I’m back. Here’s where I’ve been. Most of you should not care, but for those wanting a medical update, here’s the tale.
Two weeks ago, on Sunday, Jan. 11, I lost a test of strength with bedding on laundry day. As I’ve already recounted, My feet flew out from under me; I flew up and fell hard on my back. That Thursday, I went to urgent care (yes, should have gone sooner), where a CT scan revealed a compression fracture to my L3 vertebrae.
I was in pain but felt it was in control, so I (stupidly) refused pain meds. After all, I”d driven myself to my teeth cleaning and to a board meeting; I got around.
But the next day, the pain got worse, drastically, unbearably worse. I started feeling crappy overall and lost my appetite. That Saturday, I simply could not get out of bed. I couldn’t even move myself away from its edge. In the dark, I fell out of bed with another thud.
Sunday morning, as snow fell, EMTs lugged me downstairs to the ambulance and Morristown Hospital. Because the drastic increase in back pain and the fever were coincident, the first hypothesis was that I had a spinal infection. The spinal specialist said he’d never seen such a thing. An MRI, a CT scan, and an X-ray backed him up.
Meanwhile, the infectious disease doctor ordered a huge battery of tests and a blood culture. He put me on aggressive, IV antibiotics, dripping from my personal Festivus pole. Two mornings later, the doctor came into my room, excitedly announcing, “It’s growing! It’s growing!” Strep bacteria were growing in the cultures. He knew what to treat.