Back to basics

So, midst other things, I have been dealing with a grumpy lower back. It has not prevented me from doing my Long Trail walking but it has made things interesting.

This nonsense has been going on since 17 June when I first was aware of discomfort. At the June Executive Council meeting I had been sitting for three days on hard chairs and then went out for a walk during which I felt twinges. The next day I flew to Santo Domingo for the first Kouraj pou Vwayaj la Ayati conference, which meant sitting on more hard chairs. By the end of that week, I could barely move and felt like everything was crunching inside. The flight home was not terribly comfortable. The following week I went home on Monday because I could not sit happily.

Things got better and then I went back down to Santo Domingo for the second conference. Same deal though not as bad. However, when I got back to Vermont, by the end of the day of flying, I could barely get out of the car.

Fast forward to now. I have gone to the doctor, gotten a slew of x-rays taken, and had four visits to a physical therapist. She initially thought the pain came from the sacrailium joint being frozen and my pelvis is tilted forward causing lordosis (which is true) and got me doing exercises to de-freeze it and my hip joints and is working on getting me to sit up straight. But now that the pain still is here and radiating down on both sides below my hips, she is beginning to think that it is an inflamed nerve (she has not mentioned sciatica) or a herniated disk. Oh joy. But that is just her hypothesising. We will know more perhaps when I hear from my doctor with the radiologist's report.

Meanwhile, I will go back to the Long Trail to knock off another 45 miles. Right now I am uncomfortable most when simply standing still (like four hours behind the altar or in the pulpit on Sundays). Walking last week was OK I am having conversations with my back informing it that this is not acceptable behaviour and it is time to shape up. These days, the pain is only about a 1 to 1.5 out of 10. No big deal, just reminding me that I have a lower back.

And I am trying to stand and sit up straighter. So maybe I should not spend as much time reading blogs and puttering on the computer. Ahem.