Roots 1 Body 0, Look For The Rebound

Well, I am back.

I was not doing so well, on Saturday I was pulling roots out of the garden from an old tree that I am trying to get rid of and found it was stronger than me.

Here is the story. If you have ever pulled the root system out of the ground before you would know just how much damage it can do to a garden. The root system will dominate everything. It will strip moisture and nutrients from the soil and strangle any other plant within its grasp.

Believe me when I tell you that this tree was only started one year ago when my wife decided that she wanted shade in this area. In one years time this tree grew to be 8’ high and would have taken up way to much space if I would have let it stay. In the fall I cut it down and left a 1’ stump.

We started planning our new garden in the fall and I knew that I had the task of removing the root system. Come Saturday I started digging and pulling. I got a hold of one root and started pulling and out it came about 20’ I think. Then came the second one, this was not as easy as the first. I pulled and pulled but to my surprise my body gave before the root did.

As I pulled I heard a pop. My wife heard a pop and that was it. I immediately let go of the root and gasped for air. The pain was so incredible that I couldn’t breath. My wife thought the pop sound she heard was the root breaking but much to both of our surprise it was me breaking.

After a while the pain subsided and I was back in the garden working on that root system. I finally got the rest of it out and called it a day. After a nice hot shower and a good dinner I was feeling pretty good. I was a little sore but nothing I couldn’t handle.

Sunday morning I woke early and to my surprise I couldn’t get out of bed. I woke my wife for help and we both ended up downstairs with the coffee on. From what I could tell I thought I had a broken rib. The day went on and I worked on the garden, planting and all and didn’t let the pain stop me. I went to bed that night and woke early for work the next day.

What I do for a living is a very physical job. I am a Receiving manager in a very large retail store and Monday is a delivery day. As it turns out I was down three people for that day so into the 48’ trailer I went to give the guys a hand. We unloaded about 1200 pieces with an average weight of about 20 to 50 lbs. (Lots of pain) but I didn’t let that stop me.

As the day came to a close and dinner was over I sat at this computer and was getting ready to write in this blog but I couldn’t get comfortable. I stopped what I was doing and decided to turn in early. I went upstairs and started having incredible pain. I have never had pain like this before. My abdominal muscles were contracting and every time they did I would let out a yell in pain. This went on for about an hour and my son was about to call 911. I think my family was scared and I must admit I was also scared. The pain started to subside a little and I decided to call out of work the next day and go to the doctor’s office.

The results are a cracked rib and the flesh torn from the bone. Today I will find out just how bad it is as the x-rays are back and my wife has to call for the results. I am back to work but on light duty and am bored out of my mind. As I said before I am a physical person and everything I want to do requires me to be physical. I just can’t do that right now.

The worst part about this is I can’t cough; I can’t sneeze, bend or move suddenly. The only thing that keeps playing over and over in my mind is what the doctor said to me. “You are not 25 your body won’t hold up like your 25. You have to realize you are 50”. What a blow to my ego.