Hospital post

Hubby asked me this morning why I have not yet done a hospital post ( I have been here since last Wednesday midnight when we finally gave in to my incapacitation and excruciating back spasms and called an ambulance). My immediate answer was that I was too bored and had nothing to say - and there is something in that - tomorrow will mark 2 weeks of forced absolute inactivity which up until now I thought would be heaven, but has been anything but! It also has been the case that up until Tuesday I was so doped out on painkillers, muscle relaxants etc ( I had quite an extreme reaction to them on Tuesday so the medication was changed) and couldn't do much but lie in bed on my back, so opportunities to post have been minimal. Just on that though, I have managed to log into emails every day for work and keep things on track, so maybe its just that my priorities are a little off!

But, being here has given me time to do some thinking - nothing terribly profound I must say, but just thinking about how things I have done and my lifestyle have got me into this predicament, and how the lifestyle of others on my ward have led us all here.

I'm not being self-flagellating here - I am realistic about how this happened - a sporting injury 15 years ago, which left my back compromised but hasn't really bothered me for about 10 or so years, two pregnancies in 13 months which left my core abdominal muscles shot to pieces so my back was doing all the work when I moved, lifted etc, and chasing around, lifting and carrying two small boys. The combination of the above was not looking good for my back, but I would be naive to say that I wasn't aware of the potential problem, didn't get warning signs of pain in my back which I ignored, and hadn't been shown back and core strengthening exercises that I just hadn't been doing.

So, now that I have seen the worst (or as close to the worst as I want to get) of back injury, I have new resolve to get my back strong so that this does not happen again. I have been doing hydro-therapy in the hospital pool all week which has been great, and has got me up and walking around again, able to shower myself etc. I still can't sit for long periods and it will be some time before I can do that, bending is still difficult, and I won't be able to lift the boys for some time, but there has been definite progress and I am heading home tomorrow. I have an appointment with my physio next week to develop a program that I will follow to get these musles strong and I am committed to following it.

Why this is also of importance to me, is that Hubby and I had decided to try for another baby about now. As a result of my injury this will need to wait - I do not want to put additional pressure on my fragile back until it is strong again.

I have missed my boys so much while being in here, and can't wait to get home to them. I feel like a kid at Christmas counting the sleeps till tomorrow!