Fall down nine times, get up ten.

 

With so many kind friends wanting to know what happened to me this week, I thought I would write down what I know so far and post updates on my progress so no one feels out of the loop. Pardon any typos as I’m typing this on my iPad with various drugs pumping through me.

As some background, it is worth knowing I had a nasty bulged L5-S1 disk that resulted in a successful discectomy in 2018. Nerve damage that low in your spine manifests itself as pain in your legs. My back never hurt, but the nerve pain shooting down my left side had me near suicide. I lost 25 pounds in two weeks and was in constant, excruciating pain. Dr. Maughan went in through my back, drilled through a bit of my spine and snipped the offending disk. I walked out of the hospital with zero pain and felt like a new person. I've had no issues since. It is also worth noting I work out most days- usually running, rowing and lifting. And again, I’ve had zero issues.

On Wednesday night, I went to play in a slow pitch softball game with some friends. We started in the field. I batted fourth. We’d already scored three runs thanks to a home run from Dawson. I hadn’t played softball in probably three decades. I’m much bigger, stronger, fatter, older and slower than I was then. I swung at the first pitch and hit a fly to left. I didn’t follow the ball, but felt great about the hit and started for first. About two-thirds of the way to first, I realized I might have extra bases and decided I should get on my horse. Apparently, I don’t have a horse.

I’m not entirely sure what happened next, nor are those who were there, nor the doctors. We’ve compiled a theory, but may never know for sure.

Suddenly, it felt like both of my hamstrings and my left calf ruptured. I lost all motor control to my legs and went down in a writhing mess. I rolled around in the dirt trying to figure out what had happened. The pain was excruciating and I couldn't even tell what hurt. My legs were screaming. After it subsided, my teammates helped me to the bench. I couldn’t put weight on my left foot, but could hop on my right with their help. Once I got to the bench, I blacked out. I’ve never passed out in my life. When I came to, they told me they’d dialed 911. It is all a bit fuzzy. I blacked out again for a few seconds. By the time the EMT arrived, the pain was much better - as long as I didn’t move. I couldn’t sit up because it would put pressure on my hamstrings, which were still fully contracted. I rolled onto their gurney and took a ride in the ambulance to IMC.

The ride was uneventful. They took all my vitals and checked blood sugar and electrolytes. My potassium was a bit low, which they thought might have caused the cramping.

At the ER, they did an MRI on my lower back, assuming that this was another lumbar pinch. They also x-rayed my right elbow which was causing a ton of pain. We thought I might have broken it when I fell. They also did a CT to make sure there wasn’t something cerebral involved. I didn’t realize I’d hit for the radiological cycle when I agreed to play softball that night. I haven’t felt any cognitive issues other than some slow speech Thursday night.

As the night worn on, I had a few sources of pain. That right elbow hurt, mostly when used, and particularly when straightened. My hamstrings were still fully contracted and felt like the worst charlie horses of my life. My left knee hurt, having apparently been hyperextended. Nerves were super cranky from my left knee down. I could move my knee a bit, but only until my hammies engaged, then it was done. The outside of my shin down through my foot felt numb. Not like the numb where can’t feel but the numb you get when something is super swollen. Except nothing is swollen. It also hurt a lot. I could move my toes down a bit, but couldn’t lift them. My ankle wouldn’t move at all unless someone else moved it. Zero motor control in any direction.

Every time they would try to sit me up, my hammies would scream, my blood pressure would drop and I’d almost pass out. For the next day, the only movement I could give was rolling. By 9pm, the pain down in my calf and foot was so bad that they gave me some pain meds for the first time and decided to admit me. Once I got to my room and went through all of the rechecking of vitals, IVs, etc. I got to sleep at about 1am. They woke me a few times to check on me, but I was able to fall back asleep.

I met with a PT in the AM. She helped me sit, then stand. The transition to each was excruciating, and I lost BP each time, but I successfully walked a few steps using a walker and sat in a chair for a while.

Around noon, they gave me some muscle relaxers to see if they might get these contracted muscles to chill out. I slept for about fours and felt much better. I asked to be discharged and they gave me the green light. The trip from the car to my room was a smidge harrowing, but I made it. I even made dinner standing in the kitchen and took my fastest non-Costa Rican shower.

Later I got myself out of bed, went to the bathroom, got food and walked around the kitchen without too much trouble. All firsts.

It is now Friday morning and I am typing this sitting up in bed, so that feels great. I just walked around the kitchen without my walker. TMI, but I also pooped. Getting down that low and then back off again, without a crane, was huge.

At this point, my hammies still yell at me if pressed, but I’m slowly winning the battle. My elbow feels much better. My lower leg doesn’t hurt. It feels numb. I can get a smidge of movement pressing down, but still nothing up. Walking is very teetering with all of these things. I don’t dare try stairs yet by myself.

I have a feeling this is going to be so ugly as I publish. This interface is so janky. Apologies if there are weird gaps in between paragraphs and such. I’ll give progress updates. 

At this point, I feel entirely capable of typing, talking, sitting for a bit and standing for a bit. I’ve cleared my calendar for today other than just a few phone calls and staying up on email and Slack. Hopefully by Monday I can do some Zoom meetings, probably standing at the kitchen island.

Funky stuff and definitely a drag, but could be way, way worse. I appreciate your kind outreach and for the prayers offered on my behalf. I’m grateful to have so many out there concerned about my wellbeing. Obviously, Katie deserves the most thanks of all. No surprise to anyone who knows her that these are her finest moments.

Sent from John’s iPad

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