my weekend

I've had a very restful weekend. Not exactly because I wanted it, I didn't exactly have a choice. Let me tell you a story...

Thursday afternoon I woke up with a minor back ache. No big deal, right? I didn't think so, so I went about my business of getting my allergy shots and then spent some quality time in a bookstore. Well, the longer I stayed on my feet the worse my back felt so I went home and rested. I went to bed early for me, about 0200, and somehow managed to sleep for 12 hours.

Unfortunately the rest did nothing for my back, so after not managing to get an appointment with Dr. F, I went to the ER Lite - Huntsville Hospital's Acute Care Clinic near the house. I was concerned since the pain was in my spine, not kidneys or muscles, and at a 7 or 8 out of 10 on the pain scale. The upside to ER Lite is, like the regular ER, they will give medications for pain while waiting for tests. The downside is I picked the day that their X-ray machine was down. The only test that could be run was a urinalysis, and I was dehydrated. Not a good combination. After 6mg morphine, 1/2 gallon of water, a Coke, and 2 hours, I managed to produce the required specimen. The result - a trace amount of blood. Whee. Yes, this means I may have yet another kidney infection or stone. No X-rays so there was nothing else that could be done. I left with the profound advice of "if it gets worse go to the real ER." No kidding, Doc.

Monday I go see Dr. F for a follow-up to try to find out what is causing the back pain. Yay, whee. More tests. (I swear this time I won't be dehydrated, though.) I just want to find out what's wrong before I go to Atlanta on Thursday. Hopefully it is simply tendonitis that will clear up soon, and not something that will keep me from being able to walk in Atlanta.

What's in Atlanta? That's another post, which I'll be writing shortly, as soon as I finish this.