This Time Health Won

I wrote a while back about when work and health collide. In that instance, I managed a compromise. These past few weeks though, health won out.

Back at the beginning of the fall show season, I managed to cause some minor damage to my abdominal wall. In twisting about to both hold up the back hatch of my vehicle and try to pull the tent frame out from under several cases of soap, I created minor tears in the bottom layer of muscle running from hip to solar plexus and also the ones running under the ribcage. I never even noticed this though because my system get so flooded with adrenaline throughout these events, unless I slash myself I don't much notice any discomfort aside from the expected aching feet. Then I expect to be horribly sore the next day. 

Don't let the size of the items fool you. Get them in a box, and they get heavy fast!

I mean come on. Between cases of products, equipment, display props, and the tent, I've been loading and unloading between 300 and 400 pounds of stuff twice each in under twenty-four hours, and largely by myself. I don't care who you are, that's a pretty intense workout. A bit of soreness for a couple of days afterward is to be expected.

During the show seasons, I sometimes work events consecutive weekends. This is especially true during the fall season, especially once November rolls around and the holidays are near. This past season was a really good one, but that success also meant I ended up turning an unnoticed minor injury into a moderate one. I still kept writing it off as normal work related soreness, and like any good WAHM, I kept going.

After three and a half months of this, the muscle injury became severe and eventually drove me to see the doctor. I'd become horribly run down, always wanting to sleep, I was in near constant pain, my stomach was distended, and I'd gained a fair bit of weight in a short period of time. All this too, I'd written off for a while as just normal, temporary, weight gain after going gluten free, the stress of the holiday season, and recovering from that bad cold we all got back at the turn of the year. But the symptoms also mimicked several potentially serious issues, so the doctor spent a couple of weeks running tests before they concluded I'd strained the deepest layer of muscle and kept reinjuring myself until it had become a severe injury.

So, I was given a couple of prescriptions along with orders to take it easy for a few weeks and give yoga a try.

It hasn't been easy! The spring season starts for me at the end of the month, and I have some new lines I want to have ready to debut. Plus, my body has been screaming for much more rest than I am used to taking. Usually, seven hours a night is plenty, but the first week and a half, my body was demanding nearly twelve hours of sleep a day. Ridiculous, huh? Thankfully Hubby was able to work from home that week, and I made big strides towards healing.

I still need him to help me get the ingredients out before I start soaping, but I have managed a bit this past week after I finally got some bookkeeping done. Watch for their introduction in the next few days along with the beginning of some videos from me.