Long backs

A lot of people think having a long back is great, you get that extra height and when you're slim (not stick-figure thin!) You look fantastic.

What they don't know is long backs usually come with problems. I inherited the genes for it from my Dad and both of us have back problems. He doesn't get his seen to, you feel his back and it's like rubbing a marble statue, rock solid. Mine got damaged when I was just 7 years old.

I was swinging on my swing in the front garden, arms wrapped round the chains when I fell off backwards. Now, we had concrete flags under the swing to prevent the ground turning into a muddy hole so when I fell I knocked myself out on the flags and took off about one third of the skin from my back, in some places all the way down to (and into) the muscle. I didn't go to hospital, the wound was amazingly clean and didn't bleed horribly so my Mum, a nurse, just put some dressings over it and in the next few weeks it healed over, not even a scar.

When I was 15 I was with some friends in a playground hanging by my knees from a climbing frame when one friend snuck up and pushed my feet, he didn't intend me to fall but I did because my reflex unbent my knees. I fell (all 16 stone of me) about 2 or 3 feet onto the base of my neck, my feet went over me and my spine got an almighty stretch, it hurt for a few seconds and then nothing.

Later that year I start getting back pain. It gets progressively worse and I get X-rays and some serious painkillers (30mg codiene tablets I can take 2 of every 4 hours). I get referred to a physio on the NHS who aggravates it which leaves me on my back, home from school for 3 days before the pain eases enough to not make me vomit. I see her the next week, she asks nothing about it and just sticks me in traction. I get traction week after week and it doesn't help. I tell them I'm fine and cancel my sessions with them.

I'm now 17 and pretty much in constant pain, I go help set up tables at the university one day and have to go home early because the pain is so bad that by the time I get home I'm shaking, vomiting and crying. I get the name and address of a private physio in the area from my then BF's mum and we go.

He doesn't ask me to strip, gets me to do the usual bend forward, bend backward and then I lay on his bench and he starts on my back. Every time he finds a patch I practically jump off the bench and squeak, my Mum thinks I'm being a wuss, halfway through I have to ask for a new bit of kitchen roll to rest on because I've soaked the first bit in sweat. About an hour later he gets me to roll over and does an unusual manoveur where I have to keep my shoulders on the bench while he takes one leg over the other and bounces it. There is the most almighty snap noise and a visible jerk and suddenly my Mum gets the idea and the pain vanishes.

Since then I've had to see a physio atleast once a year to maintain my painfree life. So, what ahve I not done for over 20 months???? Yup, not seen a physio. So I'm sitting here in pain, drugged up to my eyeballs and wearing my back support. So tomorrow when I go collect my prescription I shall be asking how one gets to see the physio and hoping they're a good one.

Tonight I shall be sleeping in a back warmer unplugged to keep it warm.

So, long backs might look nice but they're not usually fun. You can't get tops to fit unless you're skinny aswell and don't mind paying huge amounts of money and all those "ergonomic" seats aren't, they dig in the wrong places and leave you in serious discomfort. Beds are too short if you also get the "long-leg" gene (yep, got that one) and life can really suck.

On the plus side I'm 5'10", my long back adds about 2" on from a "normal" back so that makes me happy. jsut wish it didn't have so many bad points.


Sorry, that was rather long and whiney wasn't it?

On the plus side I have some amazing news. Two weeksish ago my wonderful husband applied to Sanday school in Orkney about their Maths and Science teacher position, it's his dream job but when we didn't hear anything we assumed he'd not met the criteria. On Friday I PM'd a lady on Rav. who lives on the island and I'd befriended, apparently someone on the island who'd applied hadn't heard anything and rang the school to find that actually they did want an interview. Somehow the letters had gone walkies and not got to people so I told hubbie this and suggested he ring the school to check, he didn't want to but then he got an e-mail saying they wanted an interview on the 23rd.

So Saturday the 21st we're off to Lancaster to see some old pals, stay at a friend's until 3am and then a friend from Preston is going to drive us all the way up, over 400 miles each way. We're getting a 1.40 (I think) ferry from John O'Groat's on the Sunday, aiming to get the 4.20pm ferry to Sanday that day. At 8pm to 9pm it's a meet and greet of the staff and community, don't know if I'm invited to that or just hubbie. The Monday hubbie has his interview some time after 1pm and I've been invited by the locals to meet them, have a tour including their Angora processing area and the lady I befriended on Rav. is making cake. So we're both looking forward to that, even with all the travel. Monday night we're hoping to get somewhere near mainland Scotland before the ferries stop so we can start early on Tuesday to head back. Wednesday it's back to work.

I've got the days booked off already with my superviser and hubbie has the days off too.

Going to be fun!