I now know what Dad has gone through

Oh my. For any of you who know my father, you know he has had 2 major back surgeries for problems he's had. Well, I've had the occasional sore backs with my pregnancies and such, but never a full blown thing. Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I was standing up to turn off the lamp and I had this HUGE spasm across my lower back. It made my knees buckle and took my breath away. I leaned against the bed for a minute, waiting to get my breath back while these pains kept going on and on. I tried to stand up and couldn't. I tried to turn around to sit and couldn't. I just couldn't move. So I just got on my hands and knees, crawled to the bathroom and slowly pulled myself up against the counter. I stood there for a while, trying wait for the spasms to cease. Will was sound asleep and I didn't want to wake him for fear that he would think I had a seizure......he's terrified of those. So I just bit my lip as I SLOWLY stepped from the bathroom to the bed (it took me like 10 minutes!) I've never had something like this happen and it was so frustrating!

When I woke up this morning, I could tell I didn't move all night (you know when that happens?) And I was pretty sore. Will had assigned the girls to help me out for the day (which they did a great job!) and I tried to contribute something. I could get up to walk around, but that was about it. Hard thing about back injuries is that you can't escape it. You can't lay down, you can't sit down, you can't walk around for long......there's just nothing you can do to relieve it. Better yet, I was hosting an open house tomorrow night for a friend who started a new business. I had a pretty big turnout and I was so bummed that I had to cancel. I was on the phone all morning (in between moving around to try to get comfortable) telling everyone not to come. Aaaaarrrrggggg....what a pain! (no pun intended)

But it is times like this when you count your blessings in that I have such a great ward family and so many people who offer to help. I had sent out a cancellation email for the open house and had friends call to see if I was OK. I guess it's one of the advantages to living in one place for so long. Will and I talk occasionally about moving to where he could get a better job or places closer to family. But then we think of all the friends and neighbors we'd leave behind......and it's just not worth it. We love our neighborhood and we love our ward.

Well, I think the Advil is starting to wear off cuz I need to get up from this chair. Will has some of those shock pads that he borrowed from his brother that you use for sore muscles. So hopefully I'll feel a little better tomorrow after my "shock" therapy tonight. But Dad, if you're reading this, I'm experiencing a small part of what you've gone through and I can sympathize lots! Love you!