The back is back

I’m not going to lie.  This summer for me has not been one of my best.  First it was the hand surgery, then a power outage lasting 5 days in record-breaking heat, followed by a 3-week bout of bronchitis.  I thought the worst was over and then last Thursday—I decided to polish my toenails.  I bent over, not really very far and I felt something snap. 

For two days I was unable to bend, stoop, or sit comfortably without grimacing from pain. The pain in my back steadily got worse and almost had me in tears, so Saturday I visited the doctor, who prescribed muscle relaxers and pain meds. 

Unfortunately, demands do not stop when one is in pain.  Since I am the first one awake every day and cannot sleep past a certain time, mornings were a difficult.  Everyone knows that I don’t operate that well without that first cup of coffee, but that must wait while I attend to four legged demands. That is when I have to feed the dog and cat and attach the dog’s leash and take her out to do her business.  Ever try and attach a leash to a squirming, hyper, and super excited Jack Russell terrier?  It can be daunting even with a healthy back!

Additionally, since the dog eats the cat’s food if it’s on the floor, I feed her on top of a shelf in my laundry room.  And while she doesn’t have a problem jumping up there, in the mornings she expects me to place her daintily in front of her bowl.  She twists around my legs and meows waiting for her human domestic to do her duty.

I sink to my knees, gritting my teeth at the knives stabbing in my back from each and every slight movement. In a robotic and ungraceful way I manage.  These simple chores, take much longer than usual.  I eye my aromatic cup of coffee that is sitting un-sipped on the counter as I finish the tasks at hand.  Finally I am through and I greedily swallow a few gulps of the semi-warm brew.

The next day and the day after that it is more of the same. And then on Tuesday, five days later, just as quickly and mysteriously as what I like to call the back attack occurred, it was gone.

From now on, however, lion tamers will tame lions, trained athletes will run marathons, and in my house at least, professionals will do pedicures.