A surprise visitor came to our house last week, but it was definitely not invited! Last week, COVID-19 re-entered our home. Dr. Carol and I, both, tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic.
This round was a little different than the last time though. Our first positive test came back in 2021. The world viewed COVID-19 much differently back then. When we tested positive in 2021, it was a little shameful. A couple of years ago, I was hesitant to call the patients that I had seen the day before my positive test, but I knew that I needed to let them know and it was the right thing to do. At that time, some people were upset, and a few were nonchalant about any potential exposure.
Fast forward to this past week. We decided, again, to do the right thing, Dr. Carol and I called all of the patients that we were in contact with the day that our symptoms began. To our surprise, this time people did not seem concerned at all, but instead thanked us for our honesty. Most were grateful for the heads up. Some were more concerned about how we were feeling, and were not at all concerned about their exposure.
During my (forced) downtime, I did some reading, some planning, and some relaxing, but the most important thing that I did was gain a new level of empathy for my patients. For the first time, in quite a while, I experienced a significant bout of lower back pain. In the past, my typical bout of lower back pain would come on after doing something to "earn" lower back pain, but this time was different.
The reason for the onset of this pain wasn't clear to me. It was clear that COVID wasn't the cause of this specific left-sided lower back pain. What could the cause be then? During my five-day quarantine, my activity levels could best be described as minimal. That may even be an overestimation... For that period, I was largely sedentary (which is VERY unusual for me). This period of forced sedentarism gave me a new understanding of those who cannot move as much as I do throughout the day. Then I realized what the culprit was. It wasn't because I was doing too much, it was because I wasn't moving enough!
This was a bit of an A-Ha moment. For years, we have used the tagline "Movement is my medicine" and this was a perfect example of that statement. Just because you are experiencing some pain, it does not mean that you should not MOVE!
(If you are wondering, my back pain went away just as quickly as it came on. How did I get rid of it? I did some Cat/Camel and Hip 90 90 drills throughout the day, and I took 3 30 minute walks over a period of three days. After returning to work on Tuesday, there has been no sign of a return of the symptoms!)
