Chauffeuring

Last Sunday was a little crazier than usual.

The day was normal enough, aside from having to help my husband pull on his pants.

That's happened once before, when he had this awful unexplained pain through his abdomen, groin, and back.  He spent a year trying to figure out what was causing this pain.  There were several days I had to help him dress himself.  And anxiously watched him hobbling about like an old man.

It was a stressful time,

the not knowing.

He went to his doctor, had MRIs, x-rays, any test we could think of.  That doctor just prescribed naproxin.  Which was completely and totally ineffective.

It was terrifying to watch my husband in so much unexplained pain

how much it affected our daily life

how fearful I was for our future, when our livelihood depends on his physical fitness.

I'm so grateful that he found a massage therapist who knew exactly what the problem was.

His psoas muscle.

Nope, I didn't make that one up.  There really is a psoas muscle (though lots and lots of people have never heard of it) it can be life changing when it cramps up on you.

Thankfully, we were able to get him a combination of massage therapy and acupuncture to clear it up.

Until last Sunday when he tried to stretch his tight psoas on the kitchen counter after we'd put the kids in bed.

It was like a domino mega-cramp.  Poor guy couldn't move.  He was stuck, twisted on the counter top until we called the medics to come dope him up enough to move him onto a gurney and take him in to the ER.

It was hard to see him in so much pain, maybe that's how he felt while I labored with our first baby...  So helpless.

After hanging out in the hospital until 2am I brought him home and have been his chauffeur ever since.

Which is totally fine, if it leads to a more healthy husband.

Really, it's been fun to spend this time with him and not worry about projects and the 100 million things that have to be done hanging over our heads.

But I cannot believe how much time we have spent in a car over the week.

Want the chauffeur tally?

It's a little mind blowing.

Keep in mind we live in the boonies...

Over this one week span our family has had:

5 massage appointments

2 acupuncture appointments

3 physical therapy appointments

2 doctor appointments

1 hair cut

1 basketball practice

1 band concert

and 1 basketball game

Plus fresh cookies dropped off for the fantastic medics who came to the rescue (just before I headed north to staff a public hearing).

We still have a massage appointment on Sunday, and Monday holds a massage, acupuncture and another doctor appointment...

Needless to say, it was absolutely delightful to pause a moment at the Percival Park with the kids, hop on a swing, and enjoy the soothing rhythm of swinging in the fresh air.

In all the hectic running around trying to accomplish every thing that has to be done, it's so nice to stop for a minute and breathe.

I really need to do that more often.

And I'm so very, very thankful to have health insurance that covers massage, acupuncture, and physical therapy.

I feel so fortunate we have these resources to bring him back to constant motion we're all used to, to see the old Mark coming back to us.

Hallelujah!