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The Story of PEARL - Blog #5

10/1/2015

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     With my writing projects coming along it was back to focusing on my health. I decided to visit a new chiropractor, this one who specialized in the Active Release Technique (ART). This is a technique that focuses on the tissues of the body and over-used muscles. With the pain that I was experiencing with the Sciatica, my entire left side beginning at my low back and spreading down my leg was effected. It was a good visit and I learned more about what was happening with my body. In addition to the two compressed discs I had in my low back (L4 and L5), my piriformis muscle was strained. Since this muscle lies around the sciatic nerve, any type of inflammation can affect the nerve causing pain, which was the case in my body. After doing several stretching exercises with the doctor, she told me to see how I felt in a few days and we would go from there. I was just hoping for any type of relief.
     The following week consisted of a number of networking events which were fun despite my back pain. I attended one in San Francisco with Deepak Chopra. It was for his new book entitled, Super Brain. It was a nice event and I had a chance to chat with him beforehand. Unfortunately I could only stay for half the lecture as my back was throbbing and I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sit in the chairs provided. I prayed the entire bus ride back to Sausalito as the pain was so intense I was near tears.
     Every day was a challenge with my back. I never knew how it would react from one day to the next. I continued to ice it frequently and I was popping the ibuprofen like it was candy which I knew was not good, but I needed relief from the pain. At one of my networking events I met a young women named Rosie. She was a young mother and we hit it off and decided to get together for breakfast one morning at the local bayside restaurant. After breakfast I asked her if she wanted to see my dream house and she said yes. She drove and we headed up the hill to the house across from my church. It was so beautiful. Rosie took photographs of me pretending I was placing my key in the front door and a couple other fun shots in front of the house. It was fun imagining myself living there.
     Despite the pain I was experiencing on a daily basis with my back, I continued to dream of a pain-free life, sitting in my beautiful home, writing and creating art. One afternoon as I was working on my book projects the pain in my back became unbearable. I noticed I was out of ibuprofen and didn’t have the strength to go out and buy some more. I decided to take one of the Tramadol I had received from the stranger on the plane. It made me drowsy so I went to lay down in my bed. After a while I was hungry so I decided to fix some dinner. As I was preparing the meal I began to feel strange. My body temperature dropped suddenly and I felt cold and was shaking. Then I got sick to my stomach. Afterwards I just went to bed.
     The following day I had an appointment with a nearby massage therapist. He told me immediately I had a classic case of Sciatica as the lumbar vertebrae was pressing against the Sciatic nerve. He worked on it for about an hour and gave me some exercises I could do at home. I had to work that day and was still in a lot of pain. I didn’t want to take anything to allow the Tramadol to clear my system so I just suffered in silence.
     As I was closing up the gates to the property, I began to once again feel ill. My body temperature again plummeted and I began shaking. I was in a lot of pain and I was scared. Grant lived nearby and I thought to call him instead of 911. I sent him a text message explaining what was happening but his response was not what I had expected. He replied that I should just put some warm clothes on and relax. I headed to my bedroom and crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep.


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