Relative Something

In the ongoing excitement of degenerative disc disease, I had a very interesting experience yesterday. I have done well to maintain my routine of daily 1/2-hour walks, and have been working my stretching and strength building exercises. Maybe I have done too well. I have had so little discomfort that there are moments when I forget that I am at risk.

Granted, I had allowed myself to become distracted, and I was thinking ahead to what I would do next, while I carried our exercise ball downstairs, but it didn’t seem like a risky action. It is hard to constantly keep your mind focused on thinking about how you are moving. All I did was lean forward a small amount in the action of intending to set the ball down on the floor. BAM! Sudden take-my-breath-away pain erupted in my lower back.

It put me to the floor. I searched for a position that might not hurt so much, but couldn’t identify whether laying on my stomach, or over on my back, offered any advantage. It just hurt.

I relaxed enough to catch my breath, struggled to my feet, and then tried to carry on with activity. I put some cold packs on my back and took some ibuprofen. This incident felt a bit worse than any of my previous flare-ups, but still seemed manageable. We had some company over for brunch and I alternated between sitting and standing. After they left, I headed for some carpeted floor and laid down where I could completely relax. I was laying on top of a cold pack that rested in the small of my back and it felt good. I could push my back onto the cold and against the support of the floor. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing to do.

When I decided to get up, I discovered that I couldn’t find a way to do it. With great effort, and against new waves of pain, I found I was able to roll over, but I could not find a way to get myself upright. Cyndie and Julian needed to do the work of lifting me up from under my arms, but I found I could hardly stand up and support my own weight without scary amounts of discomfort. This was all completely new to me.

I have no idea what the exact physics of that episode was all about, but I will refrain from laying flat on the floor, with an ice pack under my lower back, for some time to come. Slowly over the remainder of the day, and after multiple doses of ibuprofen, I felt I was gaining the ability to function without debilitating pain, but this is a definite set back in my ongoing effort to live comfortably and function relatively normally, despite degenerative disc disease.

Ouch.