Sciatica=Psychotica!

Well, I've hurt myself again! My poor body. I'm 24 years old, but my body is probably feeling like a 70 year old woman! Tuesday afternoon, I was running errands around town and starting feeling a sharp dull ache in my lower back, but only on the right side just above my bum. It was definitely uncomfortable, but it wasn't "too bad." I went to volleyball that night and that was a bad idea. The pain was getting stronger and stronger and near the end of the game, I was holding back tears and catching myself going off to la-la land while trying to ignore the pain. I decided to call my doctor and see what's going on. Sigh. Turns out I have Sciatica and even more swelling. These are his "doctor words" concerning the injury:

"L5 disc swelling, and right sided L5, S1 facet joint swelling overlaid by L3-L5 right muscle swelling and all this combined with right lumbo-sacral ligament swelling."

           This is the exact area of pain, but on the right side!

Sounds fun, eh? He told me to avoid volleyball for 4-5 weeks. Yeah, that brought on the tears. Lots of them. I started a volleyball group on Tuesday nights here and now I can't play! I'm devastated. He also said that I need to refrain from lifting boxes or anything heavy, including groceries. I feel like I'm handicapped now! I am also supposed to ice my back 5 times a day for 15 minutes each time. Icing definitely helps the swelling, but only lasts so long.

I'm really having a hard time with the pain. It is now affecting everything I do during the day. Walking, standing, sitting, sleeping- all painful! What the heck? How is that fair?! I've gotta say that I now have a better understanding of people suffering with chronic body pain. It's not fun!

I have a 78 day recovery period. Sigh. Here we go, Day 2...