I think I feel an ode coming on...

[katiefoolery]

I feel like writing an ode to my back.  Somebody stop me.  Quickly.

It wouldn’t be a nice ode, though.  It would be more like the spiteful little one I wrote to the photocopier at my old work when we finally replaced it with something that actually worked.  But odes seem to be my response to situations such as these: when you can’t actually take your problem outside and beat it to death with a 2x4, write an ode about it instead.

Ah, my back - how I hate it so.  We’ve never been best friends; never shared secrets with each other; never wanted to spend any sort of meaningful time together... which makes things a little difficult, if you think about it.  Every now and then, when it thinks I’m getting a little too complacent about the fact that I have a spine and it allows me to keep myself reasonably vertical, it likes to pull out an attack.  For instance, I’ll be sitting at my computer, innocently typing away, only to flinch when my spine jabs at me.

That’s fun.

Then I’ll wake up the next day with a resentful ache in my lower back that doesn’t go away no matter what I do.  And I try everything, believe me.  Yoga classes have nothing on me when I’m trying to find a position that might relieve some of the pain.

But I’m sort of used to it, for better or worse, so I try to ignore it... which is when my back decides to throw a hissy fit.  It’ll wait until I'm doing something completely innocuous, such as walking down the passage, and then it’ll... well, I don't actually know what it does but yesterday it did it about halfway up my back and it felt the way I’d imagine it would if someone jabbed some sort of cattle prod in your spine and turned it up to the highest setting.  Gah!  Nothing.  Helped.  Not standing still, not bending over - nothing.  Oh, and don't think of taking any deep breaths, because that just makes things worse.

That was all kinds of wonderful.

Why yes, I did stay home from work yesterday.  Why yes, this does mean I’m currently on the second day of a five day weekend.  And yes, that does mean I needed a medical certificate, because who’s going to believe I wasn’t just lying to secure a five day weekend if I don’t have something to prove I was actually in pain?

Nobody in their right mind, that’s who.

The doctor across the road is closed one morning of the week - guess which one it is?  That’s right - yesterday morning!  I got to hang around the house until 2pm, or rather, 1:55pm, which was when I left so I could an appointment as early as possible.  There were only two people ahead of me, which seemed promising... right up until the first guy went in and didn’t come out for another fifty minutes.

Waiting room chairs = not comfortable.

Having the ability to distract yourself by writing slightly naughty fic whilst waiting = good.

And that’s the saga of my back, although I did forget to mention the habit the doctor has of jabbing his thumbs into sides of my spine to make sure that's where the problem really is.

On the up side, at least I missed out on the staff photos at work yesterday.

Comments

[peachynat3.livejournal.com]

I find it strange still how you tell someone ie. a doctor, that something hurts, yet they have to see for themselves just how much it hurts... When I got my foot run over, I said it hurt a lot, but no... the doctor had to squeeze it and see that it hurt.. and mind you, this was before I had any x-rays so it could have been broken! Eep! Sorry for the rant :P

Back pain is awful.. I get back pain occasionally but I think it's because I used to carry a bag that weighed at least 10kg every day to school and back.

Hope you feel better soon!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Gah! I can understand their needing to pinpoint where the pain is, but do they have to keep doing it once you've managed to shriek out that, yes, that is where it hurts... NOW STOP.

I'm not sure why I have such a bad back. I do remember falling off the swings in primary school (right onto my head, too), so maybe that's the cause.

Thanks for your good wishes. :)

[bardockgurl.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, as a fellow back sufferer, I can sympathise completely.
I damaged my coccyx when I was 12, and it still hurts now... twinging right now, in fact. Of course, the whole damned back followed the coccyx's lead and decided to play me up - little bastards lie awake at night cooking up ingenious new tortures to visit upon me >.<
And sometimes my neck - stupid little crowd-following sheep that it is - joins in >.<
That's always fun...
*Pats Katie's shoulder sympathetically and snarls at her back*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's definitely no fun to be the victim of your own back. :(

*sympathises in return*

I never realised how much the lower back is responsible for until mine got really bad. You need it for everything! And my neck's like yours - it likes to get in on the action, too. I'll go over to the doctor and tell him my neck's hurting and he'll tell me it's because of the muscles (ha!) in my lower back. And of course, he'll take the opportunity to dig his thumbs in to prove it.

*dark look*

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

Katie, I'm so very sorry to hear this! Awful, awful, awful.

Chronic pain is a bitch, plain and simple.

I hope something helpful is being done! (I'm on Naproxin, which I consider a miracle drug -- you might want to ask your doctor about it . . . ???)

Hang in there!

(hugs)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks. :)

Mostly I can ignore when it's not too bad. Otherwise, the doctor jabs stuff in and that seems to fix it up pretty quickly.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Having the ability to distract yourself by writing slightly naughty fic whilst waiting = good.
On the up side, at least I missed out on the staff photos at work yesterday.

At least you managed to find some good in this. Hope you're feeling better soon. *hugs carefully*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehe - very true! I really wasn't looking forward to the photos. :P And I managed to write almost seven hundred words, long-hand, while I was waiting in that uncomfortable chair.

*admires the pretty icon*

What's that one from?

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Oooh, 700 words! Very excellent!

The icon is from Godchild, one of the many manga series I believe I've recommended to you in the past. Gorgeous artwork and interesting plot.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Just downloaded chapter one! Thanks for reminding me about it. :)

[the-kaytinator.livejournal.com]

*grugs*

I don't have the back pain, but I've had chronic headaches all my life, so I know where you're coming from. Are you on any painkillers?

*grugs again*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

*grugs back*

Usually it's at a level where I can try to ignore it and just get on with doing things... and then it really flares up like this. :( The stuff the doctor jabs in seems to work OK for now. I just have to hope it doesn't decide to get worse in the future. :D

[minnn.livejournal.com]

Yeeeowch :( I hope you're feeling better after the . Back pain = not fun.

Mine's similar...it'll be fine for months, weeks, years - then suddenly (usually when I'm on holiday!) it'll bring me down so I can't walk for days.

Is it muscular? Paul finds solace in a tens machine. Nothing like a dose of electroshock-therapy to the offending muscles.

[minnn.livejournal.com]

*sigh*
"I hope you're feeling better after the ." - your mystery word tonight is "doctor".

(God I'm tired...)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehe - yes, I am feeling a little better after my visit to the mystery word. :D

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - it always chooses the worst time to flare up, doesn't it? It is muscular, but I didn't know that electroshock therapy could help. I might have to look into that if it gets worse.

[gravityslave.livejournal.com]

Ack!
I sincerely hope you're feeling better as soon as possible!
Oh, and that your silly back realizes that you're all in this together.
::extremely careful hug::

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Thank-you - it is feeling a bit better today, thankfully. Now to talk some sense into it...

[pitkat.livejournal.com]

Aww, I'm sorry hun. That does sound aweful! Get better. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I'm feeling a bit better today. :D

[saralonde24.livejournal.com]

*hugs* that's no good to hear, I hope your back is feeling less painful and not playing up over this long weekend.

And yay for writing slightly naughty fic while waiting for the doctor *high-fives*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

'Tis a little better today, thankfully. Of course, it would happen over a long weekend...

Hehe - I'm very glad I have mostly illegible hand-writing, really.

[thingwithtrees.livejournal.com]

Argh, back pain is just awful. I know what you're going through. A few years ago I seriously messed my lower back up on holidays, and it stopped me doing my normal routine for almost a year.

Doctors are completely useless when it comes to back pain. They can identify the problem, but they're not actually trained to DO anything about it except prescribe medication.

If you're really having problems I totally recommend seeing a Chiropractor. A friend put me onto one and after the first session I felt so much better it was incredible. They're a lot more advanced these days- most won't crack your back or bend you into odd shapes, they just use a small non-invasive device.

The theory is that muscular problems can arise from very tiny skeletal variations. If your spine is twisted at all, or one leg is even a few millimeters shorter then the other it can create weakness in the muscles. They just rebalance you, and the muscles heal on their own.

Anyway, sorry for the babble. I just can't bring myself to hear about anyone with chronic back pain without recommending a Chiro. There's just so many daily aches and pains we take as normal that can be fixed by a couple of short visits. :)

Whatever happens, I really hope your back gets better! It's so annoying to be struck down by an unco-operative body part.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I've always been put off chiropractors by the whole spine-cracking concept, but I'd consider it if they don't do that any more. Because you're right - I'd rather have something that worked most of the time than have to stagger across to the doctor every couple of months or so when it flares up. And I do actually have one leg slightly longer than the other, so maybe that's the source of my trouble? Thanks for your comments - you've given me quite a bit to think about there. :D

[thingwithtrees.livejournal.com]

No problem!
If you want to avoid spine cracky-ness I've been told to try and find someone who does Sacro-occipital Technique (S.O.T) Or uses an Activator.
Hehe, I don't know what S.O.T actually means, but I'm told it's the most gentle- with absolutely no cracking. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Thank-you muchly for that!