The pains of getting in shape… oh, the pains!
August 18, 2011, 1:50 PM
Ever have those weeks where you feel like your body is just going to pot? Welcome to my world this week. Four parts of the body have hurt this week: both ears, back, and right foot.
Ailment #1: Ears. I have somehow managed to get swimmer’s ear in both ears. Gross. The right ear is just sore, but the left ear is a full-blown infection. Big swelling in the ear canal, and the outer ear was warm and painful to touch. This actually has caused a feeling of fullness in the left ear, and some minor hearing loss on that side (due to the ear canal’s being mostly blocked). That started on Thursday, and by Friday morning, we had a full-on infection on the left side. Then on Saturday night, the drainage started. I have never seen fluorescent-yellow drainage before – like the color of a yellow highlighter. Gross. Even worse is that I can feel when the infection is draining. It tickles, and then causes some pain. Again: gross.
Ailment #2: Back pain. I don’t know what I did there. I mean with the ears, duh – I swim five days a week. But the back, no clue. That started last Friday morning just as I was leaving for work as a dull ache in my lower back. By the time the day was over, I was having trouble standing for long periods. Of course it would happen the day before a big demonstration, too. The DC SlutWalk was happening the next day, and I vowed that I didn’t care if I was screaming in agony at the event, but I was going no matter what. Thankfully, the back managed to work out for the SlutWalk, and I had a good time. But then it came back on Sunday. No good.
Ailment #3: Right foot. I have no idea what I did here, but it hurts like hell. It’s the top middle of the foot, and hurts to walk on it. It’s gone in and out. It started Tuesday morning after I got to work, and worked its way up over the course of that day. When I woke up on Wednesday, I could barely walk. I actually had to drive to work on Wednesday because I couldn’t handle the walk to the bus stop and from the Metro to the office. It took what felt like ages to get down the stairs in my apartment building (there is no elevator). No good. So my car was my own personal paratransit service, since it hurt too much to take Metro. I could barely walk when I got to work on Wednesday, but it got better over the course of the day. Then today was the reverse. It started out all right, and got worse as the day went on. Right now, walking is a bit of a challenge.
So for all of these, I saw some doctors. First I saw my chiropractor, who adjusted my back. That did the job. I knew it was something mechanical that was out of place, and once they got their hands on me, they popped a few spots, and I felt better. And the back pain has gone away.
Now for the rest, I saw my regular doctor today. Turned out that I was right about my ears. It was swimmer’s ear on both sides. Guess what they gave me for my ear: Cipro! That’s right, I got Ciprofloxacin, the “anthrax drug”. This was what they used on the people who were exposed to the anthrax that was sent through the mail in 2001. And apparently it works on swimmer’s ear, too. We shall see, I suppose. You wouldn’t believe how many people joked that I can be the one to get all the mail. It started with my coworker Ginny, who, when I told her I was put on the anthrax drug, said, “So you can go down and get the mail today!”
Oh, and I’m not supposed to go swimming until the infection is gone, too. Good thing this coincides with the week that all four Montgomery County indoor pools are closed. I’ll figure out a different way to exercise next week, I suppose.
Then for my foot, they think it might be a sprain on the bridge of my foot. That might explain the popping feeling that I’ve been getting on that side. I got Naproxen for my foot to see if it’s something that Naproxen can take care of, but if it’s not, then they’re going to send me for x-rays. I hope it’s not something that has to be x-rayed in order to know what’s wrong. I hope that the pills take care of it, since I don’t want it to be something broken or sprained or something that requires being in a splint or a cast or one of those giant boot things. Not my idea of fun.
However, my blood pressure was lovely. Take a look:
Look at that diastolic pressure. That’s awesome.
Meanwhile, I think some of my statuses on Facebook give a good idea of what I’m thinking about when it comes to all of this:
So laying down for a while didn’t do much for a sore back. No good. Hopefully it feels better tomorrow, because I’m still going to SlutWalk D.C. tomorrow, no matter what.
My foot hurts. No idea what I did to it, but it started hurting in the late morning. No problems with it all the way through the commute.
Driving today because my foot hurts too much to want to walk to the bus stop, and from the Metro to the office. Hopefully my foot will feel better later today?
Why is it that I feel like by body is just falling apart this week?
With all the issues I’ve had this week, this is when I wish that the body had a “check engine” light and would spit out a code. Then I could just stick a USB cable in my navel and get a report.
Wanted: One pair of new feet. Must fit in shoes of normal width. Need good trade-in value on existing feet with 30 years’ mileage where one has really hurt like hell today.
So let’s see what happens next, I suppose. Hopefully things get better soon. I think the most frustrating thing is that I have no idea exactly what I did to injure my foot. I really have no clue. It’s like if you get food poisoning and don’t quite know what caused it. All that sickness and no idea. All I know is that I hope that my foot feels well enough to be able to take the bus and the Metro in the morning.
Web site: All about the bones of the foot
Song: Probably the sound of me saying unprintable things when I'm trying to walk these days.
Quote: Now if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go take my anthrax meds now...
Categories: Personal health