Friday 26 September 2014

The Agony and the Ecstasy (with precious little of the latter)


The nearly empty camp site at Barcdy


When I had been packing up on the previous day, ready for my walk, I had a bit of an achy sore back.  I hadn’t thought much of this at the time and it hadn’t troubled me on the walk or in the evening at Barcdy Camp Site. However, during the course of the night it became really painful.  Now I am the world’s greatest expert on bad backs.  In the late 1990s I went through four years of increasingly excruciating pain in my back with accompanying sciatica.  I had lots of visits to the doctor and the physio, all to no avail. My GP eventually explained to me that back pain can be psychosomatic and brought on by stress.  As you can imagine that explanation went down very well with me.  A new GP, and at last an MRI Scan, and I was told I had a tumour growing on my spinal cord, and that if it had gone unchecked for much longer would have left me paralysed.  Not quite all in my mind then?  The subsequent operation was like a miracle cure, though I was left with permanent weakness in one leg. because of nerve damage.  Ten years later, in the mid noughties, and I was suffering again.  My record drug intake was 26 prescription painkillers in a day to try to control the agony.  I was a living zombie for several months (some might ask what’s changed) until another operation sorted me out.  So I am a bit nervous about my back.

Anyways, I slept very badly, and when I came to get up I could barely move.  My back was locked, very painful and I could hardly bend.  My efforts to dress in the Oookstar inside the Trail Star would have been comical to an observer.  After several attempts I sort of managed to lasso my feet with my trousers to get them on to make myself decent.  But I couldn’t reach far enough to get my socks on, or my trail shoes.  Fortunately, I had thrown the Hi Tec Zuuk camp shoes into my backpack when getting ready for the trip.  These are slip ons and with an effort I managed to get my sockless feet into these.  After a miserable half an hour or so I got my gear packed up, but there was no question of making a brew or getting any breakfast. It was clear that my trip was over.  I had a spine jarring walk of a couple of miles in the Zuuks to a railway station and a ticket home.  This was really frustrating as the sun was out, no rain was forecast for days and the best 50 km of my planned walk was coming up.  A week later and my plan to join up with Mad 'n' Bad, Carl and Lynsey in the Yorkshire Dales has also been cancelled.  “C’est la vie”, as an old Frenchman once said, and “ donnez moi des Ibuprofen, s’il vous plait”.

10 comments:

  1. Hope that you're feeling better now - bad backs are a bugger!

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  2. That doesn't sound nice David. Let's hope this episode settles without the need for surgical steel. Take it easy !

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  3. Bummocks! I suffered a trapped nerve in my neck a few years ago when my David was away for a couple of months. Even breathing was excruciating. Being stubborn (and unable to drive, not least because we had no car at the time) I insisted on baking a cake for our youngest's 7th birthday. A mid-bake disaster led to sone terrible burns that didn't even take my mind off it. I still have bother with it so I can sympathise with how it really gets into your head. Constant pain is physically and mentally debilertating. I do hope you get the spring back into your step soon.

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  4. Commiserations. Until four years ago, I had never had back problems. Then lifting my rucksack into the car boot, something went. Ever since then I've had "episodes". Nowhere near as bad as you, but still painful, so I can sympathise. I've found I've had to be quite careful with the Trailstar as it requires a bit of twisting and turning to get in and out of. Perhaps the new death tarp from ZPacks will be better. Get well soon.

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  5. Ouch! Hope it gets sorted soon David

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  6. At the risk of sounding repetitive of comments already made, I do hope it resolves itself of its own accord, and as swiftly as possible.

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  7. Oooh.
    This doesn't sound good. I hope it clears up, Dear Thing!
    :-(

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  8. Thanks to you all for your sympathy and putting up with my public whinging. As it came on suddenly I think it is just one of those things and will clear completely soon. I think the more sinister problems are heralded by a gradual onset. I am still taking the tablets and meanwhile missing out on the last of the good weather and what is left of the light evenings.

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  9. Really sorry to hear that David, after all your careful planning to ensure a copious selection of tea shops on route, you only got to enjoy one. Hope it's just a bad morning twinge and nothing prolonged.

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  10. These things happen, John. After a week or so it all seems to be clearing up nicely. I am hoping to get on a hill later this week to check it out if I can finish the next chapter of my MA dissertation.

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