Kyle Ellman

For about 10 months, I’ve had a back injury. At first, I thought it was a muscle strain from being a summer camp counselor. Then a month or two later, I learned that it was a bulging disc. Lot’s of chiropractic/physical therapy/psychological theorizing and many months later, and I felt better and was actually able to play soccer a couple times. Two weeks later, it got a whole lot worse and I could barely sit without intense pain for the rest of the semester. Then sometime during a two and a half week roller-coaster of epidural/cortisone shots and staff training, I managed to herniate the disc. This left me nearly unable to walk without heavy narcotic painkillers, and even then I could barely stand for five minutes without intense pain.

Thus, here I am, at my Aunt and Uncle’s house in Rochester, MN, in the shadow of the acclaimed Mayo Clinic on Surgery-Day-Eve. I just had one of two pre-surgery-cleansing-with-special-super-soap-showers and I was thinking of going to bed so I could be well rested for tomorrow. But then I had a thought: Why do I need to be well rested? I’ll be knocked out on happy gas for a few hours.

So, here I am, not tired, slightly apprehensive at the thought of my spinal chords being exposed, and prohibited from filling my growling stomach. I guess all that’s left to do is wait, pray, kill some time, and brush my teeth.

Wish me luck, on both the surgery and the brushing of teeth.