Sadly, my body has over ruled that.
Waaaay back on 1/1 (three weks ago) I said I'd post daily. That week of work was chaos with the post-hollydaze returns and a bunch of changes to programs and systems that we use. Rent was (over)due and that took some major miracle working to keep from having an eviction on my ass. *Mega-huge hugs to those who deserve them* I wasn't in much of a mood that week to keep up with LJ, so I didn't. Honestly, I've not read my friends list until tonight.
The next week wasn't all bad but I wasn't blogging like I should. My back was starting to bother me some, but I figured it was just stress from work. My truck started having some major mechanical issues. The front end needs to be rebuilt. I'm looking at about $1250 to have the ball joints, idler arm, and the front tires replaced/fixed. Rah. I checked my tires on Wednesday the 11th and discovered a very underpressured right front. Got it up to pressure and the truck is doing much better and my gas mileage jumped about 8 mpg. My back was really having problems so I thought I'd just lay low and do nothing. Thursday I made it into work but I was feeling like hell. Friday I did about six hours of data entry (off the phone) but I was sitting with horrible posture. That did me in. I got home Friday night and realized that I had soiled myself at some point (I couldn't feel it) and while talking to my roommates, I pissed myself. Off to the ER (Regions)....wait three hours, get poked and prodded...sent home with a "low back strain" and a prescription for Vicodin and Valium.
I went to work the following Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday I left work early. Thursday, I called off work and went into my clinic. My doctor agreed with me that it was not a low back strain and changed my meds to Vicodin ES and Flexeril. I was told if my symptoms didn't improve, he would be referring me out to a neurologist.
By late Thursday night, I felt worse than I had the previous Friday and headed back to the ER since I now couldn't pass urine. I decided to go to our "local" ER which is about two blocks away from me. Huge difference! Fast service, quality staff who genuinely seemed to care, and *wham* I was admitted. They did a series of MRIs to rule out structural problems with my spine and ruled out MS (Multiple Sclerosis). They are leaning towards something viral or it could also be that I have developed diabetic neuropathy (nerve disease). I am awaiting test results for a number of things and will be getting those later this week.
I feel somewhat better after my day in the hospital, but I'm still not at 100%. I'm scared of doing too much for fear of causing what ever this is to start acting up again. I'm back to work tomorrow which I think will help me to feel better once I'm back in my normal routine and things settle back down.
The biggest pain I have right now is the fact that I effectively missed more than a week of work in this pay period. Instead of 80 hours, I'll have 38.5 and I have to try my damndest to get my timesheet into my boss tomorrow ASAP so that I can actually get paid or it will get *really* ugly with rent due next Thursday.
Oh well, It'll be another tight two weeks but rent will be paid, gas will be had, and it'll be thin on food.
All in all, stressful, but I'm out of the hospital, I'm able to walk and carry on a "normal" day again. Now to find out what the cause of this is and hope that I can get treatment for it to keep this from happening again. The only big thing I have to worry about now is trying to pay rent, gas, car insurance, and then groceries.
If you would like to lend a hand...
JT the Big Bear...out!
