Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Day in the Life....................911

In yesterday's post, Day Off, I mentioned that Dave was having problems with his back. When he came home, I think he thought that a heating pad and some over the counter muscle relaxants would fix the problem. He's had minor problems with his back before after bucking hay or stacking bags of grain. I'm pretty sure he expected this to go the same.

Unfortunately that's not how things worked out. Somewhere around 1 in the morning, Dave tried to get up to go to the bathroom and instead found himself on the floor. He was unable to get up and there was no way I could get him to his feet. I ended up dialing 911 to get assistance.

That meant it was a long night in the emergency room. Pain meds were administered intravenously (a fact Dave didn't appreciate much since he hates needles.) Dave was given a CAT scan to see if there were underlying issues causes his intense lower back pain and we waited around for hours waiting for test results.

The good news was there were no underlying issues. The pain is strictly muscle pain. The bad news is it's going to take a while for him to get over it. In the meantime he's on some pretty strong pain meds and is icing his back 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off for two days. Then he'll go to heat in the same rotation.

It was sometime after 7 am before we ever got out of the emergency room. Getting Dave into the car for the trip home was excruciating even with the meds that had been administered. There is no easy way to deal with this. He's going to be hurting for a while.

He cannot walk upright on his own. Instead he's using 2 stall fork handles in place of canes for support. This precarious situation meant I called Richard to tell him I wouldn't be bringing horses. I was afraid to leave (other than to fill his prescription from the ER) in case Dave might fall again.

He is doing a bit better tonight. Although he still can't stand up straight and is using his "walking sticks," he is feeling steadier on his feet. If I can catch up on some sleep tonight, I hope to be back working horses. tomorrow. Maybe only one load, instead of two, but if I don't get back to work, I'm going to be pretty darn crabby. That withdrawal from horses is a ghastly affliction in itself.

Oh ya! and just for the record, I think we're getting way to familiar with the guys from 911 here on this far. I think we've filled our quota for the next 20 years!

PS I apologize for no pics, I'm too darned tired to mess with them. Will try to make up for that tomorrow (if Richard will just send me the notes I'm waiting on.)

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8 comments:

  1. Oh I hope he feels better soon! I hate ER's and hospitals totally, I've spent more than my fair share of sitting in there waiting...

    Take care of yourself and tell Dave to get well soon and not to push too much too soon. No relapses allowed!

    Maybe a walker would work and be more stable than his impromtu canes? Good will usually has them fairly inexpensive. I think stability would help. Falling would only aggrivate the muscles more.

    ** I'm heading to bed and will try to not worry quite so much tonight. :)

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  2. I have so much sympathy for Dave - I've been there and it's miserable! I love those soft gel ice packs - couldn't live without them. Good luck for a quick recovery and take care of yourself, Mikael!

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  3. Oh no - poor Dave!!! That must be terrible to have such back pain that you can't walk or get up! Glad to hear that there aren't any underlying issues though. Hope he improves quickly.

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  4. Oh no, I hope he feels better soon. It must be so miserable. We don't realize how much we use our backs until they give out on us.

    I do hope those muscles relax soon.

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  5. Poor Dave. I can sympathize with back pain. Hope he feels better soon and takes his meds.

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  6. Oh, I am so sorry about Dave. I know from my father's back issues how truly painful and horrible back pain can be. Both of you are in my thoughts. I hope you catch up on some sleep yourself dear!

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  7. Oh my, hoping he recovers fast! ERs are no fun. Glad he is back home and on his way to recovery.

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  8. Oh my. I hope he gets better real soon. Not fun. I've almost been there, but not that bad.

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