Pain pain and now none

Wow, the last four days have been nutzo. It's Tuesday night and today was the first day I was able to write since last Thursday. Here's why:

I woke up Friday morning with a sharp pain in my upper back. I tried to stretch it out, as I have woken up with soreness before. No good. I thought that maybe I had pulled something a little the day before when I was exercising, so I figured I would just grin and bear it. I had been planning on heading to Salt Lake City to take the older boys to see a friend's car show, but I couldn't go in the morning due to misinformation. Then, the pain continued and I ended up having to cancel the entire trip.

As the day went on (I'm telling this oddly.. oh well), the pain grew more intense and would actually lay me low every so often. I could barely move! It would flash and stab like a cold knife into my spine. So I found a chiropractor that was low-cost and that could see me that afternoon. Turns out this is a great office and quite a find. But anyway, the chiropractor was very good, but the adjustment didn't help. In fact, by the end of the day, the pain was also in my chest and I felt like my sternum must be cracked open. I began to wonder if the chiropractor had done some damage.

So I basically lay like an invalid in my easy chair for the rest of the day. I thought maybe I could sleep it off somewhat, and went to bed full of hope. No luck. I didn't sleep much, mainly because I couldn't get into a spot where it would stop hurting. Ibuprofen was having little to no effect as well.

Saturday was Hintze's (son number 2) birthday, and we had a good party planned. He had some friends over and it was a nice, fun time. My dad came down at the end of the party and stayed for a couple hours. Now, my father is the Manager of the Neuro-Critical Care unit at the University of Utah hospital. He knows his stuff well. So I told him about the pain and he named it: intercostal muscle spasms. He guessed that I had maybe a somewhat separated rib.

And the pain was as strong as it had ever been. This was insane. It would come and go, like I imagine labor contractions do. I doubt it was as bad as contractions, but this was like nothing I had really ever felt before, mainly because I saw no end to it.

Saturday was another rough night: A few hours of sleep and I ended up on my easy chair. It seemed being somewhat propped up relieved some of the pressure. Sunday morning dawned and I had meetings at Church from 7 AM until noon, and that was a long morning, let me tell you. It seemed the pain was lessening though, although it had begun to move more to my chest and away from the back. It hurt to swallow. Not like a sore throat, but like I was cracking open my chest with each swallow. The muscles, you see. These muscles are used to breathe (I had been breathing shallowly for three days by this time) and to help get food down the throat.

So I spent most of Sunday afternoon and evening in my easy chair, dozing and trying not to move. Sunday night was better. I still ended up in my easy chair, but I got a little more sleep and the pain was mostly in my left shoulder by Monday morning. Throughout Monday, the pain was still strong, knocking me down a couple times and still making mealtime a painful, laborious process.

This morning I went to the chiropractor again. Soon after that adjustment, the pain in my left upper torso was fading to a dull ache. Now, it's just a little tender. I don't really know what caused all this, but it was quite an experience. I'm still getting a spasm here and there in my chest, but it is mostly gone.

Anyway, because of all this, I was only able to really write today. I finally made it to 800 articles on www.helium.com. Check me out at: http://www.helium.com/user/show/45690

I am also going to rate every morning now for about a half hour. This way I will be able to get my rating stars back and feel better about the money I make from them. Tomorrow is a big day. I am going to get into The Cabin like mad, because I am going to try to finish the first draft this week.

I have been falling behind on my fiction reading the last few weeks, as I have really stepped up my reading of scriptures and other sacred and Gospel-related texts. I feel good about this, but I miss my novels, and I have quite a list I am trying to get to.

Tomorrow I will exercise, but I think I better lay off the weights for another day or two. I'll just stick to cardio.