My Experience with a Back Injury While Helping My Daughter

Learn to find joy in times of suffering

Photo by Nicole Wolf on Unsplash

As parents, we often go to lengths to help our children, even if it means putting our own well-being at risk. Unfortunately, that is what happened to me back in January when I injured my back while helping my daughter dismantle her bed and carry it out of the house for disposal.

My princess has been bugging me to upsize her bed as she is now in college and needs a larger bed. She had been eagerly waiting before we decided on a date to go shopping for her new bed. She was happy she was finally getting her new bed, while I, on the other hand, was just excited to spend some quality time with my princess.

As we drove to the IKEA furniture store, she couldn't contain her excitement and talked about how she wanted a bed that was soft with large pillows where she could lean against and work on her iPad. She also wanted the bed to be big enough to allow her to stretch out and relax.

When we arrived, she wasted no time leading me to the bed section. She spends quite a bit of time trying out the different beds while I enjoy watching the excitement playing out on her face. Of course, I have to do my part as well, giving constructive comments and helping her evaluate the pros and cons of every bed she dives into. The way she tries her bed is by jumping in repeatedly, testing the softness of the different mattresses and pillows. It takes a while before she could finally settle on one bed.

At the cashier, after paying for the bed, her eyes were evidently lit when she was told the bed she had been dreaming of would be delivered in a couple of days. It had cost me hefty, but it was an investment well worth seeing the happiness sparkling in her eyes. We ended our outing with our favourite ice cream and hot dogs from the IKEA store, helping ourselves to the ketchup, mayo and mustard sauce, something we enjoy doing after every trip to IKEA.

Back home, I began dismantling her old bed frame to make space for her new bed to come. The task looked simple, but it was laborious to unscrew and remove the headboard, footboard, and side rails. Despite the bed being old and bulky, I managed to take it apart with some sweat but without major issues. All the while with my princess watching and smiling by my side. Of course, she does help with the little things like vacuuming off the dirt and debris, plus handing me the different handy tools. The real challenge came when I had to carry the pieces down the stairs and out of the house.

As I started lifting the heavy pieces, I could feel the strain on my back. But I didn't want to let my daughter down, so I pushed through the initial discomfort and continued to carry those bulky pieces down. After a few trips back and forth, I started to feel pain in my lower back.

The pain started as a discomfort in the back but slowly grew in intensity, and after a day, it became so severe that I could barely stand up straight. For the next two weeks, I couldn't even drive or stand for a prolonged period. I had to lie down on the floor to straighten my back, and the pain was so intense that I couldn't sleep for the next one to two weeks. The slightest body movement can cause searing pain, making even the simplest tasks seem impossible.

Desperate for relief, I decided to go to the chiropractor for a full back massage. The massage itself was extremely painful, but I knew it was necessary to start the healing process. The chiropractor was able to loosen my tight muscles and realign my back, providing some much-needed relief. After the session, I felt a little better and could move around with slightly less discomfort. But soon as I got home, the pain would be back in full force.

Due to the severity of my back injury, I was given MC for a week and thereafter worked from home for another week. It was a difficult adjustment, as I am used to working in a professional setting with colleagues and a structured routine. However, I knew that I needed to take the time to heal and not exacerbate the injury by sitting in the office for extended periods.

Working from home was essential because I had to take frequent breaks lying down flat on the cement floor to straighten my back and adjust my posture as needed to relieve the pain. I also appreciate the flexibility to schedule physical therapy and chiropractic appointments during my workday. While it was painful, it was necessary to ensure that I made a full recovery and did not risk further injury.

It took several weeks of rest, physical therapy, and visits to the chiropractor before I was able to regain full mobility. I couldn’t even write for that two weeks, although I was lucky to have written several pieces ahead of time so that such an incident would not affect my publishing schedule on Coffee Times.

The entire experience taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of listening to my body and not push too hard. As much as I wanted to think I am still young, I had crossed my fifties, and there are showing signs of ageing. I had to be mindful of my posture when carrying heavy stuff, especially if it is too heavy. The road to recovery was long and challenging, but with patience and perseverance, I was able to recover fully and hopefully learned my lessons to avoid future injuries.

In the end, I didn’t get to assemble my princess’ bed which I would have loved to do, but instead, I paid the IKEA employee to do it for her while both of us did the smiling and contributed our magical eye power by the side together.

Such is the fun I had in times of torture. As the Chinese say, we need to learn to find joy in times of suffering—“苦中作乐.”

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