Doctor, Doctor
Last Tuesday I spent five hours in the ER with back pain. I’ve had it before but the complication this time is my Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA). I was told that if it decided to rupture, I’d have back pain like I’ve never experienced before. Bad thing to tell a guy with a chronic bad back. So, when the back pain came, off I went to get it checked out. Good news, it’s just a muscle spasm. Better news, the CT scan they did means I probably won’t have to drive to Houston this month to get a CT scan. They also gave me a more precise description of how the AAA rupture pain might feel. And that’s good, too.
This morning I am off to get a massage which should help, along with the muscle relaxer I’m taking. It’s a new med, to me, and it’s good and doesn’t make me drowsy. So, I can function. Which is nice. Because sometimes those meds impeded that functioning, which was not nice, although being relieved of a muscle spasm in the back was always nice. My entire muscle system, however, is still sort of twitchy, and the original injury, whatever it was, is still probably around, so it’s take-it-easy time for me, no sudden bending, or twisting, or anything like it. Just slow and steady. I’ve run this race before.
Meanwhile, the Christmas season is being nice to me. There’s music this weekend, again. And my Christmas shopping is well in hand. Although, I imagine at some point there will be some sort of panic about presents because that’s pretty much a staple of the season for me. But at the moment I’m basking in the glow of the season and this past year in which I did lots of fun things with people I love and admire. And now I’m wondering what next year will bring while feeling good about the possibilities. And that’s good medicine, too.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale