All Aboard the Pity Train

It started about four days ago. Twinges deep in my left hip, especially when I got up after sitting in one place for a while. Then the hip became stiff. Then it became painful. Now I'm hopped up on NSAID's and Enterics to try to alleviate a painful inflammation of one or more of my hip muscles. And jeez is it humbling.

I am currently somewhat debilitated right now, which frustrates and scares me. This probably happened as a result of overdoing it on the bike last week. The offended muscle(s)must have simply lain in wait until I made one more horrible move and then, "Time to teach that girl a LESSON!!! Full Stop!!! Mutiny!!!!" I'm now getting a taste of what it's going to be like when I'm 88 yrs. old or so. Can't go up the stairs one leg at a time. Too painful. I have to do my right one, then the other joins it and so on. Can't get out of a chair without wincing. After waiting for my turn at the walk-in clinic for 1.5 hrs, I got up so slowly that I had to give a loud verbal acknowledgment that I was, indeed, on my way to the examining room, or I was afraid they'd give my hard-won appointment to someone else. Can't run. Can barely get on a bike (shouldn't anyhow in case that just makes it worse).

Two years ago this happened to my left arm. It was the most pain I have ever experienced, and just as debilitating in a different way. I couldn't brush my hair, I had trouble feeding myself, I had to be careful steadying things with the offending limb or (god forbid) knocking it inadvertently on something hard, unyielding and inconveniently placed. After twelve hours of my life I'll never get back, the diagnosis from the Emergency doctor was, "We have no &^%$#@!* idea what's wrong." Great. Thanks a lot. Oh, I should be grateful it wasn't gangrenous? I'll make a note of that for next time.

So now it's happened again, with a larger limb. A limb that holds me up. A limb that makes it possible for me to do my job, which I didn't do today (for which I get no sick pay). I'm so used to being active and problem-free that this sort of thing really rattles me. One of the most frustrating things is it's so vague. Sort of like a really bad spasm, but not. More like, as I already mentioned, my body staging a revolt instead of bouncing back like it used to. This means greater care must be taken in the future. Le sigh.

And the worst part? I can't eat chocolate or drink alcohol while I'm on the drugs. Yup. It Sucks To Be Me. :)