Big deal-isn't a back spasm just a cramp in your back?

O  M  G!
Ever had a back spasm? I'm talking a full blown rib crushing spasm? I was introduced to the world of Spaz this week. 
Now, if you've been keeping up with my blog entries then you know that just under 4 weeks ago my horse fell while I was riding and she broke my foot.  Ouch. That hurt. It hurt BAD but I didn't shed a tear. Just went to hospital and if anyone tried to touch my broken foot I just kicked them with my 1 good one. Problem solved.

Now if you've ever used crutches before you know how EXTREMELY difficult it can make your life. Things you took for granted-like carrying a simple cup of coffee, were now impossible.  For the first week on crutches I drank all of my drinks at the kitchen counter. A friend(thanks Melissa) suggested a cup with a lid, which helped immensely but there were still other issues-like making dinner. That was not fun. 
Eventually the dr said I could start to crutch walk-this means putting my foot down slightly and walking on it while still putting most of my weight on the crutches.  Now I interpreted this to mean-you don't need crutches anymore-feel free to dance around the house! I was careful to only put weight on my heal(I broke the 5th metatarsal by the way-long bone on outside edge of left foot). Well after a day or two of that I was in pain so went back to the crutches(except when I was desperate for a cup of coffee!)
So I 'crutched' my way through life until my arms throbbed.  If you use them right you don't out any weight on the crutches under your arm pits, you put the weight into your hands.
Now it was around the end of week 3 that I realized how much I actually do! As a stay at home mom I'm often told-or overhear others say-that stay at home moms don't do much apart from watch soap operas etc.  Turns out that's not true!(fyi we don't even have cable tv so no soaps for me! I hate cable tv). Anyway-muscles were aching a bit but it seemed that was the only work out I could get. 
Then Wednesday my back started to hurt. Do you know where your rhomboids are? Those muscles at the base of your neck between shoulder blades. Anyway I was hurtin so I laid down on an ice pack and took some strong pills that I had in the house. Only things didn't get better-I got much worse! To the point that when Nikki the cat jumped up to lay on my stomach (something he does all the time) I couldn't even move to push him off! I couldn't take a breath! It was awful.
I called the dr to get some advice and while talking to the nurse she said I had to hang up and call 911 YIKES. She said that there was a good chance I had a blood clot in my lung! (double yikes!).
I have to tell you that by this point I was crying-it hurt that bad. I called my neighbour (Thanks Miranda) to come sit by me til the ambulance arrived cause I was freakin out! I'm telling you folks, I've had a broken leg, a broken arm and now a broken foot. I've had a c section after 24 hours of labour and none of it hurt like this. Don't get me wrong-labour hurts like a s.o.b but the contractions give you a small, tiny even, break in between. This was worse.
Anyway-ambulance arrived, lifted me onto one of those boards and carried me out of the house. I remember at this point I was shaking because it hurt so bad, but the shaking made it hurt more! It was nothing like a cramp, as I'd previously thought. I guess, never having had one-a cramp was the closest thing I could think of to compare it to, but I've had cramps and pulled muscles and this, folks, was worse!
Got to hoospital and was given a shot of pain killers and muscle relaxers. I'd already taken hydrocodone and between that and the shot I felt...exactly the same but now I had a soar spot on my bum from where she jabbed me! Gee thanks! Kick me while I'm down.  So they hooked up some iv meds. Great. Now I could almost take a breath without screaming inside. Then...oh god... They wanted me to move! They needed to take xrays and I had to sit up!
Anyway, long story short-it WAS a muscle spasm, they couldn't see any clots, and they sent me home with 4 bottles full of lovely medicines! Two days later I can almost move my right arm enough to shampoo my own hair, but i've learned my lesson about overdoing it.  They said that the spasm was most likely caused by using the crutches too much.  It's like they expect me to sit still all day and night and not move! Hello! Well one way or another I needed a break apparently. Took my pills when I got home and slept most of the next day away. 
Taking it easy(well, easier) now. Still aching but it's nothing a hand full of these pills can't fix!
Moral of the story is... just drink your coffee at the kitchen counter instead of trying to carry it while on crutches cause you'll get burned and you're probably overdoing it anyway and you will send your back muscles into spasms which hurt like a mother!  ((Is that too long of a sentence to be a moral? tough. So long as I'm stuck sitting here I'll type as much as I can! =D ))
Now, where can I get a t-shirt that says 'I survived the back spasm of 2011.?