Sciatic

Monday (two weeks ago) I spent the day at Roaring Springs with the kids.  The older kids went off in pairs and rode the rides, while I sat at the kiddie pool with Owen and Kate.  We were there for 5 hours with me sitting on the cement edge of the kiddie pool.  That evening after we came home, as I was walking around, I noticed that my hip hurt a little.  It felt like I had pulled a muscle.  It hurt enough to make me limp, but not enough for me to think it was a problem. 

It got worse as the evening progressed, and I asked Scott to go for a walk with me to try and stretch it out and loosen it up.  We made it one house down, and I had to turn around and go back because it hurt too much to walk.  We came home and I got ready for bed.  I struggled to get comfortable in bed, but eventually drifted off to sleep.  I woke up at midnight (Scott hadn't come to bed yet), and my whole right leg was screaming in pain.  I couldn't move it at all.  I had to call to Scott and have him lift my leg slowly down to the floor so I could get out of bed.  I tried to walk on it, but it was too painful.  I decided my best option was to get back in bed.  The only way I could stand the pain was if I laid on my stomach, with my leg stretched straight, without moving a muscle.  I laid there in pain, crying, and not sleeping.  At 2, I offered to go out to the couch so Scott could get some sleep.  He suggested we just go to the ER, but I insisted that I could tough it out till it got better. 

Scott helped me out to the couch, and got me settled on the couch.  Moving to the couch was excruciating.  I laid on the couch for 45 minutes, before I decided I couldn't stand the pain any more.  I tried to get up to go in to Scott.  The slightest movement of my leg made me want to scream in pain.  It took me 15 minutes to get to a standing position next to the couch.  Then I realized I couldn't walk, and that I was stuck.  I couldn't sit back down and I couldn't walk to the bedroom to get Scott.  I stood in the living room, at 3 a.m., and cried. 

That night we had set up the tent in the backyard, and Nate was the only kid who was brave enough to spend the night in it.  As I stood in the living room crying, I saw Nate through the windows coming up the deck.  I quickly composed myself, as he walked through the door.  He needed to use the bathroom.  As he came back from the bathroom, I asked him to go wake up dad and tell him I needed him.  He sleepily said, "Why can't you?"  I said, "My leg hurts to walk, can you go get dad for me?"  Nate got Scott, then went back out to the tent to sleep.  Scott helped me get back into bed, again lying on my stomach and not moving.  I somehow managed to sleep for a few hours.

Morning came, and I knew I couldn't handle the pain any more and that it wasn't going to get better on it's own.  I slowly got out of bed and used the wall to lean up against to help me get to the closet.  As I struggled to get dressed, Scott woke up and came in to help me.  I looked at him with tears in my eyes and said, "Will you please take me to the dr?"  He helped me get dressed, then helped me out to his truck, and drove me to the ER.  As I struggled to get out of the truck, hospital workers quickly produced a wheel chair for me. 

For those of you who know me, you know I'm a strong person.  I don't give in easily, I have a high tolerance for pain, and I hate showing weakness.  This whole experience was extremely difficult for me to admit that I needed help.  But I did need help, it was more than I could handle on my own. 

In the end, the verdict was a pinched sciatic nerve, probably from sitting on cement for 5 hours.  They gave me a shot of Morphine, kept me for observation to make sure I wasn't allergic to Morphine, then sent me home to rest.  The Morphine set in pretty quickly, and I was happy to be able to walk out to the truck with manageable pain level.  Once I got home, I went to bed and slept most of the rest of the day.  Savannah and Sara were awesome at taking care of me and all the other kids.  Sara came in every half hour and massaged my lower back, then placed a heating pad on my lower back.  Every half hour she came in and repeated that.  Between the Morphine, heat, massage, and rest, my body was able to relax and let the sciatic nerve unpinch.  By evening I could walk again.  The next day I hurt to go up stairs and to bend over to pick something up off the floor, but I could walk with just minimal discomfort.  And by the next day after that, I felt completely back to normal.

The whole thing came on so incredibly fast, and two days later was completely healed.  It was the craziest thing.  I have given birth naturally, and this pain rivaled that.  Seriously, the craziest thing!  But I was able to add a few firsts to my list of things I've done - my first time as a patient in the ER and my first time receiving Morphine.  I hope to avoid both in the future.