 2011

Adventures in Agony

(This post is basically just a tale of woe and adventures in random, sudden and intense pain. It's too long. Feel free to come back tomorrow for an outfit post.)

Wednesday AM I got up and noticed my pillows were all askew. I had had a rough night. Our neighborhood dogs have choir practice all night most nights and sometimes it keeps me awake most of the night. Tuesday night had been one of those nights, so I had tossed and turned and blah blah blah...I noticed I had a bit of a crick in my neck. Nothing new. I got up and got dressed. I couldn't really turn to look over my left shoulder to check my hair, but whatever. No big deal. I drove to work. I couldn’t check my blind spot. A bit worrisome but I got there OK.

I worked until about 10:30 and then took a call. Something about the way I moved or held the phone triggered something and I could no longer really move my neck at all. I couldn’t look at the computer. I tried laying down on the floor to relax but ended up yelping in pain like a wounded dog and then had a really hard time getting back up. It felt like a really severe charlie horse in my neck every time I moved. Eventually I called my Dr (in tears) and asked if they could see me and they said yes. I had a co-worker (God bless her soul) drive me. Every stop, every start, every pothole was absolute agony. I wasn't sure I could make it.I did and my co-worker parked in the handicap space and I slowly made my way in, the car ride had made it much worse, or so I thought. I think now it would have gotten worse either way. It was sort of a slow creep into the peak of it. By the time we got there even speaking was painful. At the Dr I saw a P.A. and she asked what was wrong. I explained what was going on and she said that my options were an injection or pills. I wanted the injection. She brought pills. I don’t remember the chain of events that lead to that. The pain came and went in waves, but no matter what I had to remain totally still. Each tiny movement brought on a spasm.

I was at the Dr for 4 hours total. I spent that time in an uncomfortable hardback chair with no support, trying to be perfectly still. In that time the option for an injection to help the pain never came to fruition. The P.A. had chosen (I have NO IDEA WHY) to give me some Celebrex, which for one reason or another, meant I could not have the injection. The Celebrex did nothing for me. My husband came, and my co-worker left. I had to pee, and the P.A. insisted I do a pregnancy test when I did. It took 5 minutes for me to get to the bathroom 10 feet away. Each step brought blinding pain. We had to cut off my tights. After I “passed” the pregnancy test, they gave me a script for muscle relaxers and sent me on my way. I crept slowly to the car. Nathan brought me home and got me settled on the couch. In order to get me out of my dress (a very cute maxi dress, my ONLY maxi dress, I wanted to get in on the winterized maxi dress trend started by Kyla. I did not get pictures before the pain started and well...) Nathan had to cut me out. It hurt too much to take it off any other way. I spent the rest of the day sitting (I couldn’t get into a laying down position) on the couch. I refused to drink much because getting up to go to the bathroom hurt too much. I was able to take my first muscle relaxer at around 6:30 last night (I wasn’t allowed to take it before then because of the Celebrex?) I went to sleep around 9. I was exhausted from holding my body still. I had to sleep sitting up on the couch.

This AM when I woke up I felt better. I made it all the way to the bathroom without stopping to catch my breath from the pain. I fed myself. I raised a soda bottle to my mouth and drank from it. These were all HUGE improvements from yesterday. My progress has continued through the day and now I can move my legs and arms freely without much pain and I am able to walk without any extra pain. My body is sore all over from having to move in weird ways yesterday to try and stabilize my neck. But I feel much, much better.

And then I found five dollars.*

*Not really. That’s just a little something my friends taught me to say when you realize your story went on for way to long and was probably pretty boring.

32 comments:

Melissa said...

The $5 thing is funny. Although your story was neither too long nor boring.

What on earth caused that to happen to you? That's so strange and scary and I am SO glad that you're feeling better now but WOW. I hope they can find out what caused it so that it can be prevented from happening again.

archives vintage said...

hollllllly moley girl!!!! that is AWFUL. what an annoying experience on top of all that pain! :(

so glad you are feeling better. rest up!!!

A said...

Oh my gah, seriously. I am so sorry you have to go through that (and cut your clothes off! Horrible :(). I am really curious about what brought that on too, because I hope that you can prevent it ever happening again. I hope you can rest tonight!

I agree with Melissa, it wasn't too long or boring. I've been dying to hear what happened so I'm really glad you felt well enough to write it out.

SO much love. XOXO

Linda said...

Oh my goodness. I'm glad you are feeling a bit better. That sounds excruciating!

*I love that $5 tip. I truly laughed!

The Auspicious Life

Rebecca said...

I'm sorry that you had to deal with that, and I'm glad you're feeling better.

Kyla said...

Oh, that sucks. Sounds like a pinched nerve to me. I used to get that exact same thing all the time from middle school on. I totally understand how you can't do anything and just holding your head up is so painful! I would just lay in bed on a heating pad, popping ibuprofen like crazy. Now, I can feel them coming on and know that I can nip it in the bud with 5 or 6 ibuprofen (no worries - this is rare and has been approved by a medical professional). It totally knocks it right out, though. Good luck and I hope you're feeling better soon! Also, I'm very sad I didn't get to see your maxi dress :(

JC said...

That's awful! I wonder if it was a nerve pinched or something? But high-five on the 5 bucks!... wait...? ;)

Cara said...

I'd give you a hug, but I'm afraid I'd hurt you! I really hope this clears up quickly for you!

Sara said...

Oh no, I'm so sorry you've had such a rough few days. Take care of yourself, and I hope you're feeling better.

Cathey said...

I'm so sorry you were in so much pain! I'm glad you started feeling better this morning - hopefully you'll be feeling completely back to normal soon!
Rest up and feel better!

Chalkdust and Boots said...

Dude! That sounds awful! While reading this whole thing, I was holding my breath and wincing. I hope that you continue feeling better and that you find out what the hell that was so that it may NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. *hugs*

The Suburb Experiment said...

The $5 part made me laugh. The rest of it sounds AWFUL. I don't know my drugs very well, but isn't. . . isn't Celebrex medication for depression? I could be totally wrong, and I hope I am because that would be weird.

Unknown said...

Please feel better. Sometimes I wish Drs knew what they were doing more; don't you.

Anonymous said...

I'm totally stealing the $5 bit!

You sound like me today, although the only thing I have to blame for my pain is three hours of yoga, more yoga and then Zumba. At least you can't blame yourself for your pain.

Louise said...

Oh, Erin! I am so very sorry! I wish I could give you a vicodin-infused hug!

Tennille said...

I woke up one morning with such extreme pain in my back/shoulder that I couldn't even roll out of bed. I ended up calling off work and staying in bed for two days. Someone suggested that I had a pinched nerve. Eventually it got better and went away on its own.

It sounds like you have what I had. I hope your body sorts itself out quickly and you don't have to worry about it anymore! It's a shame you had to cut your tights and dress.

Jodie said...

Oh that sounds awful. I hope you get much better and it never happens again. Also you wanted a needle, you should get a needle. I can't imagine swallowing was joy at that moment.

Collette Osuna said...

Wow hunnie...hope you are feeling better this morning....and I would have gotten a Starbucks with the $5...lol

Stop by and say Hello:)
Vote for me in the ELF Cosmetics Beauty of All Ages Model Search 2011♥

estrella said...

That was SO BAD!! I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope it goes on until you are completely well.

EvaNadine said...

oh, erin, that sounds awful!
happy youre feeling better, but so sad about the loss of your dress and tights! any way the dress can be repaired?

i occasionally suffer from muscle spasms in my neck. thankfully i was never unable to walk, but my hubby (then BF) would have to drop me off at the top of our driveway, since the gravel would jostle it too much and make it hurt. i suffered like that for 3 months (unable to turn or tilt my head to the left) before i was smart enough to see a doctor. im glad you went immediately.

hope it continues to improve and never comes back!

Heather - Inner cupcake said...

My BF makes me do the $5 thing when I tell bad stories, but this is neither too long nor boring. This sounds terrible and I'm sorry that the PA didn't listen to you. It's really hard to work with people in the medical field when it seems like no one is willing to listen or work with you and you have to keep pushing. I hope that you continue to feel better and that maybe there's something salvageable about the dress. I know it's not even a big deal in comparison to everything else, but you know, sometimes it's the little things in life.

Kasmira said...

That sounds awful! Recounting how you had to cut off your clothes really illustrates how much pain you were in! Feel better soon!

C said...

Eep! Erin, I'm so sorry!!! This sounds so awful, and I can only imagine how agonizing it was. Take CARE of yourself this weekend, girl, and let Nathan take care of you, too.

FutureLint said...

How scary! I'm so sorry, that sounds terrible! Even little cricks in my neck from sleeping funny are awful so I can't even imagine! Good to hear you are improving!

And I totally know about the $5 thing!

Anonymous said...

Nothing like inexplicable pain to scare the shit out of you.

I've had similar attacks and was told my trapezius was in spasm. Nothing helped except waiting. I'm so sorry to hear you went through this!

Kelly said...

Oh no! I hope they hop you up with all the drugs you can handle. Every once in a while I get a charlie horse (?) in my neck and I can't move it for about 5 minutes. I just about go crazy. I CANNOT IMAGINE having that for a whole day, and it sounds like yours is much worse.

Sheila said...

Oh, my gosh, honey, I am glad you are feeling better. I had something similar happen a couple of years ago, I couldn't raise my right arm, and it was agony all up through the side of my neck.

So sad about the dress!

laniza said...

Sorry to hear about your pain! Did the doctor explain what caused it?

Keep Warm (Danielle) said...

Whoa Erin! That's nuts and absolutely awful! And also not so good when you can't trust your health care providers to do what you ask/is best for you.

sandylandy said...

Oh, man--I'm so sorry! I hurt my back really bad last winter. It's unbearable that kind of pain, so I can imagine how awful it must have been. Take it easy, and I hope you feel better <3

Sarah said...

I'm usually more of a lurker (working on commenting more), but I hope you feel better soon! As someone with chronic pain, I know exactly where you've been. It's awful and I hope you continue getting better and never have to deal with that kind of pain again!

Ana said...

I tried to leave you a comment when you first posted this, but I had computer issues. I'm so sorry you went through this, and I'm glad you're getting better.