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The Back Came Back

November 10, 2008 @ 22:19 By Gavin Webber 11 Comments

The last week has been a struggle.  It all started on Melbourne Cup day, when I went to the gym to do exercise rehab.  I had been doing really well of late, building the strength of my muscles to assist in the recovery of my back injury.  I was feeling pretty confident on the day, and decided to work extra hard at my gym circuit.  During one of the exercises I felt an pain in my back that I thought I was well rid of, and my first thought was ‘Bloody Hell. Here we go again!’

Thank goodness that it was only a minor pain and I managed to finish off the circuit.  I didn’t think much of the event, and put the heat pack on when I got home, and everything settled down again for the day. 

On the Wednesday, I had to travel into the office as part of my return to work plan, and boy did I find it hard going.  Every hour I had to lay down for at least 15 minutes to make the pain go away.  I used the self hypnosis technique that I had been taught and it helped dampen the pain without the use of painkillers.  I had another session with Susie for pain management in the afternoon, and I could not wait to get in there and make all the pain go away.  The session was good and lived up to my expectations and I experienced little pain on the trip home. 

Thursday morning was the day I attend Hydrotherapy.  I met Lucy, my Exercise Physiologist at Melton Waves, and I told her what had been happening.  We worked our way through the pool routine, and I didn’t feel too bad afterwards.  However, about 2 hours after I finished, the back and leg pain returned.  I figure that I must have just pushed myself a little too hard again.

Friday morning, I awoke to considerable pain, and called my boss and let her know that I wouldn’t be travelling into the office today.  She is very understanding, and I just spent most of the day in bed with my laptop and heat-pack keeping me company, working my way through some of my tasks.  I did another session of self hypnosis to ease the pain, and it worked for most of the day.

Saturday I started to feel much better, however not up to going to the gym to do a circuit like I was supposed to.  I gave it a miss, and went along to the DJ festival to help with the Solar Trailer.  I managed to get through the day with a smile on my face, but deep down I was hurting quite a bit.  I just managed the pain with posture change and small walks, because I really wanted to last the day.  I had been looking forward to helping out for a few weeks, and my injury was not going to get in the way!  After having missed so many eco events because of it, I was determined to treasure this day.  I got home and put the heat pack on straight away, and listened to another pain management tape.  Both helped ease the pain and calm my mind.

Sunday was a great day.  Kim’s sister Lydia came over with some friends for a BBQ by the pool, and we all had a great time.  We met her boyfriend Matt, as nice guy, and her two friends, Becs and Leia.  I had one too many sherbets after the meal because of the pain and by the end of the day I was quite drunk.  It has been a long time since I had behaved this way, and it was a bit of a reality check for me.  I  had a good hard look at why I did this, and figured that I was trying to escape from the reality that I was not quite as healed as I thought I was, and that I still had quite away to go before I was rid of this injury for good.

This morning, once again, I put off travelling to the city and decided to work from home because of the pain.  I have been recovering in bed, doing bit of work where I could, and just trying to come to grips with attempting to get better without painkillers and too much discomfort.

So here I sit, back hurting and legs aching, and I have another gym session tomorrow morning.  I am going to take it extra easy and not push myself too much, but I know that I need to keep doing the exercise rehab because this is what has helped speed up my recovery in the last few months.  I believe that the pain is beginning to ease off now, and this week will be a lot better than the last.  With the ‘Walk against Warming’ happening this weekend in Melbourne, my goal is to recover enough so that I can do the walk relatively pain free.  I feel that even though I have this injury, this injury does not have me!  You can’t keep a good green Gavin down.

Wish me luck.

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Teena says

    November 11, 2008 at 00:17

    Oh Gav….I hear u and feel for u
    xoxox

    Reply
  2. greenfumb says

    November 11, 2008 at 07:28

    Poor you, I think back pain is the worst thing in the world. It permeates everything and makes life such hard work. I am free of it now (touch wood) but I can no longer dig my garden – poor hubby!

    Keep up the rehab and don’t be too hard on yourself if you overindulge on the sherberts, nobody’s perfect. Good Luck

    Reply
  3. john (dad) says

    November 11, 2008 at 09:30

    gav hope its not a relapse ,ou were starting to get over it and this happens. be positive and it should work out

    Reply
  4. belinda says

    November 11, 2008 at 10:33

    Hi Gav,

    Darn these saw toothed recoveries. I totally understand where you are coming from, the frustration and worry caused by one of these episodes just makes you want to crumple up and beg the universe sometimes.

    All you can do is keep up your rehab work and probably touch base with whoever created your program to see if they think you should adjust anything either long term or for a few weeks to give yourself a bit more space for recovery.

    Healing Thoughts
    Belinda

    Reply
  5. The neighbours says

    November 11, 2008 at 11:24

    Hope you feel better soon Gav.

    Reply
  6. wombat064 says

    November 11, 2008 at 14:52

    Chin up Mate !!! Look the world in the eye and say Never Give Up, Never Surrender.

    Back injuries are a bugga, slow and steady friend, slow and steady.

    Get well see ya soon
    Phil

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    November 11, 2008 at 15:25

    Gav life’s a bitch sometimes but keep on keeping on my dear thinking of you always LOVE mum

    Reply
  8. Gavin says

    November 11, 2008 at 17:17

    Thanks to everyone for the kind words of encouragement.

    I woke up with pain this morning, however after my exercise rehab session the pain started to ease, and has been decreasing all day. I think I am on the mend!

    Gav

    Reply
  9. greenerme says

    November 12, 2008 at 16:19

    Sorry to hear about your back pain Gav. I agree with greenfumb and say “back pain is the worst thing in all the world”.

    I am interested in this self hypnosis that you talked about. Do you mean meditation or is it something else? By any chance have you written a post on it?

    My husband is in very bad pain with his neck & shoulders. I am sure he would be keen to try anything that made you feel better for a whole day.

    Keep your spirits up Gav.

    Sarhn

    Reply
  10. Gavin says

    November 12, 2008 at 22:05

    Hi Sarhn. Self Hypnosis is a wonderful technique if you are susceptible to it. I wrote all about it in the post “The Power of the Mind”. It works very well for me. Your hubby should see if he can find a psychologist or hypnotherapist who specialises in pain management.

    Gav

    Reply
  11. greenerme says

    November 17, 2008 at 20:31

    Thanks Gav,

    I have just forward him the link to the post so he can read it tomorrow.

    Sarhn

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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