I Am Leg End

Coming up to the end of week three of the sciatica.

(Insert long, deep cavernous sigh here...)

Yeah, I had a very positive but also oddly depressing session at the hospital yesterday. I basically went because it's been weeks since I was stricken with this sciatica and I was getting a bit scared that it was never going away. I thought I was getting much better because I'm not writhing around on the floor in agony all the time. But I feared I'd reached a kind of plateau where it was getting neither better nor worse. It just aches all the time, even when I'm medicated up to the eyebrows. I needed some answers before I went quietly mad, so I asked to see a doctor who specialises in back stuff and a physiotherapist.

Turns out recovery time for sciatica is routinely 6-8 weeks, (god I wish they'd told me that before) and far from being stuck in a rut I'm informed I am right on track. Apparently I just need a couple of weeks more walking, physiotherapy and drugs and I will be, if not right as rain, at least right as a fine drizzle.

I've been signed off for another two weeks and been given a VERY strict regime of exercises to follow which I am told will ensure my recovery. I inwardly groaned at the idea of another TWO WEEKS of this, after all there is only so much Hallmark Channel and buttered toast a man can stand without losing his grip, but it was heartening in a way to know exactly what I have to look forward to and it's neither endless or hopeless.

So, having done all that, for some odd reason the main question on my mind was how can I minimise the inconvenience of me not being around at work for so long. I can finish up any paperwork by the end of the month, which now I have Internet (oh blessed relief) and space to set my computer up in will be a lot easier to manage. Plus I've decided I'll possibly go in a couple of times briefly over the next fortnight to clear up a few niggling little problems which I can sort out in minutes if physically present. (Plus I need to get away from the house before I go stark raving mad.) I think I might make it on the train provided I can stand up most of the way, but we'll see. Apart from anything else I need to touch base with my normal life before all my marbles roll off into the gutter, so to speak.

This has been a distressing and arduous few weeks, being in pain constantly is not fun; it warps your perspective on things, makes you grumpy and irritable, but in a funny way it makes you realise how relatively trouble-free your life really is most of the time. And as I said to a work colleague the other day on the up side it is very slimming and I very much think a book called "The Chronic Pain Diet" would climb the best seller list like a demented Spider-Man. What do you reckon? :)

I'm doing the exercises and it seems to be working. A friend has been berating me for not doing any exercises and as always he's right. I do feel a lot better now I'm doing them. I think the reason is that it hurt and I was afraid I was doing myself damage. All I really needed was to have a doctor tell me that I was actually making good progress to make it seem ok.

It sucks to be ill. Last time I was off this long I was suffering from nervous exhaustion. At least I could sleep and go to the bathroom. This has been the most boring three weeks of my life. Let's hope the next two are the end of it.

Px