So if I’m the bird, and the cat is Life…
Sorry – I’m about to whine. I’m still kind of depressed over Little Bear. And I’ve had this chronic backache for – I’ve lost count – five weeks? Six weeks? And I’m getting less and less motivated to get out of bed. I’m getting some work done but not really a lot because everything’s a struggle. Monsoon is starting, and that’s not my favorite time of year by any stretch.
I thought the back thing was improving but yesterday was bad. I did get the dump run done and those heavy things moved but it was against a drumbeat of spasms and pain that had me creeping around like a very old man and then I did something dumb. I went home and drank a couple of beers – okay, boilermakers – and then slept from two till around five, probably would have slept longer but the heat and humidity woke me, all dehydrated and muzzy-headed so that didn’t help. Never even put my leg back on all evening, just creaked around on crutches feeling sorry for myself.
There are things I should be doing. I’ve still got that new 12-volt line to trench in, and that’ll let me wire up my new battery voltage display. There’s the concrete stairs in the rear, but I can’t really do that until a money infusion hopefully next week. I’m only about halfway through converting the chicken yard into a dog run, not that I have a dog (sob). Hell, I’m still not done painting – haven’t done anything about that since completing the porch. The solar panel rack really ought to be scraped and painted before Monsoon gets serious. I don’t really care about any of that. My back hurts.
Sorry – I’m just whining. I’ve been in pain before, and I always get over it. This does seem to be carrying on for an unreasonable time, though. Took me a bloody year and a half to mostly recover from that torn rotator cuff and then just when I was feeling pretty spry again, this happened. I want to go out and play, and also I want to go back to bed for the whole day. Haven’t quite decided.
Maybe your back needs a rest and you should stay in bed, with a hot water bottle on it or a heating pad if you can do that. Ice would also help but… My rotator cuff injury took over 2 years to mostly stop hurting and allow mostly normal use of the arm. Do you have any anti-inflammatory medications? Swollen tissues press on nerves and cause pain.
Take the day off!
You only get one back, and sleep is the sovereign remedy. Rest it. Anti-inflammatories are good too, but if you don’t have access to them then just sleep more. We don’t want you crippling yourself.
Is there anything we can do to help?
Nothing comes to mind, though I appreciate the thought. Just something I’m trying to work my way through.
Don’t fulminate too much about tasks that happen to still remain on your “to-do ” list. By any measure you have had a very productive construction season.