It was after 3:30 am, Thursday, April 25th, and I was in the emergency room with sciatic nerve pain. The struggle had been happening all that week. I noticed that it was bad on Monday (April 22nd), took Aleve for the pain, and it helped. Went to see my doctor on Tuesday (April 23rd), got the diagnosis, was prescribed meloxicam, advised me that I can take Tylenol in between. The pain was really difficult on Wednesday (the 24th), and then it got so bad that I couldn’t sleep through the night.

My family has been great. My brother took over helping Dad get to bed so I could heal. My daughter drove my wife and I to the ER since I couldn’t drive myself. Since arriving, the treatment went well, just a matter of giving time for the meds to work.

I tried to be careful. I even tried to do some stretching, as best I could recall from when I had back trouble before. Maybe now we can look into getting a Hoyer lift for Dad, especially to help with getting him into bed at night and out in the morning.

Later I saw an orthopedist, and he gave me another prescription. The steroid has helped in addition to the other meds, although I still had some tingling in my right foot, and the orthopedist advised me that the numbness and tingling were to be expected considering the type of injury that I have. I am sleeping at night, but the pain revs up again in the morning.

What a way to start a new birthday (April 21st). This can get better in time, so I aim to be patient. For anyone who has experienced similar pain, we know it’s hard, but thankfully it doesn’t last forever.

Recently I was led to question whether there could be a purpose for my pain. In times like these, we can choose to draw nearer to God or try to walk away from Him. I have chosen to draw nearer to Him for healing, and things have improved in the past month. I finished the meds from the orthopedist and the ER, and I continue taking the meloxicam with Tylenol as needed. The pain that used to rev up to a level 10 in the morning now revs up to about a 5. I also started physical therapy, and I am learning a new dimension of patience in the process of healing. After the physical therapy sessions are completed, we will see if the situation has improved or if we need to pursue other options, like shots and possibly surgery. I am hoping that, after physical therapy, I can return to the routine I had once before. In time we will see.

Thanks again to everyone who offered prayers and kind words, they really help with the healing process. Oftentimes we need to be reminded, and do our best to remember, as stated in 1 Peter 5:7, to cast all of our cares on Him (Jesus Christ), because He cares for us. God Bless You, and we’ll see how things go along the way.