Alternate title: A hypochondriac in the age of corona virus.
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!).
I’m relieved for the happy ending: fever gone, no volcanic poop, no COVID. Sounds good!
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Once again I am reading this in your future where you have recovered already. This was scary – I would have been worried about Covid too. Glad you are feeling better!
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Every time I’m not feeling “right” I am sure I have the virus.
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Huge darn on sciatica. Scary on fever and headache. I have heard of a few people getting sick recently not from The Virus. Possibly more people out and about? Glad you are better, Kate.
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I am better but the fever/headache were scary.
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I’m glad you’re recovered! That sounded scary.
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Still working on it but much better.
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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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Sometimes even googling symptoms can be scary. Still have the sore leg and it’s been almost a week. Patience is running out on this but overall I’m good.
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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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That is scary!
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I know – you never saw anyone go to bed early and elevate her legs. I got one of those wedge pillows as a regular pillow would not stay in place. I didn’t know it was so common place.
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I have a leg wedge too. I don’t use it often. Sometimes I put a pillow under my knees to take the pressure off.
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That’s a good idea – I don’t especially like it but after that happened, I was scared. I have a small footstool I keep under the kitchen table and I rotate legs as much as I can. It is easier when I’m just reading online and not working to do that.
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So glad your system dealt with what ever it was with such a healthy immune response!
Hope you are over it and continue to feel better Kate 💛
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It takes time to recover from a nerve thing so it requires patience. This is the year of patience, isn’t it?
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Understandable to imagine the worst! Sciatic pain is awful ~~ I hope you’re feeling 100% soon. Catnip Martinis in celebration!! MJ
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I made new catnip bags this morning. I have three drugged cats.
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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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If I get a chance, I’ll get the test. They are not freely available here.
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I’m so glad you’re okay. Rest well, take care, and I’m sure the kitties will look after you. God bless.
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The cats have been staying close by. Whether it’s because they care or are worried their food supplier may croak is up for grabs! 🙂
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Aw, don’t worry, it’s both!
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That’s what I thought! 🙂
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Glad you survived a really rough weekend and lived to tell about it. Now, the question is – sheet or no sheet? 🙂
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We never got a definitive answer when there was a family discussion about it a few months ago. My bro golfs with a funeral director but then again with all this covid stuff I don’t think he’s golfing.
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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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The whole thing started last Saturday. I’m at the point where I’m annoyed it hasn’t completely gone away yet. Still get stiffness and soreness in the leg but no sharp pain. Getting old isn’t for sissies.
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That’s the truth for sure! 🙂
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I’m glad it was short-lived. These days it’s easy to worry and jump to conclusions.
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Yes and us hypochondriacs jump to conclusions fast!
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I just felt like there was something wrong. It is not like you to not reply to comments on a post. Very happy to hear that you are feeling better. Scary! Hope you sleep well tonight.
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I couldn’t sit at the computer without pain. It’s still not comfortable but I’m working it through.
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I understand. I wanted to bug you but I sat on my hands. I am glad I didn’t. But I was concerned… nothing keeps you from answering your comments 🙂 I googled sciatica and was surprised at its cause. I like to think of back pain as just “throwing out my back.” I read about how walking is good for it, you have one upped it there. Sending “working it through” vibes to you, Kate.
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It’s part of why I was so frustrated. Now that I’m walking quite a bit (40 miles a week!), I was surprised I got it. I gave good joints (thanks mom!) so I only get goofy stuff.
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Dang, I’m having sympathetic tingling in my left calf and heel… I need to get my butt and back off the couch!
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🙂
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That’s terrible, Kate. I hope that you are completely better soon!
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Me too! I’m a cranky patient.
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You should get tested. My bosses neighbor had symptoms for only 24 hours and was positive.
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Locally you have to have your doc sign off. I’m not sure he will if there are currently no symptoms. Yesterday I heard that having it gives you very limited protection for a nonoccurence. Boogers.
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Oh no. I thought that might be my only upside
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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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I am feeling better but I can easily turn into a basket case.
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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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I am on the good side of it all!
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Hope it stays that way!
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Scary! Glad you’re on the mend. Still got a problem with my back, but paracetamol is doing the job so at least I’m sleeping at night……………… Maggie permitting.
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Awww sweet Maggie. Last night I didn’t sleep well but there were other things going on. Hopefully tonight will be a good night.
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fingers crossed……………..
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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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I’m rarely sick. Never fevers so it worried me. It was around long before they knew so you never know…
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I’m so glad you are feeling better. What a wretched scare you had! Sending hugs from a safe distance!
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You are a wise woman keeping your distance. I feel like a walking disaster but at least it’s not covid-19.
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Thank heavens it wasn’t the virus!
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So glad to hear you’re doing better. These are scary times, no wonder you thought of the virus.
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I think of it every time I sneeze!
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So glad it wasn’t what you feared. As I was reading your post I kept thinking, she did outside dinning recently. Oh no. Glad you’re feeling better. That must have been scary.
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It was and I was thinking the same thing. Sciatica takes a while but the sharp pain is gone and I have a rather attractive limp.
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Hope you are on the road to recovery with the leg pain, Kate. Your short-lived fever may have knocked out whatever bug it was ~ our amazing immune system at work!
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You sound like my husband. I on the other hand was popping Advil to get rid of it. I hate getting sick in the summer. It just seems wrong. Who wants chicken soup or fleece blankies.
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I would pop aspirin to get rid of the headache you described . . . but a fever of 100 or 101 is often a good thing, raising your temperature just enough to kill the “invaders.”
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It got rid of both and nothing is hanging around except a gimpy leg so it must have worked. I will say that a fever of almost 102 is not a comfortable thing. Especially in the summer!
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Agreed.
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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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Yikes! That is scary. I may get the test to see if I had it. The fever/headache didn’t last long so I shrugged it off.
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Oh my goodness! I am so sorry you had such a rough couple of days, but glad you are feeling better! You may still want to call your doc anyway just to see if they can figure out what it was.
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Unless I get tested we may never know. I am nursing my limp now and trying to make people feel bad enough to do stuff for me! 🙂
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LOL! Hope that works out!
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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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This is the first time I had sciatica. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
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Yikes!! So sorry to hear this. Neither condition is a good diagnosis but hope you are well on the way to feeling better and pain free.
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I’m as close to normal as I get! Leg gets stiff and I have to walk it off but I somehow feel lucky.
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Yup, everyday upright seems like a good thing to me. 😊
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I always say any day you wake up is a good day.
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Amen!
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I’m so glad it was not what we currently fear… but as soon as fever is in the game all my senses are in nuclear meltdown mood… feel better and hugs to you….
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Nuclear meltdown is a perfect description. I was giving my husband instructions on how to feed the cats just in case.
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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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Hoping it’s in the rear view mirror soon. It seems like there is always something.
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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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I’m working on that.
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That must have beens scary. I’m so glad to hear you’re making headway in recovering. I think being scared every time a person gets a fever or feels sick is unfortunately going to be part of our new normal.
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It is. Even though it was unlikely since we don’t go anywhere, you always worry.
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I don’t think there’s anyway of stopping the thought from entering our minds. Just glad to hear you’re feeling better.
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Glad you’re getting better. Getting sick now is a scary thought. Even if it’s not COVID, who wants to go to the doctors/hospital?
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I know! My sis-in-law (age 90) had a trip to the ER over the weekend and it was scary. Our hospital has a separate entrance for covid patients but still….
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Oh dear, Kate! So sorry to read about your illness and also relieved to read you are on the mend. It’s hard not to think of Covid with any ache or cough in these uncertain times.
Deb
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A simple cough makes you sit up and wonder if you have a fever or can smell things. What is happening to us? Paranoid. Or perhaps more paranoid.
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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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All right if I must! (said with tons of attitude! 🙂 )
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(Sr. Staff advises drink lots of water – in case kidney, live, gall bladder inflammation. Maybe cranberry juice. A day or two without margaritas – but then. what fun would sunsets be? (A big thing hereto meet at the park and watch the scarlet sunsets from the dust).
I told him “oh, great. Another thing to worry about” but water fixes many things ( but not severe back wrenching in my experience)
HUGS and tell the cats to back off and not worry.
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You are not going to believe this but it all started Saturday evening and the thought of a margarita turned my stomach. I MUST have been sick.
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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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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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Yesterday I got to 10K steps. Sunday and Monday were dismal. When you can’t walk, you can’t fake it. If I would have coughed even once, I would have been at the ER!
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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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Sitting isn’t my friend. I get very stiff. Lying down I do not get stiff. Weird!
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Take care of yourself, Kate. Illness is NO fun, no matter what you label this version of it!
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You can say that again! My leg is much better but I can still feel the tingle and sometimes it’s uncomfortable.
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I always immediately imagine the worst scenario possible! That way, I’m never going to feel unprepared if the worst thing happens and grateful if it doesn’t!
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Unfortunately I do that too. It works great in life choices and consequences. In health crisis, it makes me nuts.
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