It was just the slightest of bends, and yet it did something. Now less than 24 hours later I'm in agony. At this hour on a Sunday, Lucca is all the help I have, so I still have to struggle to the car with her help and find an urgent care place that's even open.

Anyway somehow I got here, and I wait with all the patience I can manage. Besides the physical pain this is just not a place I'm used to being, dependent on the help of others, even if hopefully it's just for the moment.

Oddly, it's mentally a little freeing. For once I can say without guilt, "no I can't" and no amount of whining can change the answer. Ironically, a herniated disc has helped give me a backbone, so to speak.

But I know it's gotta get fixed and soon. Four other people depend on me to varying degrees and staying down just isn't an option. Hopefully what worked last fall will still have its magic today.