and another thing…

i don’t know if i have any kid readers…

…i kinda doubt it. this isn’t tiktok, so why would they care? i only ask because if i knew then what i know now i wouldn’t have kept as quiet. silence would NOT have been “golden” in this scenario. this child would have been seen AND heard (yeah, like that didn’t already happen!)

what i’m getting at is i woulda spoke up on that fateful day i wrenched my back and gotten myself x-rayed or looked at. i didn’t, because back then we were super strapped for cash (kinda like i am as i type this) and i didn’t wanna break my family financially. would it have made a difference? would i be all better now? probably not, but at least i would KNOW that.

i was running in the field between what is now navarro elementary and clear fork elementary (but back then was lockhart intermediate and lockhart primary, respectively) and the field has some of the biggest ground cracks i still, to this day, have ever seen. they’re big enough for a kids foot to fall in, which was what happened, but rather than snapping my leg or ankle i twisted the fuck outta my back (i’ve always been a big milk drinker, which we were all told gives us stronger bones and teeth, and while my teeth have all gone to hell (thanks, genetics!) at fifty one i still haven’t broken a bone and i’ve done more than my share of physically foolish shit!)

at my young age (in the double digits, but just barely) i literally felt like a rib had broken and the jagged edge was stabbing me in the back of my guts. it felt this way for MONTHS. made me come in eighth at track and field day (which broke my heart because i’d been practicing a LOT) and pretty much ruined that summer. it’s acted up from time to time since, and is normally kept in check by me keeping my lower back muscles fairly toned up, but when i slack on that (which i’ve done quite a bit lately) it opens up the possibility of that happening pretty dramatically and, here we are, a week later feeling a BIT better after it randomly locking up while i ate tacos, and still a fair degree of pain.

what makes matters worse is i can physically TELL that it’s a thing because my original mom memorial tattoo (cross around my belly button) is supposed to be perpendicular to the floor, but…

while i’ve had back issues before, even since i got this tattoo (2001) i’ve never noticed it sitting crooked with past issues, but it might have and i just didn’t notice. from left to right the pics are thursday, saturday, and monday. big difference between the first two, bit more subtle between two and three, but at least we’re trending in the right direction. all of the “lightning pain” is gone with most movement, and the general soreness isn’t as bad as it’s been. i’m down to about 20% of the pain meds i was taking late last week, so that’s good. guess we’ll see where things go from here…so far i feel i can avoid any chiropractic or other care.