Here I am:)

So do you think the snake scared me so much that I just parked myself in my bed and stayed off of the computer? Nope. Here is the story as to why I've been MIA on the blog this week:

Last Thursday while I was exercising I felt a shift in my lower spine and I could no longer stand up straight. I was in pain. I've had this happen before - if you recall, in March I visited a chiropractor for the same thing. This time it was worse.

On Friday I went to the immediate care center to have someone prescribe some muscle relaxers. The doctor also requested xrays, which showed nothing. She prescribed muscle relaxers and told me to take ibuprofin along with them. I did - neither of them made any difference in the amount of pain I was feeling OR in my ability to straighten my back. Terribly discouraging... In the past when I have "thrown my back out" (as I had referred to it) the pain gradually went away over the course of a week. I have done this periodically for the last 10 years - I can remember having this happen in my dorm room at Calvin, however, it doesn't happen often and I've only visited the doctor for it once (beside the trip to the chiroprator). All of this to say that the fact that the pain had not lessened by Monday was terribly discouraging and worrisome for me.

On Tuesday I called my primary care physician hoping to get an appointment that day. The ladies on the phone were extremely rude to me and absolutely would NOT get me in that day or the next for that matter. I told them (I talked to 2 ladies because I made 2 phone calls begging them to give me an appointment) that I had 3 small children at home and I was barely able to function and take care of them. I couldn't life them without being in terrible pain, I was walking like a hunch back, I couldn't really move without feeling pain and I NEEDED to see the doctor right away. OF COURSE the answer was "No, I'm sorry but we're double booked and we can't fit you in."

Let me take a minute to announce that I officially dislike 98% of all people in the administrative departments of the medical field. At some point in the hiring process I believe every one of them has attended a class on how to be the rudest person possible. I rarely speak to a polite or even somewhat helpful person in these positions. I also believe that they have to attend a class teaching them how to make the customer run in circles trying to get information or answers on any of their questions. It is just too coincidental that EVERY ONE OF THEM is as rude as they are - they MUST be taught these techniques.

H-anyways... Most of Tuesday was spent in tears because of my frustration with all of these women and because the pain was not going away or getting better and the medication was not working at all. The muscle relaxers simply gave me a bad case of cotton mouth - I couldn't eat crackers or anything dry because I did not have enough saliva to chew them and all the water in the world did not help that situation. I was a MESS on Tuesday. Later that evening a nurse from the doctor's office called and asked about my symptoms. SHE was very nice. She told me that Dr. H wanted me to get an MRI and see me on Friday.

Wednesday - I called to schedule the MRI. I requested an open MRI due to my claustrophia and panic attack issues. Right before I hung up the phone I said to the lady, "Just to be clear - my head will NOT be enclosed at all." No that was not correct. Nothing would be touching my face, but my head would be enclosed. She told me to imagine a giant hamburger bun and I would be the beef, but my head would be in there. Not a good answer for me. She also advised me to speak with one of the nurses there to discuss pain medication or sedation during the test. I did - but by this time I was having a panic attack about the panic attack I was anticipating I would have during the MRI. At this point you can safely call me Loony Tunes;) The nurse was kind of patronizing, but she did talk me off of the ledge and calmed me down. I scheduled the test for later that afternoon. She assured me that she would give me some valium and I wouldn't care two hoots about being enclosed in the giant hamburger bun.

Dave brought me to the MRI place that afternoon. By that point the pain was so bad I could not do anything to relieve it (up until then I could shift in my seat, change positions, etc). The pain was also running down the front of my legs. Bad. Bad. Bad. Got the valium. Changed into my paper pants and gown (attractive), got ready to be the beef. It wasn't so bad - and I must tell you that I didn't feel any different with the valium, so I think I did it on my own:)

Fast forward to today. Appointment with Dr. H. He came in, talked with me, lifted my leg until I was wimpering in pain and begging him to let go. He went out, looked at my MRI films and came back with this: "You have a bulging disk." Fantastic.

So he prescribed some steroid/anti-inflammatory course of medication along with some vicodin and told me to come in next week. HOWEVER, if the pain gets worse I need to come in sooner. AND I need to rest and baby myself for the week so it will get better quicker. Typically these things resolve themselves in 4-6 weeks, but because of my situation (mother of 3 small children) that probably won't happen because I won't be able to rest properly. So he gave me a course of steroids to speed it up, hoping that it will resolve in a week. If it is better in a week, then he will send me to physical therapy. If it is not better OR it gets worse during the week, he will send me to a neurosurgeon. He advised that I had better rest, baby myself and not do too much because I don't want to go to the neurosurgeon. I told him that I have a 2 year old and a 7 month old baby at home and I have to lift them throughout the day. He told me I needed to figure out how to deal with that situation so that I didn't have to do those things because I need to rest. He also told me that the most I should be doing over the weekend is changing the channel on the tv with the remote control.

So here we go... Do I need to remind anyone how well I did with bedrest when I was pregnant with Ryann and had gone into preterm labor? Wish me luck. Better yet, give me some ideas on how I'm supposed to be a mom and not lift my children.

If you want to see a picture of a herniated disk (not MY herniated disk) click:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/popupnowrap.cfm?objectid=1266C6A7-FEB1-4125-93D5A055BB612D26&method=display_full

Next week I will blog entirely about daytime television and all of the good shows I watch throughout the day. Check back daily because I'm suuure it will be really interesting;)