The Big Pain in My Behind

IT all started Friday morning.  I woke up feeling a little achy, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Until I stood up and tried to walk.  Whoa!!!  

Pain in my lower back and hips.  Serious pain.  Pain that sent me scrambling... ok... hobbling... back to bed with some ibuprofen and a heating pad.  Wondering how in the world I had hurt my back. 

I once heard a comedian joke that you knew you had reached a certain age when you could hurt yourself in your sleep.  Apparently that wasn't a joke.  It's a very real phenomenon.

Once the over the counter pain meds kicked in, the pain was at a tolerable (?) level.  At least enough for me to do something that resembles functioning. 

It was Saturday at the male offspring's guitar recital that I learned sitting for over 30 minutes caused my right leg to start tingling - as if it were falling asleep - all the way down to my foot.  And also increased the pain level in the back and right hip.

Ok, this was not fun.  Not that it was fun in the first place, but now it was really really not fun. 

After 3 days of discomfort, pain, and numbness/tingling  and very little sleep - it was time to call the doctor's office on Monday morning.  The last thing you want to do when you're experiencing what I was going through is a long, long wait in those uncomfortable waiting room chairs, surrounded by people who may or may not be carrying the flu.  But I was just desperate enough for some relief to brave it.

Finally... finally... I was shown to an exam room.  A million questions, and some testing of my reflexes, range of motion and to determine that there was no loss of strength on the right side - I had a diagnosis of sciatica (possibly caused by a slipped disc or a strained back muscle) and a prescription for Prednisone and a muscle relaxer.  Accompanied by orders to limit activity and not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for about a week to rest my back.

So... yeh...