Quasimodo returns

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Alternate title: A hypochondriac in the age of corona virus.

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Life was going well until Saturday when I ran into a kerfuffle. I developed a shooting pain down my leg. I was able to walk it off and all was good. Four hours later I could barely walk. The pain was excruciating. My diagnosis was sciatica. Pain meds, hot pad and taking it easy was my response.

Sitting was most uncomfortable. I did better standing and lying down. Sunday morning dawned a beautiful day but my leg did not. I was having both chills and fever. That doesn’t come with sciatica. I took my temperature and it hovered at 101.4. I never have fevers. Then a magnitude 10 headache started. I never get headaches.

I knew it. I must have the dreaded virus. I was thinking about writing down cat care instructions for the beloved husband who would surely take care of them after I was gone. Then I remember my sis-in-law’s discussion about whether they cremate you naked or with a sheet over you. Now it seemed to matter.

Sunday was the worst but by evening, the fever broke. The headache left shortly afterward. I’m very grateful for drugs.

I was so exhausted I couldn’t even google sciatica properly. In the end that’s a good thing because while headache and fever weren’t part of it, the possibility of losing bowel control was.  Volcanic poop! Who would have thought of that. Yikes!

Monday was better. I now have a sore leg. All that is left is a Quasimodo gait. Bowels are in check.

So what was it? I’ll never know. Maybe there is a 24 hour version or I caught something else. It will be a mystery of life. Just like my cats, I only get sick on holidays or weekends. No point in calling the doc now. Worst is over and I’m on the down slide.

It was a scary 24 hours. Stay safe and don’t assume every ache or pain is covid-19 (like I do!).

103 thoughts on “Quasimodo returns”

  5. My mom had a good friend who bought one of those big medical self-diagnosis books. This was long before the internet and Web M.D., etc. Mary asked my mom if she would like the book as she and her husband constantly were diagnosing every ache and pain and worrying about it. My mom took the book and spend the better part of a day reading it and after a few days’ time, handed it to me to take downstairs as she too, had fallen victim to reading and worrying. That book is downstairs somewhere – I use Google. Glad you are on the upswing Kate!

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      • Yes!!! Sorry to hear you have the sore leg and that puts a cramp on your walking as well. Last 4th of July I came home from a 5-mile morning walk at the Park and had a red rash all around my lower calf and ankles on both legs. It wasn’t there when I went out. I Googled it – found pictures and was horrified. A type of vascular dermatitis. I’ll put a link to show what it is at the end, though this story has no pictures. But my mom, the last 25 years of her life, had cellulitis in her lower legs, and it looked just like that. She was on antibiotics on/off to self-medicate and when she had a bad flare-up, they’d admit her to the hospital for a week for IV Vancomycin (at that time, the most-potent IV antibiotic available). Gradually, hospitals no longer admitted people for IV antibiotics for cellulitis; you had to go to an Infectious Disease Clinic, sometimes twice in one day, every day for a week, to combat the infection. That’s what we did the last time. She’d get a bag of antibiotics which took about 90 minutes each time. But I had not gotten scratched, nor an infection, just walked on a hot day … I researched so much, growing more scared and it was a holiday on top of it. I was elevating my legs through the holiday weekend to get rid of it. I didn’t walk until the whole rash was gone – it faded away. All the articles recommended compression stockings which I bouught, but I was/am scared to use them. I am thinking “blood clot” – or something serious. No way. It’s happened one time this year, but no angst over it since it is common, and elevation took care of it and it lasted just one or two days. But I wish you could have seen the look on my face when I took off my crew socks and saw my reddish-purple legs! https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4484114-why-hikers-rash-happens-and-how-make-it-less-likely

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  8. It’s never good when a mystery illness kicks the stuffing out of us, but this is not the year for it! I too would have been leaping to worst case scenario and planning my appropriately physically-distanced funeral 😕 Glad it was short lived (although I’m sure it felt like a lifetime).

    Be well, Kate, and I hope that mystery illness does not revisit!!

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  11. So happy you are OK……..I am dealing with the dreaded sciatica right now but thanks to some stretching exercises sent to me by a fellow “Sciatica Sister” it’s getting better. What a pain – literally! times are tough but adding the “Quasimodo Shuffle” to things is like adding insult to injury. Glad you’re better………………..!

    Hugs, Pam

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  16. Oh no! My MIL gets (or, is it “has”?) sciatica so I know it’s a painful condition. She never complains about anything but when it’s bad I know she struggles. Your fever and headache is even more worrisome. I don’t blame you for fearing the worst. I think I’d get a test just in case. I’ve heard the symptoms can sometimes go away and come back. Can you imagine how scary it will be next cold and flu season? What we normally would take in stride and soldier through will turn us into worried basket cases. I hope you are feeling better!

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  17. Sciatica pain is awful! My Mom sees a chiropractor a lot to help when hers flares up. Sorry you had it and then got a fever on top of it, UGH! What a way to spend a weekend, but so glad that’s all it was and that you are on the rebound! Stay well!

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  19. I imagine the worst because I’m usually never sick. Glad you are ok and on the mend. I was sick enough to go to the doctor in December. Upper respiratory, they said. But they were not looking for this virus at that time. I still think it could have been it. Take care, Kate. Sciatica is not fun! ~Elle

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  24. That is scary! Did you do a COVID test?

    I do know a family that caught COVID (Dad is an ER doctor) and ALL of them presented differently. The father had it first, with a terrible fever and sweats that lasted a week, but weren’t bad enough for hospitalization. He lost 15 pounds, but was back at work within 2 weeks. The mom got it next, with the terrible cough that lasted months (again, no hospitalization). She’s still battling weakness on her left side and lung and heart issues. The 14-year-old son was sick for 36 hours with a fever and stomach issues and then back to lifting weights and running. The 17-year-old daughter was asymptomatic.

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  26. Yikes! So glad you’re feeling better. Like you and everyone else I know, we all seem to think every discomfort or ailment might be an onset of COVID. Your situation was understandably more than just a mere “sensation,” though. I have a sister who struggles with sciatica as does a former boss. Here’s to dodging bullets! – Marty

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  29. Phooey! That’s a lousy thing to happen and I’d be like you: WORRIED. I’m glad you’re doing better and have no idea what it could have been. Not a clue, but instead will say the obvious, take care. Be safe, huh?

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  30. Oh I was so frightened for you at the beginning of your post! First I thought it was BigFoot attacking but the fever and the other horrors made it look like something else. I would have guessed Covid too! And now it is all gone! Thank Goodness! Stay well. Stay well.

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  34. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing? Worry is the big killer (I always envy the air-head. Their life must be so much more pleasant)
    Glad you are feeling better. Here we are dealing with late clouds of Saharan dust – every time I go out I sneeze like crazy. The neighborhood is probably running long social distance away. Some of that blew your way last weekend, so maybe that was part of it – allergies are pretty irritating and cause inflammation. I always get headaches with fever – so when it stops, I feel better for 2 reasons – hope yours is done, too.
    Not being able to sit is a wretched thing…the car trips to Starbucks can be excruciating (but necessary…for the headache relief HAHA)
    You’re probably fine – even if you had a touch – you have been so careful as instructed.
    Hang in there…I will worry about you…and the cats…what about the mouse rehoming? That’s it. You have no choice but to live on. By popular demand.

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  35. I am glad you are feeling better. I would have imagined covid as well. Here we can get a cheapish antibody test after a couple of weeks to check. Either way you probably need to isolate for a few days. Did you loose your sense of smell?

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    • No. Only headache and fever lasting less than 24 hours. I was going to call my doc about a test on Monday but everything was gone. It doesn’t go away that fast so it may have been related to my leg issue.

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  36. I am the same about being convinced everything could be Covid -19. With my asthma I sometimes cough…sure it is Covid-19 every time. I wondered why I was starting to catch up a little to you on the Fitbit…so sorry for the leg pain! (And the rest of it.)

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  37. I’m glad you’re feeling better and it was a short-lived bug, Kate. Hopefully your husband won’t come down with it. Sciatica is the worst. Try to avoid sitting on a sofa or anything that isn’t firm, until it settles down. Take care!

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