A Back Pain Timeline

Being an adult is 99% wondering how you hurt your back.

— Robin McCauley (@RobinMcCauley) September 20, 2013

File this post under TMI, but I'm here to break down my past week in relation to what I'll (for now) refer to as general back pain.

Tuesday Morning: I wake up and wonder why my tailbone is so sensitive. I assume it's a pulled muscle from helping my parents shovel their driveway, or maybe a bruise? But probably nothing.

Tuesday Afternoon: I spend 3 hours in a car and a few more hours sitting at a basketball game and at dinner.

Wednesday Morning: No surprises when it still hurts to put pressure on my tailbone. I use the heated seats in my dad's trucks during the next 3 hour leg of our trip back to Chicago.

Thursday: New Year's Eve! I take a few ibuprofen, then (over the course of the evening), imbibe several glasses of wine and champagne. I feel nothing! Happy New Year!

Friday: I feel everything. The pounding in my head takes my attention away from the fact that I can only lay down on my side or stomach.

Saturday Morning: Things start off feeling back to normal, though it takes me a while to get in and out of cars, and I'd prefer to stand or walk than sit...

Saturday Night: I can barely sit to use the bathroom, and the dull pain is now sharp and insistent. I start crying while Jesus and I are marathoning Making a Murderer and I try to convince Jesus I'm just really upset about Brendan Dassey's trial. When he doesn't fall for that (even though I am upset about the trial), I agree to let him take me to Urgent Care the next day.

Sunday Morning: The nurse takes one look at my 108 pulse and 190/40 blood pressure and declares, "Yep, you're nervous." The doctor gives me a lidocaine shot and proceeds to not wait for it to go into effect before he cuts open the cyst that has formed on the end of my tailbone (source still unknown - so maybe it was the shoveling!) and forces out whatever is inside of cysts. I cry like a baby and squeeze Jesus's hand within an inch of its life. They send me home padded with gauze and say they'll see me the next day to make sure I'm all drained.

Sunday Afternoon: I nap. Jesus brings me lunch and dinner and makes sure I shower before falling asleep for the night.

Monday: Per doctor orders, I take two painkillers before going to my return appointment. Doctor says, "Yep, she's drained," and calls Jesus a keeper for letting me hold his hand and get snot all over it. I spend the rest of the day practicing how to sit and stand so I'm ready for school on Tuesday.

Tuesday (today): I'm moving a little slower than usual, but I can sit! And I'm looking forward to falling asleep on my back again; my hips are getting sore from all this side sleeping. ;)