This morning I have a doctor’s appointment to figure out what’s going on with my back. Over the past several days, the pain has become much worse and nearly impossible to ignore.

It started as lower right back pain, but now it spirals downward in a strange, radiating pattern — wrapping around my thigh, then shooting straight down my leg all the way to my foot. Walking is tricky at best. I can take maybe two to four steps upright before the intense pain kicks in, or I can shuffle around stooped over at almost a 90-degree angle, which oddly makes the pain more manageable.

Sitting is out of the question. After just a few minutes in a chair, the pain flares and forces me to stand. The only position that gives me any real relief is lying on my couch with my lower legs slightly elevated. When the pain is at its worst, I’ve found a couple of stretches that help — either pulling my knee up to my chest or resting my ankle and gently stretching my bent leg downward.

Even getting dressed has become a bit of a challenge. Every waistband, seam, and bit of fabric seems to press exactly where it hurts most, making clothes feel more like punishment than comfort. So you can imagine how I’m “dressed” while lying here on the couch, trying to find the most comfortable position — let’s just say modesty has taken a back seat to relief.

I’m hoping the doctor can figure out what’s causing this and how to treat it. At this point, I just want to walk upright again without feeling like someone’s driving a hot poker into my back and leg.

I’ll update you all later when I know more.

Have any of you ever experienced something like this? How did you cope while waiting for answers?

UPDATE: After three weeks of worsening right-sided lower back pain and sciatica, I followed up with my doctor this morning. The pain radiates from my lower back through my glute and spirals down my leg to the top of my foot, sometimes feeling like fire in the lower leg. It gets worse when I try to walk upright or wear anything that puts pressure on my waist. There have also been some odd sensory issues, like feeling a blanket over me when there’s nothing there. My physical exam results point to likely nerve root involvement—probably L5, maybe L3 or L4—but thankfully, no red flags like weakness or foot drop. Dexamethasone (a steroid) hasn’t made much of a difference, but oxycodone gives me a few hours of relief.

The current treatment plan includes continuing with the steroid and anti-inflammatory meds, switching to a new muscle relaxer (Flexeril), and increasing my oxycodone for better pain control. I’m also staying on gabapentin and Tylenol. My doctor has ordered X-rays of my lumbar spine, which are required before the spine specialist will see me. We discussed the possibility of combining that with my upcoming liver MRI at UVM, but unfortunately that’s not possible. The liver MRI is highly specialized to measure the extent of scarring in my liver and uses different specifications than a spinal MRI. On top of that, the hospital intends to bill insurance for two separate MRIs, not one. Most MRIs for back pain aren’t done unless the problem lasts more than six weeks, and I’m currently at week three. So for now, we’re proceeding with the X-ray and spine referral, and I have a work note excusing me through next Monday. If things don’t improve, an MRI and physical therapy may be next.

My back pain got considerably worse over the weekend, and by last night it was unbearable enough that I ended up in the ER. They gave me some stronger painkillers and sent me home, but nothing has really helped so far. I tossed and turned all night, trying to find a comfortable position — there wasn’t one.

I’m hoping to get in to see my doctor today and figure out what comes next. Fingers crossed for some relief soon.

I ended up taking a sick day yesterday because I woke up with a migraine. The migraine had actually started Monday, and then a night of thunderstorms kept me awake for much of the night. When I got up Tuesday morning, the migraine was still hanging on, so I knew I wasn’t going to make it to work.

Thankfully, the headache finally eased up before noon yesterday. My back, which has been bothering me for two weeks now, felt a little better but still not great. I already had a massage scheduled for the afternoon, and I was hopeful that would help.

The massage therapist focused mostly on my right side — where the back, neck, and shoulder pain have been concentrated — and she said my muscles there were really tense. She really dug into my shoulder and back, and while that definitely helped loosen my back a bit, my shoulder was sore afterwards from how much work it took to get those knots to release.

This morning I have more movement in both my neck and back, which is an improvement, but the pain itself isn’t much better yet. My doctor’s office told me to call them back this afternoon if I’m still hurting after my muscles have had time to relax fully from the massage. I really hope that happens by then, but at this point I just don’t know.

With all this going on, I probably won’t have an art history post ready this week, but I’ll see what I can put together later on if I feel up to it.

I hope all of you are doing well — the week is already half over, so we’ve got the weekend to look forward to. Hang in there, and take care of yourselves.

On Monday, I wrote about the back and abdominal pain that made my weekend so miserable. Tuesday, I went to see my doctor to try to figure out what was going on. He ran some tests and was able to rule out kidney stones, a kidney infection, and any obvious gallbladder problems—though, as he put it, nothing could be ruled out 100%.

When I told him how my back pain started the week before, after standing and giving tour after tour to high school kids at the museum, he nodded knowingly. He felt the knots in my lower back (which I had already discovered myself), and then did a thorough check of my abdomen. After he finished poking around, his conclusion was that I strained my back during those tours and probably caught some kind of intestinal virus from one of those “little monsters”—his words, after I joked about losing the immunity I used to have when I taught high school nearly a decade ago. Apparently, years away from a classroom full of teenagers means my immune system isn’t as prepared for their germs anymore.

So the working diagnosis is a combination of back strain and a mild viral gastroenteritis or colitis. He recommended a probiotic, being gentle on my stomach, avoiding anything that would make my back worse, and keeping an eye on symptoms. He told me to call the clinic by Thursday if things hadn’t improved.

Well… it’s Thursday morning, and I can’t say I’ve noticed much improvement yet. Ugh. So I’ll be calling the office this morning to see if they can advise me or hold me over through the weekend since tomorrow is a holiday. Unfortunately, I’m the only person at the museum today, so running to the doctor might be tricky. But I do have a deep tissue massage scheduled for Tuesday afternoon—just couldn’t get in sooner with the holiday.

For now, I’m muddling through. The silver lining? My migraines have been minimal lately thanks to the botox and other meds, so at least that hasn’t been piled on top of everything else.

I’ll keep you all updated if there are any new developments tomorrow. Fingers crossed that a little more rest and care will start to turn things around.

Stay healthy, everyone—and if you’re around high schoolers, don’t forget: those little monsters carry more than just noise and chaos.

P.S.: I should say, though, that the students I gave the tours to were actually wonderfully behaved kids—attentive, engaged, and full of intelligent questions. They really were good tours, and it was a pleasure to share the museum with them.

It’s been a rough one.

This weekend has been full of pain—head, back, and stomach—and not the kind that fades with a good night’s sleep. The headache is, unfortunately, part of my usual chronic migraine pattern. For me, pain doesn’t like to travel alone. When something flares up in my body, it often invites a migraine along for the ride. And this time, it brought friends.

For the past week or so, I’ve been dealing with lower back pain. It ebbs and flows—sometimes tolerable, sometimes so intense I can barely move around the house. I’ve had worse episodes in the past, but that doesn’t make this one any easier. I’ve been using a heating pad, and while it gives me temporary relief, it’s just that—temporary.

To make matters worse, a bout of stomach pain decided to join the party. No clue if the three are connected or just coinciding at the most inconvenient time. Either way, it’s made for a miserable few days.

Today, I’m taking a sick day. I need to rest, let the heating pad do its magic, and take a muscle relaxer to see if I can ease this back pain. If I’m not better tomorrow, I’ll be giving my doctor a call. I know when it’s time to stop pushing through and start taking care of myself properly.

I hope your Monday is starting out much better than mine. Wishing each of you a healthy, pain-free start to the week.