Blink of an eye

Life can change in the blink of an eye. I'm very, very familiar with that phenomenon because of my cancer diagnosis. On that fateful day in April 2009, my life changed dramatically and will never be the same again.

My husband, Michael's life was turned upside down this week. While it's not as drastic and dramatic as cancer, his situation is far more serious than he or I originally thought.

Last weekend, he decided to hop on the treadmill and do a long overdue workout. He ran, did some situps and worked out with weights. Afterwards, he complained his back hurt a bit. Then on Saturday, we shopped and bought a recliner loveseat. Michael, Noah and I managed to get the heavy piece of furniture into our house and up the stairs to our living room. That night, he complained his back hurt a little more.

We soaked in the hot tub, I gave him a massage and he took some Tylenol to try to get this little back problem under control. As the week progressed, he complained the pain was getting worse. On Thursday, he actually had to leave work and saw the doctor.

That afternoon, he discovered his little back problem was actually a compressed L5 disk. Apparently, that area controls the rib cage, as well as bladder and penile functions. His doctor warned him if he damaged it further, he could lose bowel control, and if that heppened, to get to the emergency room right away. Yikes! And if he didn't take it easy, damage could be permanent. Double yikes!

So my dear husband is now off work for one to six weeks, has a prescription for anti-inflammatories, needs physiotherapy and has to rest his back. Just as I'm going back to work, he's off for a while. (His physiotherapist said the time will probably be closer to six weeks than one, which is probably best.)

While he didn't feel a sudden twinge or pain, the workout and couch carrying are the only things he did differently before the problems started.

You know what The Rolling Stones would say: "What a drag it is getting old." While the body overreacting to everything sucks, I'd rather get old than the alternative.

Here's hoping Michael's pain subsides and his back heals quickly. We've got living to do.

Tina