I threw my back out helping Andrea move yesterday. It serves me right. I've had a sore back for months and it was pretty much the last straw. I hobbled home afterwards and tried to rest it, but it got worse to the point where I was suffering spasms that would send me to the floor in pain. It's seriously been the most painful thing I've ever experienced.

Some folks came over last night to hang out and we watched Batman Returns. I could barely make it to the washroom on two occasions. When I tried to get to bed I collapsed again and had to physically pull myself up into bed from the floor. When I woke up this morning I tried standing up but it wasn't happening. Ash called a nurse and she told me to head to emergency. I couldn't make it down the stairs, so Ash called an ambulance and the paramedics loaded me up.

It's been a day of firsts. I've never taken an ambulance to the hospital before. Not in the back, anyway. The paramedic asked me a few questions. I'd taken painkillers including a Tylenol 3 and they'd had no effect. Once at the hospital I was eventually loaded into a room. First time in a hospital bed. The doctor checked me out. More questions. The bottom line, I pulled a muscle and the tension is causing the spasms. She prescribed me Percocet. I took two at the hospital and in half an hour I was able to get up and walk around. I got into a wheelchair to wheel out and wait for Ian to pick us up. First time in a wheelchair! On the way back we picked up part of the prescription. The pharmacy is waiting for confirmation from the hospital to issue the rest.

I must say that Ash and Ian have been super people since I hurt myself. They've been getting me things, helping me out with the hospital trip, just generally making sure I'm okay. Ash stayed with me at the hospital and brought my stuff. They made me dinner. I told Ash earlier that I sometimes think about what would happen to me if I found myself in a situation where I'm left kind of helpless. I wonder who I can count on in such situations. I really appreciated their support.

The doctor said I should be okay in five to six days at the most. No partying for me tonight. But hey, Andrea's coming over later. I couldn't ask for a better Canada Day.

Andrea and I spent the majority of yesterday waiting. She slept in late and avoided work to go to the hospital to have a couple of things checked out, and the two of us were shuffled off to "Urgent Care" where we spent three or four hours waiting for the only doctor they had on staff to examine her. Afterwards we waited 20 minutes for the bus to South Keys, 15 minutes for our waiter at Denny's to bring us our cheque, and another 25 for the bus/train to come so that we could head home. A person can get exhausted waiting. Which is strange, because it's really just a matter of sitting there.

On our way back to my place from the hospital I ran into Brian Johnson on the bus, a prof of mine at Carleton during my undergrad. Brian was instrumental to my success at Carleton and served as the supervisor for my honours thesis. He was with his wife and their new son. I blabbed on about Vancouver for the five minutes I had with him. He mentioned that he had taken a year off and was heading back to teach a course for the summer. Definitely need to grab a beer with that guy.

I missed the South Keys Denny's. When I got home after the excursions I talked to my mother on the phone, watched The Big Lebowski, tootled around on the Internet and hit the sack.