Delivery From Back Pain Misery And Lessons Learned (I Hope)

It happened on Wednesday, October 1.   Suddenly out of the blue.  No warnings, no alerts, just boom!  All it took was one second to throw me into feeling practically disabled.

I thought that I was up for the job!  I felt like Superwoman facing the task in the beginning.  After a year and a half of devoted weight training, twice a week, I was definitely strong, including my major dorsal muscles.

I was doing 80 waist bends on a slant board holding a ten-kilo weight (22lbs)next to many chest as part of my routine.

I did feel pressured though into getting the job done, so as not to look like I was disobedient. I think I was the only one that took the notice from the Syndic (co owners)seriously.

I knew the majority of my French neighbors wouldn’t.  They know the system here all too well to have complied with the date.

My beloved overstuffed balcony garden that covers just about every inch of space on the floor and railings had to be transported to the back of the building.

All this in preparation for a renovation of the facade and balconies.  Being without my flowers and plants was not something I wanted to do!

At eight floors up, you can’t see all of my pretty flowers when staring up from the street.  But, from my viewpoint, they are spectacular seen from the glass walls that line the whole front of my apartment.

When I gaze out, I see a meadow of colourful flowers and trees, against the blue or cloudy grey sky.

Since I don’t have any curtains, my larger fruit and citrus trees have created somewhat a privacy filter too, though am lucky not to be directly facing another building.

I started first with lifting the heavy long boxes of Mara des Bois strawberries hanging over the balcony railing with ease.  I was mindful to use good body mechanics with much care, as it would be a disaster if one fell.

Then I tackled pruning and disengaging my three grapevines, whose leaves were now turning autumn browns and gold.

 

Next came cutting back the huge ancient heirloom tomatoes, whose roots had grown too widespread to be tugged out.

Then there were the ten long boxes of various flowers, multicolored geraniums and summer annuals, all equally heavy hanging over the interior of the railing.

Underneath on the balcony floor, every space was lined with pots of flowers, Budapest peppers, a blueberry, honeysuckle, passion flowers and loads of herbs.

The Brugmansia had just finished blooming its last Angel Trumpet and would spend the winter in the underground garage.

My three-year-old fig tree that offered 8 figs was ready for winter sleep.

All had to be transferred to a patch of ivy and grass in the back of parking using my rather small creaky wine caddy on its last leg.

I must have made a dozen trips as the caddy could only hold a few plants at a time.  By mid-afternoon, our sweet concierge, after seeing my traipsing back and forth, offered me her larger carrier.

It was around 6 pm when I was pulling the last heavy tomato pot towards me, that the sharpest of pain riddled my lower spine.  The pain was so knife-sharp  I felt frozen like a twisted statue unable to budge.

I am pretty stoic when it comes to physical or emotional pain,  but this time I yelped!

Fortunately, Aimée had returned from work and with her help I hobbled to a chair.   The next day I could at least walk more with ease.

Actually walking was much easier than sitting or lying down, so I continued to take walks in an effort to loosen my pelvic musculature.

This injury certainly wasn’t the first my back has suffered, but the recovery has been the longest!  It was definitely one of the most painful!

Nights were the worst! The nonsteroidal meds plus acetaminophen didn’t fully take away the pain, leaving me getting up approximately every 2 hours.  Day time was better with less pain and a need for meds.

After literally over two full weeks of feeling tortured at night, with only snippets of sleep here and there, two chiropractor visits, and one rheumatologist, I have been finally delivered!

It was the rheumatologist who convinced me to take some opiate pain meds at least to obtain some sleep, saying it was the weakest on the market.

After two nights of sleeping at least 3 to 4 hours straight, I didn’t need any more medication and have been medication-free with only residual soreness and stiffness to contend with. Whew! What an ordeal!

I haven’t made an appointment with the physical therapist yet as prescribed, being somewhat undecided about going.  My reasoning was that the worse is over, yet perhaps I could learn a lot from them.

Yes, there are lessons to learn!

Don’t overestimate your strength.  There are limits!

Don’t underestimate your older age!  My muscles felt strong and they are, but tired overworked muscles and ligaments can’t take as much wear and tear as a younger person!

Acceptance that ligaments are less flexible with age and muscles have less contractibility stamina.

Strong back muscles are great for balance and protection to some degree, but not when you feel exhausted!  Muscles can only work so much before they can’t contract any more and will go into spasms.

Back and knee injuries have generally happened to me several times after being physically over fatigued, like when I was intent on climbing up the very steep stairs of a tall chateau dungeon.

Learn to pay attention to your fatigue level and stop!

Wear a lumbar support belt when doing any heavy lifting.

Dorsal muscle strength helps stabilize our spine, but those small thin sacroiliac muscles that attach to the sacrum, ilium, and lumbar vertebrae can be easily pulled by bending twists, heavy pulling, or lifting.

My chiropractor rolled her eyes when she heard about my weight training regime and said I was fortunate Covid had closed the gyms!

Along with my sports doctors’ previous warning about the overexertion of ligaments and the chiropractor’s concern about straining joints, I have decided to work with smaller weights.

Listen to professional advice!

Perhaps I could learn more too from the kinésithérapeutes(physical therapists).

Anyway, I still have my olive, lemon, banana and kumquat trees left, along with the still blooming Hibiscuses and Mandevilla, plus various herbs.   I am looking forward to my first real olive harvest!

They have not started putting up the scaffolding yet in front, so I feel I have some time before the final assault.

My balcony looks rather bare now with most of my plants gone.   I miss the contrasting color they painted against a cloudy and foggy Parisian day.

I check on my plants nestled along a wall in  back every few days.  They won’t be getting much sun, but lots of rain, and I think they will go dormant and survive.

At least have my Solandra Maxima(Golden Chalice) trees indoors that will soon be blooming their most heavenly perfumed flowers.

Aimee’s kind boyfriend Laurent came over to transport more plants and clean the balcony for me, so I won’t be shy to ask for help.

No more superwoman jobs for me right now!

P.S.  Sorry for my absence, but now you know why!