The Pain Is Back

 I think I mentioned before that I have a herniated disc in my neck. It's bulging out and pinching the nerves, which gives me pain in my neck and shoulders, especially on the left side. Most of the time, it's more annoying than painful, but occasionally it gets very painful, and I can't move my neck or arm.

This all started on Friday morning; I woke up in pain at about 4am. I took some painkillers, hoping that it was just a small problem that would right itself with painkillers and movement. As much as I wanted to sleep again, I knew that would be impossible, so I decided to clean the kitchen, make obento and breakfast. One chore that I never seem to be on top of is washing the dishes. Part of the problem is the lack of storage for clean dishes. On Friday morning, I managed to clean out the sink; I stacked things and hoped they wouldn't fall. I even took a photo and sent it to David, who was still at work. The message I sent was "Look, a miracle happened" 

My sink was finally clean, except for a bit of trash in the drain collector.

I was really hoping that I would be alright, but by 8 o'clock I realised that I needed to go to the doctor.

Mikey took me; on the way, I explained what had happened that might be the cause of the pain this time. Earlier in the week, I had grabbed one of the cats; as I picked him up, I felt pain in the middle of my back. It wasn't too bad, but I think it might have pulled on something, which in turn moved the herniated disc, resulting in the pain I was experiencing.

The clinic I go to is very efficient, and I didn't have to wait very long. Mikey explained to the doctor what had happened and the symptoms I'm experiencing. The doctor thought that was very funny. He said that he could give me an injection to help with the pain. At first, I refused, explaining that I had a bad experience with injections in my knee. The doctor explained that he uses an echo machine to guide the injection of saline, which helps to open the muscle. I agreed to that. The doctor turned to me with a big smile and said, in English, "You very smart", which made me laugh! 

I had the injection, then an electric pulse machine was placed on the area, and a nice hot pack was applied. I went home with some stronger painkillers, hoping that in a few days I would be better.

But, of course, life isn't that easy.

I wanted to write everything in one post, but I need to get off my computer now before the pain gets bad again.

Maybe I can write more tomorrow!