So a couple weeks ago, we ordered a huge rag rug from Crate and Barrel. When I got home from work on Monday, the doorman let me know it had arrived. I saw that it was a relatively small box for such a huge rug, but when I tried to pick it up I realized it wasn’t going to happen, so I decided I’d let Chris handle it, which he did. About twenty minutes later, we were unrolling the rug in our apartment and my back exploded, killing me instantly.

Okay, maybe the death part is a little bit exaggerated. But it really was pretty dramatic - out of nowhere, the muscles in my neck, my left shoulder, and the entire left side of my back all started spasming, which was unbelievably painful. I’m assuming it was because I tried to pick up the rug box and probably did so sloppily, but I really don’t know. After a few minutes, things seemed to settle down a little bit, but it still hurt quite a bit and over the course of the night it actually got much worse.

I stopped being able to lie down in any position at about 3am, and spent the next several hours alternating between trying to sit on the couch with a lot of pillows propping me up and trying to lie down on the bed in one position or another. Any time I shifted position I would get this horrible sharp pain through the left side of my back - the kind where you can’t even breathe until it stops. Advil, of course, didn’t do shit, and I didn’t make it into work yesterday.

Today is significantly better than yesterday, but it’s still not a lot of fun. My range of motion is pretty limited; I can’t really turn my head very far or look up at anything, and using my left arm for things is generally a bad idea, as I discovered while trying to hold onto a pole on the subway this morning. I’m still taking ibuprofen and it seems to be helping a little bit now, and I managed to get to work at least.

The general consensus seems to be that I’ve either pinched a nerve or strained a muscle, and that either way I can expect it to continue hurting for about a week, which I’m really looking forward to. Yes, I’m icing it - though not while at work, for obvious reasons. In any case, that’s the last time I try to pick up a fucking rug.