Now What?

Yup, that is my arm. I made Dale take a picture with my phone as this was a momentous occasion. My very first IV drip.

Saturday started normally. I got up, took a nice bath, read a little, got dressed, and drove to HEB. When I arrived, I parked and grabbed one of those mini-push baskets. I grabbed some yogurt, toilet paper, pancake batter blaster, and a container of just fruit munchies. Nothing heavy. I went through the self check out station and everything continued to be right with the world. I put my bags into the mini-cart and began to wheel it out to my car. As I exited the store, I felt a sudden sharp pain in my back. I took a few steps and the pain became more intense. I had never felt pain in this area of my back before. I continued to walk, very slowly, to the car. The pain was in my lower back on the right side, in the area of where my kidney is located. It was increasing in intensity with every passing second.


After a few steps, I could no longer walk normally. My walk turned into a shuffle as I made my way to the car, using the cart as a walker.
When I finally made it to the car I just stood there not knowing what to do next. I could hardly move at this point and the pain was maddening. I heard a woman's voice say, "are you ok?" She was standing behind me and I could not turn around to look at her. I told her that something was wrong with my back. She asked if she could help me with my groceries and I said yes. She opened the trunk and placed the groceries inside. I thanked her and took a step with the cart, intending to put the cart in the "cart storage" area. The pain was too much and I froze in place. I swallowed my pride and asked the woman to return the cart for me. She gave me a worried look and did as I asked. After moving my cart, she helped me get into my car. I could tell that she wanted to do more and would if I had asked her. I did not want to take any more of her time so I thanked her profusely and told her I would be ok. I tried to call Dale but he did not answer so I said a prayer asking God to help me push through the pain and make it home.
At this point, I was starting to think that something was wrong with one of my organs. I had never had pain in this area and it did not necessarily feel like it was muscular. I was scared.

I made it home and got out of the car. I could no longer stand up straight and any movement, even that caused by breathing, was painful. I somehow shuffled myself into the house and then into the bedroom where Dale was sleeping. I woke him up and told him, "something is wrong with me!" Boom! Cue the tears!I started to cry because of the pain and because I was freaked out. Dale managed to get me on the bed but that did not alleviate the pain. He quickly got dressed, put me in the car, and we started driving. He tried to call the after hours health clinic but he could not get through to anyone. We were both very worried about the cause of the pain. Dale called 911 to see if he should take me to the ER or to the clinic. The 911 operator told him to take me to the ER as pain in that area could be "referred" and could be indicative of many things. They wanted Dale to pull over so that they could send an ambulance but he refused, saying that we were not far from Seton Northwest hospital.

We made it to the hospital. Dale put me in a wheelchair and I waited for a doctor. After a while, they got me into a room and the doctor came in. He also thought that something was wrong with my kidney. They popped an IV in me, gave me some medicine (including something for the pain)and took my blood. They also took a urine sample and ran a CT scan over my lower half.

(I was very uncomfortable.)

All of the tests came back negative for anything kidney related. That was good news. The bad news is that it must muscular or joint related. This is the 3rd area of my back that now has a problem. WHAT IS GOING ON!! DO I HAVE A DISEASE? WTF? Should I order a Rascal now or wait a while?


I am still in pain though it is getting better every day. I keep telling myself that things could be worse and to be thankful that I am not in a wheelchair. Still, It worries me that the pain came on suddenly and seemingly for no reason. It's not like I strained it when I was scanning my Greek yogurt or pulled it when I was lifting the toilet paper into the basket.

Where is this guy when you need him?

I need Dr. House to make a diagnosis.

I have an appointment with my back doctor tomorrow. Maybe he will know what the deal-e-o is. I need some answers.