So, Tuesday morning I got up as per usual and went about my morning routine: get up, get dressed, wash face, brush teeth, and feed the Dondi-kins before feeding myself. I went to lift the lid to her kibble container and just happened to notice that the measuring scoop was missing at the exact same time I felt a searing, horrifying, debilitating pain in my lower back which promptly led to me falling over into an awkward reverse-crab type position. So of course I start screaming and begging God for the sweet kiss of death when Josh runs over to me, groggy and half nekkid. I mumble a non-committal "I think I threw my back out" then ask him to help me up, which incidentally turned out to be a HUGE mistake. He held me while I passed out and (I'm told) gently lowered me to the floor. He then spent the rest of the morning with me on the kitchen floor, giving me Ibuprofen and trying to find a chiropractor that could get me in, like, five minutes ago. Later on, he tried to help me stand and when I couldn't, he put me on a blanket and dragged me over to the bathroom, then helped me pee, then got me dressed and stayed with me on the bathroom floor.
Our 14-week-old kitten Alice decided that it was awesome that Mom was on the floor, because this meant she now had a spring board to get up onto the counter! Trust me, it was hilarious when she jumped full on to my face with gazelle-like grace and would have continued to be hilarious if by doing so she hadn't sent my body into a spasm. At that point, Josh held me and begged me to let him take me to the ER but alas, no health insurance so I was forced to rather delicately decline.
Eventually we got an appointment with the chiropractor for 1:30 and at about 12:45 Josh used our make shift wagon to drag me to the door. He then picked me up and CARRIED me to the car and I've got to say, I'm not fat, but I am not light. He actually got down on the floor and lifted me up. His strength was amazing and I was so scared the entire time that he would strain something himself, but he was determined.
As an aside regarding chiropractic medicine, I was carried in to that office crying and a bit of a skeptic and hobbled out vertical so they're definitely doing something right. And in case you're wondering, bulging disk. The doctor is going to be spending the next week helping my body put everything back in place.
Anyhoo, over the past few days Josh has been taking care of me; making sure I do my exercises, rubbing salve on my back, helping me in the bathroom and the shower, getting my pills, making my food, carrying my lumbar support everywhere, helping me get up and down and in and out of things, and even getting up in the middle of the night to let our cat in and out so he doesn't wake me up. I'm getting progressively better (this morning I dressed myself!) but I shudder to think what it would have been like if he wasn't there.
I call him my Angel and there's definitely reasons for that. The really cool thing is that I'm fair sure that I'm going to keep finding new ones for the rest of our lives.
Chapter Two: August 12th, 2010
I coughed in the shower the other day and put myself back to day 1 of my healing, which sucked. I'm talking hard core spasms and sobbing while yipping like an injured chihuahua (later this gracefully subsided to begging the doctor to shoot me up with whatever will kill the pain). And what does he do? He once again carries me in from the car and then stays up ALL NIGHT watching over me in case I need anything. He also held a large bowl under me to pee in since I couldn't get up, and cleaned up my...um... mess when I missed. He cried because he hated to see me in pain. He's been encouraging me and holding me and looking after me in so many ways. There are no words.
So right now I'm on pain killers and muscle relaxants and he's been carrying around my gear, reminding me to take my meds, cleaning the house, he's been doing everything.
I looked at him today and thought, I didn't think I could love him more, but I keep on doing it. He keeps on giving me reasons to.
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