OW!!!!

2019-10-04 (Friday)

Today was one of those bumps in the road that we just have to swerve around or go over. I hope it all turned out okay (I’ll know better tomorrow.)

The morning was as usual— we woke up to discover that although it had gotten cold overnight, the sky was bright blue and the sun was warming the world up nicely. We were packing up to leave, when suddenly I had a sharp sciatica pain shoot through my hip, down my thigh, and into my back. I was stunned to realize I could barely walk or move into any position at all without pain.

Joey quickly told me to go lie down, suggested some positions to relieve the pain, etc. but nothing helped. At last, he gave me some of his super-meds. One of them took away the pain after a while, but made me definitely dizzy (clearly I was not going to be driving!) The other one was supposed to work on inflammation, the presumed source of the pain. While I lay for a couple of hours resting, he unhooked the Jeep and took it into town, buying supplies he’d need to change the RV oil, and getting the Jeep serviced at a Jiffy Lube in town (town being Fallon, Nevada—we are parked at the county fairgrounds.)

By around noon, however, the meds had worked, and I seemed to have fully recovered. We decided that, since we were in a good place to do so, he should change the RV oil before we actually left. I, meanwhile, was able to walk the dog, and put away odds and ends in the RV. When Joe was done, we had some lunch and once again packed up to leave. But suddenly, just after he’d hooked up the Jeep, I took a step and zoom, pain returned—not as bad as before, but again I had to lie down for a bit.

While I was lying down, Joe decided that we should not drive today—it was already 3pm and obviously I wasn’t doing as well as we thought. Then he suggested calling a chiropractor. He thought that would help. So he did, and found someone who had good reviews on Google, and could take me at the end of her day. So we both rested for an hour, and at 4pm, we drove over-I was able to walk pretty well, but obviously I wasn’t standing straight and I did have pain. I used a step stool to help me get into the Jeep, which I always have difficulty with because it is so high.

The chiropractor turned out to be a lovely woman who spent 30-45 minutes working on getting me straight, applying heat, and doing mysterious things until the end, when she cracked my spine a. Bit straighter. I was definitely standing taller and in a lot less pain when she finished! We gladly paid her very reasonable fee, and I climbed carefully back into the Jeep.

Since we were just across the street from the Safeway, I told Joe we should stop there before heading home. He was a little dubious about me walking, but I felt so much better and didn’t want to waste the chance to pick up the few things we needed. So we got ourselves a couple of bags of groceries, and also stopped at the ATM in the store (I’d paid cash to the doctor, and didn’t have a lot more.) And then we came home.

I crawled into bed,  because by then i was feeling a bit drained. Joe made some Mac and cheese for dinner, but we both went to sleep pretty early; it was a stressful day. However, my last thoughts were on the bright side. Thank goodness this happened in a place where we could find the resources we needed; and thank goodness even MORE that it didn’t happen a couple of days earlier, in Lassen, when we’d have had to curtail our visit to the park. I was in physical pain today, but that would have added so much psychic pain to the situation. So hopefully, today, all’s well that ends well, and I’ll be able to drive tomorrow. I think that the hiking on uneven ground, missing my regular yoga class, and not having a massage for a long time, has caught up with me a bit!