I'm cursed.
For many years, just before a trip, I have lower-back issues. In 2010, the family had planned a trip to New York City. Fourty-eight hours before we were scheduled to leave, I threw out by back and spent five days on the floor in our family room. We had to cancel our hotel reservation and vacation days, postponing our vacation for more than a month.
I've cancelled more than a couple of trips to Montreal. In 2014, just a week before our family vacation in France, I was out of commission.
I only figured out what I did this weekend, last night.
We had a very mild Thursday. This winter has been especially cruel, with bitter-cold temperatures and a seemingly endless pile of snow, and when the temperatures climb above the freezing mark, it's foolish to not take advantage of it.
Having been out of commission for most of the winter, with my recovering foot (it's getting better and better each week, by the way), my driveway has suffered somewhat. DD18 has taken the role of main shoveller, and while she typically did a good job, the last few snowfalls have fallen by the wayside and she was never diligent about clearing snow away from the end, where the plows dumped the snow from the road. As a result, we had several inches of ice accumulate where the driveway met the street.
On Thursday, after I pulled into the driveway, I retrieved our heavy-duty ice scraper and began breaking up the ice. With last week's mild weather, a pool was developing at the end of the driveway and I wanted to carve a channel to drain it.
I broke up and removed all the ice in the driveway, save about an eight-foot stretch at the end. I worked up a sweat over the hour and deemed I had had my workout for the day—no visit to the gym would be required.
Friday was a repeat of Thursday, so when I returned home from the office, I continued to break up the ice. When I scooped up the broken bits with a shovel, I threw them over the tall banks of snow that blanketed my front lawn.
Another hour of exertion; another workout.
DW and I went out for dinner while DD18 entertained friends and held a sleepover. When we returned home, we decided to head up to our room, away from the kids, to watch Girl on the Train on Netflix.
As the film was drawing to a close, the pain in my lower back and left hip grew intense. By the time the credits began to roll, I was in excruciating pain. I took some Ibuprofen and applied our heating pad to my lower back.
I searched a medical database and my symptoms were spot-on with sciatica. Three days before our Mayan Riviera vacation to celebrate our silver anniversary, and I had sciatica.
Sleeping was a non-event: I couldn't move without writhing in pain.
On Saturday, the pain continued, though I tried to get some chores done. I even tried to get a workout on the spin bike in our bedroom, but after about 30 minutes I had to stop. DW and I did some shopping in the afternoon, but I was unable to push the cart nor lift anything of measurable weight.
We picked up more Ibuprofen and muscle relaxers, and I spent most of the rest of the day lying on the heating pad, pumped full of drugs, sipping beer, and watching Star Trek: Discovery.
The one bright light was Sunday morning, when I awoke stiff but mobile. DW and I headed to a swimming pool, where she reached her goal of a 2K swim; I swam 1550 metres. My lower back was a bit sore but I found swimming to be far less painful than walking.
In the afternoon, I eased up on the pain meds and focused on stretching every hour. I pushed through and finished many chores, but by dinner, a new pain gripped me: my ribs began to ache, and if I held my arms out to my sides or breathed in deeply, an almost paralyzing pain gripped me.
This is when I put two and two together and came up with my chopping, scraping, and shovelling the ice in my driveway. All of the actions would account for the pain that was hitting the regions of my body.
As of the time of writing this post, there is less than 36 hours before our flight takes off. I'm not about to cancel (it's too late, now). I'm packing the pain pills. We have poolside lounges and lots of water in which to float. The drinks are ever-flowing. I should be fine.
When it comes to exploring Tulum, Cobá, and other sites, I'll push through. I'm determined to not let this pain get the better of me.
Still: bloody hell...
My hubby used to have back problems. He could throw his back out just putting on his socks! Like you, he would take up a position in the middle of the living room floor. At the age of 38 he took up karate. That strengthened his core muscles and he hasn't had problems with his back since. Likewise, if you learn the karate stances and how to shift your weight without turning your body you will no longer suffer from sciatica as it's turning at the waist that causes you to pince that nerve. Try it. You might like it. Too bad you don't live near Merrickville....we own the karate school here now.
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