Playing Doctor

It's been more than a month now since my role as the major pain in hubby's backside was replaced with a legitimate pain in his lower back.

Unfortunately, there was no quick fix for it. Although he started going to the chiropractor daily (sometimes twice) in the beginning, he has now tapered off to visits 3 times a week. And, just last week, the chiropractor introduced traction. Sounds like a torture machine but I believe it really just slowly stretches the back out. I joked that hubby is now 3 inches taller so I can't even look him in the eye anymore.

He's not in the mood for jokes.

And I can't blame him. I'm sure I would have lost patience long before now. That's the thing, most times we wait forever to go to the doctor for something but don't want to wait at all to get better.

I think it's just human nature to not want to go to the doctor. We're pretty sure if we suffer long enough, things will turn around on their own and we'll get better. There's always that risk, too, that if you do go to the doctor, he or she just might find something wrong!

My dad is notoriously stubborn about this. Just tonight I was talking to my mom and she said he hasn't been feeling well since Friday. I reminded her he's just about 82 years old (is diabetic and has had heart and lung issues) so it's probably a good idea to go get him checked out.

My mother, the enabler (who is 77 by the way), says, "Well he quit mowing today when he got dizzy. But then he showed me how to use the rider, so I could finish. He must not have been feeling well because he didn't yell at me once! But I think he's OK now because he's eating something."

Yikes.

Good thing those stubborn genes bypassed my generation.