After a major lumbar spine crisis in autumn 2024 my orthopaedist predicted such incidences would recur, given the irreversible degradation of my bones. The causes of the acute pain were eliminated and preventive measures, including strengthening muscles, to take the strain off the spine, were put in place. For many months, I could say I fought several battles for an active, pain-free life in a war which I will most likely lose. My aim is to defer the defeat by possibly many years, counting on a progress in medicine which would let a potential surgery be less invasive.
With some minor incidences of ache along the way, it all went smoothly until Saturday, 11 July. After the walk around the neighbourhood, which involved mostly standing upright for more than two hours, I felt a pain down my back, but took a rest, exercised a bit and chased it away. On Sunday, 12 July I forgot to take a towel to a swimming pool. I realised it in a locker room, but decided to carry on and return home wet, despite chilly (as for July) and windy weather.
A few hours later I felt the pain which could not be exercised nor massaged away. It somewhat immobilised me, got so severe that I could not sleep at night. On Monday I started out an emergency procedure, i.e. making an appointment with a GP and any orthopaedist under my medical care plan to get an MRI referral, making sure my physiotherapist would be up to the task and arranging lifts to get there (for some two days I was unable to drive, nor to walk without trekking sticks).
Comparing
the current incident, hopefully drawing to a close with the one dated September
2024, I notice numerous differences:
- 2024: I did not take any precautions, now: it occurred after months of taking
preventive measures,
- 2024: I did have a lot of physical activity, maybe too intense, now:
moderate, frequent, manifold exercising, including weekly visits to a gym with
u customised workout plan devised by an experienced physiotherapist,
- 2024: the pain was developing for some 10 days, but I kept shrugging it off,
hoping it would go away, now: my attempts to nip it in the bud went in vain and
the pain knocked me down within 3 hours,
- 2024: the pain nearly immobilised and I could not sit (except for when I
really needed to) for some 3 weeks or so, now: for one day I had problems with
both sitting and walking, then I just could not sit for more than half an hour
for a few days,
- 2024: I took a sickie for a week and then worked from bed for five weeks,
now: worked from bed for a week,
- 2024: the very first symptom, with hindsight heralding the disaster was an
acute ache when sneezing, now: it did not ache when I sneezed,
- 2024: strong opium-based painkillers did not seem to help (or without them I
would have been screaming out), now: painkillers relieved the pain reasonably
quickly (I have given up on them altogether after 11 days, reducing dosage over
that time, as they remove the effect, not curing the cause).
I have broadly returned to most normal life activities, although I am waiting for green light for swimming. I had to call off a business trip planned for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, as it could squander all my efforts to pull through.
I still don't know what sparked the passing crisis, but I find it hard to believe going out wet after swimming pool knocked me down so mercilessly.
Lesson of humility has been learnt. It was a terrible reminder taking care of myself might not be enough and callous days might come, no matter how badly I endeavour to avert them.
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