Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you had just stayed in bed? I had a day like that this past Wednesday (June 8th).
My day started out early like every other Wednesday. I get up at 2:30 to get ready to go to the temple in Santa Monica. I leave my house at 4:10 a.m. Normally, I carpool with a couple of other sisters, but today I was driving by myself because after leaving the temple I planned to drive to Cheryl's house in Costa Mesa to help her with the wedding invitations.
As I was heading down the Antelope Valley Freeway (Hwy. 14), about 20 minutes from my home, the traffic started to slow down and then came to a complete halt.
This was not good. I needed to get to the temple on time because I am the shift coordinator and I needed to conduct our 5:45 a.m. coordinator's meeting and our 6:15 a.m. prayer meeting prior to the start of our shift. It was about 4:30 a.m. and any delay longer than about 20 minutes would make me late for my first meeting. I started to get worried.
This was not good. I needed to get to the temple on time because I am the shift coordinator and I needed to conduct our 5:45 a.m. coordinator's meeting and our 6:15 a.m. prayer meeting prior to the start of our shift. It was about 4:30 a.m. and any delay longer than about 20 minutes would make me late for my first meeting. I started to get worried.
I found out that a big rig had jack-knifed, blocking all the lanes so no traffic could get through. The freeway was completely shut down. This is a stretch of freeway that doesn't have frequent exits so an alternate route was impossible.
They were forcing cars to exit at Escondido Canyon. It took me over 2 hours to go about 1 1/4 miles to that exit...inch by inch, but finally I was able to exit the freeway. I followed the other cars through a detour that took us around the accident and I was able to re-enter the freeway. I was so excited to get back on the 14 Freeway and go over 2 mph. I was flying down the freeway. I felt as free as a bird. My reverie didn't last long, however, because I needed a pit stop. I saw a gas station in Canyon Country so I stopped and then got back on the freeway. Unfortunately, by the time I got on the 5 and the 405 freeways, commuter traffic was at a peak so once again I was crawling toward my destination. Long story short, I finally arrived at the temple at 9:15 a.m. My normal arrival time is 5:15 a.m. Where I can normally get there in 1 hour, that day it took me 5 hours!
The other workers on my shift were excited to see me and they were glad that I was ok. My assistant coordinators stepped up to the plate and took over and did a great job in my absence. Things were going well.
After my shift ended, I dreaded the thought of getting back in my car to drive to Cheryl's. My back still hurt, so I didn't want to drive but I had no choice. My first obstacle came shortly after I left the temple. I had taken an alternate route to the freeway thinking that it would save me time and I could get to Cheryl's a little quicker, but such was not the case. I had to wait for not one, but two trains before I could cross the railroad tracks. Fortunately, they were short commuter trains.
Trying to ignore the pain and squirming a little in my seat to try to get comfortable, I waited patiently for the light to turn green so I could continue on my journey. It is about an hour from the temple to Costa Mesa, but when you are in pain, each minute seems like an eternity. I just wanted to be there already.
Finally, I arrived at Cheryl's, took my bag up to her bedroom, and laid down to rest since Cheryl wouldn't be there for almost an hour.
I am smiling here, but I was in extreme pain. I couldn't get to sleep because I couldn't get comfortable. I only took the picture because Cheryl texted me to see if I was at her place yet and I texted back "does this answer your question?"
After a pizza dinner, Cheryl, her friend Rebecca, her two roommates (Jennifer & Chelsea)and I went to work putting together the invitations.
As the evening wore on, my pain got worse and worse. By 9 p.m. I was almost in tears. Cheryl and her roommates were worried about me and they could tell I was in pain. I told them that it didn't feel like my normal back pain. It was almost as painful as labor. Jennifer, who had recently been hospitalized to surgically remove a kidney stone that couldn't be expelled asked what my symptoms were so I told her. She said it sounded like I had a kidney stone. The more we talked about it, the more it did sound like a kidney stone. We considered taking me to the ER, but I wanted to get treatment closer to home. Being in too much pain and too tired to drive, they came up with a plan for Rebecca to drive me home and then Cheryl would somehow get my car back to me this weekend. Rebecca is from Lancaster and her parents still live there so she drove me home. We arrived at midnight. By this time, my back pain had lessened a little so I decided to try to sleep instead of going to the ER.
The next morning, I made an appointment with my physician. After explaining my symptoms, the Dr. thought it sounded like a kidney stone too so he ordered a urine test, which came back negative for kidney stones. The final diagnosis was pinched nerves in my back from sitting in the car so long the day before. I was given a shot in each hip (steroid & muscle relaxant) plus two prescriptions - a muscle relaxant and pain pills. I knew that pinched nerves were painful, but I had no idea how painful they can be until now. Except for labor, that was the worst pain I have ever been in.
Yup, I wish I had never gotten out of bed that day. Had I know what the day had in store for me, I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep when the alarm went off.
They were forcing cars to exit at Escondido Canyon. It took me over 2 hours to go about 1 1/4 miles to that exit...inch by inch, but finally I was able to exit the freeway. I followed the other cars through a detour that took us around the accident and I was able to re-enter the freeway. I was so excited to get back on the 14 Freeway and go over 2 mph. I was flying down the freeway. I felt as free as a bird. My reverie didn't last long, however, because I needed a pit stop. I saw a gas station in Canyon Country so I stopped and then got back on the freeway. Unfortunately, by the time I got on the 5 and the 405 freeways, commuter traffic was at a peak so once again I was crawling toward my destination. Long story short, I finally arrived at the temple at 9:15 a.m. My normal arrival time is 5:15 a.m. Where I can normally get there in 1 hour, that day it took me 5 hours!
The other workers on my shift were excited to see me and they were glad that I was ok. My assistant coordinators stepped up to the plate and took over and did a great job in my absence. Things were going well.
After my shift ended, I dreaded the thought of getting back in my car to drive to Cheryl's. My back still hurt, so I didn't want to drive but I had no choice. My first obstacle came shortly after I left the temple. I had taken an alternate route to the freeway thinking that it would save me time and I could get to Cheryl's a little quicker, but such was not the case. I had to wait for not one, but two trains before I could cross the railroad tracks. Fortunately, they were short commuter trains.
Trying to ignore the pain and squirming a little in my seat to try to get comfortable, I waited patiently for the light to turn green so I could continue on my journey. It is about an hour from the temple to Costa Mesa, but when you are in pain, each minute seems like an eternity. I just wanted to be there already.
Finally, I arrived at Cheryl's, took my bag up to her bedroom, and laid down to rest since Cheryl wouldn't be there for almost an hour.
After a pizza dinner, Cheryl, her friend Rebecca, her two roommates (Jennifer & Chelsea)and I went to work putting together the invitations.
As the evening wore on, my pain got worse and worse. By 9 p.m. I was almost in tears. Cheryl and her roommates were worried about me and they could tell I was in pain. I told them that it didn't feel like my normal back pain. It was almost as painful as labor. Jennifer, who had recently been hospitalized to surgically remove a kidney stone that couldn't be expelled asked what my symptoms were so I told her. She said it sounded like I had a kidney stone. The more we talked about it, the more it did sound like a kidney stone. We considered taking me to the ER, but I wanted to get treatment closer to home. Being in too much pain and too tired to drive, they came up with a plan for Rebecca to drive me home and then Cheryl would somehow get my car back to me this weekend. Rebecca is from Lancaster and her parents still live there so she drove me home. We arrived at midnight. By this time, my back pain had lessened a little so I decided to try to sleep instead of going to the ER.
The next morning, I made an appointment with my physician. After explaining my symptoms, the Dr. thought it sounded like a kidney stone too so he ordered a urine test, which came back negative for kidney stones. The final diagnosis was pinched nerves in my back from sitting in the car so long the day before. I was given a shot in each hip (steroid & muscle relaxant) plus two prescriptions - a muscle relaxant and pain pills. I knew that pinched nerves were painful, but I had no idea how painful they can be until now. Except for labor, that was the worst pain I have ever been in.
Yup, I wish I had never gotten out of bed that day. Had I know what the day had in store for me, I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep when the alarm went off.
1 comment:
We have a website with topics of neck and musculoskeletal pain disorders. for info on your condition, please visit it
www.arthritisplusgel.com
Malka
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