First Trip to the ER!

Do I get a badge or something?

So Saturday morning Michael and I went for a hike (I’ll post photos of that later). My back was little tight when I woke up that morning but I didn’t think too much about that because my back has been great all summer long. We drove about an hour to Mt. Hood, back was feeling a little tighter, and then went for a hike. By the time we got back to the car my back was not great at all!

We got home and I immediately went to bed and stayed there for the rest of the day, in pain. It hurt to move, it was hard to find a comfortable position. But I thought maybe I’d be okay with just some rest. Took a muscle relaxer, used an ice pack and a heating pad, and used the TENS device on my back.

Then the spasms started. I’ve never had back spasms before and they are excruciating! I was screaming in pain and NO position kept the spasms at bay. It was agony just to get out of bed and try to walk to the bathroom.

Didn’t sleep very Saturday night and woke up early Sunday morning to the most horrendous spasms that I was screaming. We called the advice nurse and because of my pain level she wanted me to go to the hospital right away. Thankfully we were a 5 minute drive from the ER.

It was 6am and the ER was empty. Everything moved pretty quickly and despite it being an ER and a horrible experience, overall everything went well. The doctor did an exam and was worried about a few things and wanted to get me a room and run a bunch of tests.

They took me to ultrasound and I had an ultrasound looking for kidney stones, uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts, bladder infections, they checked my appendix and did a bunch of lab work. Everything came back normal and okay. Verdict: it was my back. Which I guess was good news??

They put me in a room in the ER and hooked me up to saline and a low dose of morphine and anti-nausea medication. I was reluctant to take the meds but I was in so much pain I just did it. I’ve never had morphine before. It works pretty much immediately and then all of a sudden you can’t feel your arms and legs. It was low dose though, and thankfully the morphine doesn’t stay in your system very long.

We were there for a few hours. I basically slept. We got tests results back and he sent my home with a prescription for Oxy and anti-nausea meds. Went home and I stuck with OTC meds and muscle relaxers. I slept on and off most of Sunday. I took one Oxy Sunday night to sleep and haven’t taken any since then (I just don’t want to take that stuff).

Monday I was feeling a lot better. I could move around more, the spasms had subsided and it was just a dull ache with tight muscles in my back. But I was able to walk around the house okay. Michael went into work late and I spent the day resting. The critters were extra attentive to me. But I think Bella was anxious (she wasn’t eating her food) about me being in pain.

Monday afternoon I went to the chiropractor. He was able to do light adjustments but not much–I was too tight. I did feel a lot better on Monday. After dinner we took Bella for a 1 mile walk in the neighborhood and I was able to go the whole way, which was good. I think moving is helping.

I’m off to the doctor again today and then I have a massage scheduled this afternoon. Hopefully this helps. Michael (the expert at back injuries because he’s had so many) keeps insisting that I’m healing really fast and that I’m moving well, so that’s good I guess! It sure is bad timing! I doubt I will be running my 5k this weekend. 🙁