I woke up on Tuesday in pain. I turned my head one way. Ouch. I turned my head the other way. That's better. I went back to sleep. A few hours later I woke to my alarm. I turned my head one way. OUCH! I turned my head the other way. Okay. Pinched nerve on my right side I guess. Got up, did normal day stuff, complained of neck pain, got chiropractic appointment for Wednesday, debated going to work. I decided that so long as I made sure I didn't have to look up I'd be fine. Cool. I take longer than I want noding Megaton Rainfall because it has to be just right and I can't get another day behind on Iron Noder. I'd intended to leave for work early so I could request an area that doesn't have any wall washing since that requires me to look up and crane my neck back. I did not leave early and when I'd arrived all of the areas had been assigned and asking for a different area would have been a hassle. I still could have done it but I'd have felt like an a-hole so just went to work and hoped for the best.
Big mistake.
By lunch I'd had a few brief spasms in the muscles that were over the pinched nerve. These spasm rated a solid 9/10 on my own pain scale where ten is incapacitation. It was that classic vicious cycle of tension creating pain, which creates more tension, which creates more pain. I was standing askew, asymmetrical posture signalling to myself and the world that I made a mistake coming to work today. By the fourth quarter of my shift I don't think agony would be too strong a word. It was brief intermittent burst of agony brought on by holding my head at the wrong angle or moving to fast rather than sustained agony. This is why I finished the shift rather than shuffling into the emergency room. Driving back was deeply unpleasant. Speed bumps, accelerating or decelerating too fast, and fast motions on my part where all enough to set off a spasm. The really fun part was getting ready for bed. Taking off my shirt was enough motion to set off my neck an I had to manually lay my head on my pillow by holding my head with one arm to keep the tension on that one part of my neck constant. All of that done I actually didn't have much trouble falling asleep.
The next day I was mostly better. I went to the chiropractor and that helped a fair bit. I also had the day off since it was Veteran's Day. I'll be going back to work today and while I'm not exactly perfect I am better. Plus I'm going as soon as I finish this daylog so that I can get in early before the area's are assigned and get one that doesn't require me to crane my neck.
IRON NODER THE THIRTEENTH