~A Bitter Swallow~

This past Saturday I hurt my back. I had bought my kids some dressers ($1.29 each at the Goodwill!! And they are nice dressers!), so I was helping my son get his room picked up, since he also wanted to rearrange it in the process. So, we moved his bed (easy, since it's just the boxspring and mattress), then dug into moving all his crap into a pile in the corner in order to fit the dresser through. While moving a pile of his laundry over, I tweaked something. Brought me to my knees, and really made me worry for a moment that I wasn't going to be able to get up, and that I was going to have to go have my son call someone to drive me to the hospital.

After a couple moments of breathing, I was able to stand up. I stretched it out, got it limbered up, and proceeded on with cleaning the rooms and moving the furniture. All went fine after that, and though my back was still faintly throbbing, it wasn't overwhelming. However, as the night grew on, my back protested more and more and more. It worried me enough to start thinking about urgent care visits again, but not enough to actually go.

I spent Sunday staying low, thinking that by the time Monday morning rolled around, I'd be kosher for work. I was wrong. I started thinking about that dull throbbing in my back, and then added that to my job at work, and decided no way- no how. So I stayed home. Then realized that by staying home, I was going to end up doing my back more harm than good, since I wouldn't be able to keep myself from doing all those nasty chores that need to be done.

Have you ever really noticed how much your back actually does? Try having it in pain every time it moves the slightest, and you'd be amazed!! Throw in some spasms.. and there's me. So, I made Dustin go with me to the Goodwill, and St. Vinnies, and the St. Vinnies in Bremerton, and the Goodwill in Silverdale. I used a cart as a walker. It was grand. It still hurt, but it was better than trying to bend over and throw laundry around, or scrub out bathtubs.

Today, I decided to come to work, despite the lingering pain. I mean, really, I just put myself on a moderated "bed rest"- by going to work. I knew dang well that I would put more pressure on my back if I stayed home again, then if I just limited myself to the check-out station here. Is that horrible? Work is better rest than at home. Not to mention, I don't want to use up all my sick leave on this stupid thing. *sigh*