Friday, June 26, 2015

Plank, Pain and Perspective

Last night at 2am I was jolted awake from a deep sleep by a searing pain. Like fire shooting down my right side.  It was so intense and immediate, I jumped out of bed - which seemed to make it worse. 
My assumption of course was digestive.  As a celiac that is always the first thought. "What did I eat?"
But my immediate list of reliefs...  bathroom,  drinking water,  ginger chews did nothing to relieve the ricocheting pain.

Panic started to take hold as I tried to think which organs were involved?  Or was it my intestines?  Was it all those cherries we picked and ate yesterday.  Did my appendix burst?  Was it a kidney stone and the pain was radiating?  Was it time to wake my husband and call an ambulance?  
Meanwhile I had just gotten a clean bill of health -  and a "you are doing great"  from my Doctor.  Now my insides were on fire!

I continued to drink water and tried to find a comfortable position as I contemplated the worst. As I turned slightly to the right the pain was momentarily soothed, calmed.  That gave me a moment of clarity. A moment was all I needed.


That is when I remembered the post-dinner plank pose family competition.  Ah ha. The plank pose. A brilliant core building exercise but not one to be under estimated, or to over-do.
And there it was,  the pain was shooting from under my ribs to my groin and could not be pin-pointed to an organ because it was muscular.
If I stayed in the right position the pain continued to be soothed and relieved.
So I got back into bed, gingerly, and found a position where it was not being aggravated.  And as I drifted off to sleep I was reminded that though so many issues are triggered or caused by celiac...  
It is not responsible for everything that goes wrong.

And this morning, gratefully, I am fine.

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