My latest x-ray impressions, less than 24 hours before I threw my back out
Well I did something to my back on Friday and can barely move because of the pain. I know it's muscular, nothing is broken or anything, but geez, I am sidelined.
What was I doing? Sitting and watching TV. Normal evening, but at some point when I went to get up, my back seized up and it hasn't really let go since.
It might be a pinched nerve, which is common with conditions I have like degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. I have a feeling it's compounded by dehydration, which I live with most of the time because of my abbreviated GI system (I had to have surgery to remove my entire large intestine and rectum in the 90s because of Ulcerative Colitis), so I have leg cramps to go along with it when I'm trying to get some sleep.
This is less of a whine about my back, which will eventually get better (this has happened before, but thankfully, not often) and more about how life forces you to shutdown sometimes, whether you like it or not.
Was supposed to clean my house this weekend, grocery shop, and cook. All I was able to do was an online grocery order that I went and picked up - I am grateful services like this exist now, even if I did have to pay a small fee for pickup. My kid ate frozen meals and pre-prepared stuff. I can stand for a few minutes and cook a little but I have to keep taking breaks because the muscle pain on my hip and back starts burning after a bit.
Stretch, heat, epsom salts bath, rest, light walking, rinse, repeat. But not much else until this passes.
I've not been able to see my mom at all, though I call her daily to check in. Wrapping presents this week? Going to have to wait. Fortunately I can get a little work done since my work involves sitting in a comfortable chair and typing. I did some work for an old client who has become a friend and it's good to flex those muscles again. I also re-did someone's resume who was laid off not only during this holiday season (she is a single mom) but only 5 weeks after getting the job. Corporate America continues to be a terrible place.
Life decides sometimes that it's time to take a break. Sometimes for me that's been a literal break, like when I shattered my ankle in 2019 and was immobilized in a chair for the better part of a year. Sometimes that forced break comes through unexpected loss - of a loved one, friend, or pet. Life puts the brakes on and your best-laid plans come to a halt. Sometimes it's a career layoff like what happened to the person I helped yesterday. Sometimes it's just ... life.
Being an adult is hard.
I've talked to my son about something we're going to start next year that I'm calling "soft launch exercises" so he too can get overtired of corporate jargon. These will be small tasks I have him do that I hope will help ready him for being on his own. It's coming sooner than I can possibly prepare for, and he is focused so much on school and friends (understandably) that these types of exercises often don't come until the person is pushed into doing them. Some of these will include:
Calling and ordering a pizza for delivery.
Calling a restaurant to make reservations (this may have to wait a bit as I have no money for nice restaurants right now, but it will happen).
Going to the store with a list of 10 items to get. I will wait in the car in case he has issues and he can text or call if he is unsure. He will have to procure all the items himself, ensure they are the correct items, and go through checkout alone.
Review a credit card statement to check for fraudulent purchases and to get an explainer about interest rates.
He already knows how to do a lot of home things like the laundry, various cleaning tasks, and basic meal prep. In fact, because things like my back and my ankle have happened, he grumbles but picks up the slack when I ask him to do more because I am having some kind of issue. We actually did a google meet call the other day so he could go downstairs in the freezer and have me walk him through where something was that he couldn't find. The teen experience today is wild.
If you need me, I'll be over here with my heating pad, easing into cobra pose, drinking Gatorade. Gotta roll with the shutdown while it's on.