September went by like a blur. I have pages on my planner that were not written on.
Recall that I have had to go on leave while I undergo therapy for my back. It meant missing three weeks of September. I only left the house to go to the hospital. But I can’t say that it wasn’t time well spent.
Just as I say “So long, September!” I also say Thank You for:
12 physical therapy sessions. And getting acquainted with treatments and machines. One of which is this Ultrasound therapy machine:
Time to watch a lot of TV. I discovered and rediscovered shows I hadn’t had time to watch. One of them being Jane by Design.
An opportunity to be treated like a baby again. My parents have been very supportive while I recover. No chores, haha. And at least one or both of them have brought me or picked me up from therapy. They also made sure I got my hot pack whenever the pain got too much to ignore. They made sure I ate and took meds when needed. Thank you God for my parents.
Books. I spent way too much on books at the Manila International Bookfair. And I don’t care. What makes it more memorable is that I went there when I was still NOT able to walk too far. Alfred was very supportive. Thank you God for Alfred.
Becoming a godmother to Baby Sab. And seeing my friends Arianne and Y again so soon after the last time.
Mayeen and Angelo’s first born Andrei. Looking forward to meeting that little cutie in person.
Still having a job to go back to. And a new appreciation for having a job.
Being liberated from pain. When August closed I was miserable. I was in so much pain. There was some pain in September, even a different kind of pain brought about by the breakout, but I choose to remember the gradual healing. Discovering that I could walk faster, and straighten my back more. That I could sleep lying down without getting uncomfortable. Freedom from excruciating pain. I never ever want to go back there.
There’s probably a lot more I should be thanking September for. There’s also a lot more that I would have wanted to do but didn’t. But I’m not complaining. It was the time for rest and recovery and I did just that.
It’s the 5th of September and here I am still hung up on August. And it’s not like I didn’t want August to end. But for me, it ended so abruptly, I wasn’t ready to start a new month just yet.
Since last weekend, I’ve been racking my brains for a roundup post. I sat in front of the PC and opened up Writer several times, and blanked out. Also, I tire of sitting up with my back slouched, so after a few minutes just browsing through Facebook updates, I lose steam.
Would I relive August? I rather not. It was a difficult month and I can’t pinpoint a single reason why. Maybe you can help me figure it out?
60%
At work, it felt like a mad rush to hit an adjusted goal. A goal that was 8% higher than normal. We had no problem meeting goal in the past, we exceed it even. But in August the clients just needed us to stretch that much more. It was a mad rush I tell you. This put a lot of pressure on the management team, and on the agents. Sure, there was a matching incentive involved, but I’m just not all that sure it was enough. Given the timelines we were working with.
Of course, some may argue that the added pressure wasn’t just because of the stretched goal, but also because I had been out so much that month.
Slip Disc
I had so much time off work in August. I skipped a total of 8 working days all in all for August. No, these were not planned vacation days, how I wish they were. And when your team is being asked to pull off a miracle, you needed to be there for the team. Not so much to make sure it happens, but to provide them with the support they needed.
The flash floods is what started me off on the wrong foot for August.
Then a week later my Mom got sick. She doesn’t usually make such a fuss when not feeling well, but she had been under the weather for almost a week and my Dad was in the US so she asked me to ditch work one night to stay with her. I didn’t mind; I wanted to be there to drive her to the ER in case she wanted to go.
I ended up actually getting a lot of sleep that night. But I slept on the couch in the living room, and I blame it for breaking my back. After that day, I had such pain in my lower back and I made sure to complain about it every chance I got. I endured the pain and showed up for work on Wednesday and Thursday. For Saturday shift, I could barely walk to the production floor. I asked my TLs to come to my station for our coaching observation sessions, instead of me going to them. After shift on Sunday morning, I picked up my Mom and then drove myself to the ER. I just couldn’t bear the pain anymore.
5 hours in the ER wasn’t much help. I got three shots of pain relievers, and a prescription for more. Monday was a holiday though so I had been back at work on Monday night before I could even consider consulting an Orthopedic doctor. On Tuesday afternoon, I was back in the ER and went through pretty much the same drill.
Getting a back Xray was painful because I couldn’t stand straight, nor stay still. So that was the most awful thing I had to go through both times at the ER. I didn’t mind the needles actually. I didn’t even feel any pain from them.
Days later, I had an excruciating time at the MRI. No, I wasn’t claustrophobic, but the pillows and cushions under my thighs and legs didn’t do much in making me comfortable. I struggled the entire 20 minutes I was in there. It was really painful. I am used to getting migraines, and I have learned to wing it and not complain for the most part. Last week, I don’t know how many times I cried and wished I had a migraine instead. Specially at night, when it took all that I had in me to get to sleep.
Alfred, Mom and Dad, had to alternately push me around in a wheel chair at the hospital every time I had to be there this past week and a half. I could drive on my own, but once there, I can’t walk to everywhere I needed to go to.
The toughest part of this ordeal was not being able to sleep well. No worries though, because in the past two days, things have been a lot better.
So though there were some happy days in August (visiting Sean & Sab, my Team Outing, our recent lunch at Chili’s, finishing three books), they have been overshadowed by this pain in my Lumbosacral Spine. I hate it. Yet I can’t help but think that I had a big part in causing it. I hadn’t fallen recently, and I haven’t been lifting heavy stuff (except during the flooding when we had to move our stuff), but I have not stopped gaining weight. All this excess fat is breaking my back. Let’s hope that this is the final straw that would get me serious in losing weight. The boyfriend is now afraid of breaking his back so he’s likely to take up a more active lifestyle, so break out the Garmont Zenith and spend time biking or maybe even running!
I bid Adios to August, and all that has happened has got me looking forward to a September that will be all about recovery and restoration. To better health, and perhaps so much more.
