The Healing Crisis
Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 7:02PM 
Mainbocher Corset, Horst P. Horst, 1939
You may have noticed I've had scant presence on here since last week, er - actually no presence at all. I wish I had a better reason for you such as a surprise vacation or glamorous business trip, but alas, nothing so glamorous. In fact, my reason is the antithesis of glamour.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been dealing with some chronic back pain which has been sourced around my sacro-iliac joint. Commonly known as the SI joint, this is an immovable little spot that connects your scrum to your hip at the base of your spine. There are no discs involved or anything like that, it's just a little joint that commonly gets inflamed among women of my age and health. I had pretty much solved the problem, but re-injured the area at work last September which has been a drag.
I don't want to be taking a lot of pills, so I've been managing my pain with my usual gyrotonic practice, deep tendon therapy, acupuncture sessions, rest, herbal supplements, and more recently, a big change in diet. Both my trainer and my acupuncturist recommended I start practicing an anti-inflammatory diet to help cool my system down and thereby alleviate some pain. So, I've been off of caffeine for about 6 weeks now, (which I'm actually completely fine with!) have reduced my dairy intake as well as my sugar & alcohol intake. Now I'm trying to go gluten-free. (The lovely Lisa Thiele of With Style & Grace is helping me, but much more on that in a post this week!)
All of this has been on-going for the past few weeks.
OPI's Wocka Wocka - from the Muppets Collection 2011
Last Saturday was my birthday. On Friday to get ready, I had treated myself to a mani-pedi with OPI's new Muppet special color called "Wocka Wocka", which is a gorgeous shade of red. (I mean, Fozzie Bear has a nailpolish? Yes please!) Feeling festive, I had a very fun night out with friends and woke up the next day feeling relaxed and happy. I worked a full day without any pain. Monday was more of the same, but on Monday evening I started to realize that my back was hurting when I usually wouldn't be... I even ended up laying on the floor for a while to try to even myself out. Then, I took a hot bath with epsom salts (which usually cures everything) and went to bed....
And when I woke up on Tuesday, I couldn't move. Well, I tried to move and did sort of, shuffle here and there but trying to roll out of bed and come to standing sent severe shooting pain up my back. My entire core seized up and it even hurt to breathe deeply. Trying to press on, I showered and made an attempt to "put my face on" before I cried foul and called my boss to tell him I couldn't come to work. He told me not to worry, and then I blacked out while sitting on the end of my bed.
I had seen my worker's comp doctor on Friday afternoon for a check-up (who, during the exam with me in an awful backless cotton gown, remarked on my lovely "Wocka Wocka" red toenails) but boy was she surprised to see me again so soon. I got in to see her on Tuesday morning and I don't even know how I made it in there. Getting into a taxi was excruciating, never mind feeling every bump in the road on the way. The doctor gave me a prescription for vicodin and I got into another taxi to come home, but only after blacking out again in front of the doctor.
Once home, I took 2 vicodin and went to bed. My Dad brought me dinner and we watched Judge Judy before I went back to bed again. Wednesday dawned and once again I couldn't move. I took 2 vicodin just to get out of bed, but it didn't even help. I tried to cook some egg whites (because you're supposed to take pills with food) and started to black out again standing over the stove. Luckily I turned off the gas, but those eggs were on the stove for the next 6 hours or so. That's because my boss Arnelle took me to the ER, where I got into another awful backless cotton gown and got shot full of valium and some other drug I couldn't remember.
Le Violon D'Ingres, Man Ray, 1924
Dr. O'Brien of the ER also remarked on how lovely my "Wocka Wocka" toes looked, which was probably the most put-together part of me. Let's face it, I was crying my eyes out. Despite the 2 vicodin, my back was seizing up uncontrollably, so much so that it hurt to breathe. It was downright scary. I had an X-ray taken, which showed nothing was broken or out of place, but rendered no other useful information. The actual cause of all this is still, in fact, a big mystery.
My wonderful friend Genevieve came to be with me at the hospital and even ran to get my new prescriptions, this time of valium and percoset. She then took me home, tucked me into bed, and waited with me until my Dad came by later on with more dinner. Then, my acupuncturist, Jana, made a house call to help too. Yes, a house call.
So, that was Wednesday and tonight is Sunday. The days in between have been slow, full of long afternoon naps and drug-induced movement. I've had another acupuncture session and a deep tendon therapy session too. I haven't been back to work, which is scary, but I don't know if I could do it at the moment. Both my trainer and my acupuncturist mentioned the idea of a "healing crisis" to me - that the body has a natural reaction to habit changes, even when they are healthier ones. As the body expels toxins they can make you sick, often manifesting in the same symptoms as the ones you are trying to prevent or remedy.
Thus, my healing crisis. I'm getting better, but it's taking baby steps. I know that I have a lot of posts waiting to go up, and so much to share with all of you...but please bear with me as it will take some time.
Much thanks and love to my many dear friends and family and doctors and healers for all of your help and faith. You are all so wonderful & I would be so much worse without you!
health, injury, life in A Day in the Life of Ann Marie... 
Reader Comments (3)
xo
Adelle