So one year ago, MLK Day was on January 17th (it was celebrated as a Federal holiday on the 16th, which was a Monday). Today is MLK Day, January 21, 2013 and I can’t believe I’m standing.
Literally.
On January 17th, 2012, I woke up, rolled out of bed and fell down. My back had gone out and eventually a few weeks later I would get to a chiropractic clinic to find out that I blew out a disc right above my sacrum (lower, lower back).
That morning, all I knew was that I could not stand up, or sit up, or lay down. I was stuck crawling around the house on all fours and leaning up against the mattress. The pain was the most intense, terrible experience I’ve ever had, and I once woke up from anesthesia in the middle of foot surgery. So yeah: PAIN.
This happened because in mid-December I contracted pertussis, aka Whooping Cough, aka the 90 Day Cough, aka LIVING HELL. I think there is a real question of whether it is caused by bacteria or by demon spirits possessing your lungs. I’m for the latter. Anyway, the constant, brutal, horrific coughing I experienced weakened my back muscles and eventually led to the twist or turn or squeeze that blew out the disc.
So I suffered, literally, though my last semester of grad school classes. I could barely walk, and that was with a cane (my nickname on campus became “Gandalf” because of my hats and large walking sticks…no beard, thankyouverymuch). I worked full time and took three courses and tried to recover from the health hits.
Which is, of course, when I got struck with mold-induced asthma on the job in April. (*shakes head* Let it never be said that archiving isn’t a dangerous job!)
To be perfectly honest I don’t remember much of that term.
But now it’s a year later. My back still hurts sometimes, but less and less every week. At the end of 2011 I started working out and trying to clean up my diet, but that effort was quickly slayed by whooping cough et al.
Now I’m back at it. I’ve returned to body building after 15 years and 60 pounds gained. I’m even thinking about running again, although that makes me nervous with my back. We’ll see.
A year ago started a long, hard, painful slog through 2012. Everything was colored by physical agony and grad school worries; I stopped creative writing, and my health tanked over all due to the double whammy of whooping cough and a blown back. 2012 was not a horrible year, it just was bad.
Now I’ve returned to writing, and drawing, and starting my own business. Lifting weights. Dancing a little. Thinking about dating. Worrying about money, but that’s pretty much a constant.
I am really having trouble believing it’s only been a year. Here I am, standing (literally!) tall.
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