Is this the end? Will this injury end my journey so close to the finish line?

A short update

About 6 days ago (as of this writing), just before NOBO mile 1700, I attempted a maneuver I perform no less than 1000 times a day. I stepped onto a low rock. Nothing outwardly unusual happened, but I heard a crack in my back and screamed as a bolt of pain shot through my body and down my right leg.

After recovering from the severe pain, I started walking again, albeit more slowly. However, I could hardly use my right leg and could no longer take long steps.

I hiked another 6 miles and camped on a mountain top. I fully expected the next day to be problematic and took copious amounts of “Vitamin I” before going to sleep.

It's a bad night and I struggle to get comfortable and then get up to pee. Half of my body hurts too much to even sit up and in the morning I can barely move. It took me over 30 minutes to get out of my tent in the morning and I had to twist my body onto my injured right side to be able to lift my upper body with my stronger left side. I eventually managed to get into a standing position by using my poles as crutches in one hand and holding onto a nearby tree with the other.

I took max doses of ibuprofen and Excedrin, hoisted up my 25-30 pound pack (loaded with 5 days worth of food plus dinner and some water) and tried to hike out. It was awful. I needed my poles to support much of my weight and my legs struggled to climb rocks and logs. The first mile took over an hour and was pretty flat and downhill; otherwise it would have been a mile in 20 minutes. The next mile took 40 minutes – by which time I reached the next shelter, which Flamethrower had already moved on to that morning.

I made the difficult decision that it was not safe to continue hiking. But we were still 3 miles from the nearest road, a logging road, and we had no signal on our cell phones and didn't expect to have one until we reached the top of the next mountain, which began its ascent at the road.

Still, there was a parking lot and we hoped we could hitchhike out of there, even if we had to wait. The next 3 miles took hours. I picked up a little speed, but I felt the stability of my spine slipping and cramps setting in. I wished someone would come by and carry my backpack. But everyone we saw already had backpacks.

Eventually we reached the road and a hiker ahead of me had actually flagged down a car waiting to take me at least to the nearest main road. Eventually we were dropped off at a cafe, ate and then hitchhiked to a hostel where I have been ever since.

I made it to the grocery store the first night but couldn't even carry my groceries back so the flamethrower had to do that. I couldn't sit, stand or lie down without being in a lot of pain. Getting into a comfortable position was almost impossible. At 4am I woke up and tried to get out of bed. Once again I undertook the difficult task of twisting my body to bring my left side up as the muscles on the right side would not support any additional weight or rotation. I found a metal bar on the cot above my head and used my left hand to pull my upper body up into a sitting position. After much effort I made it to the bathroom. I went back to bed and took a muscle relaxer that I carry with me for this occasion.

I was woken up by my breakfast alarm at 7am and immediately told Flamethrower that I needed to go to the emergency room. The only thing that can help me now is steroids. The emergency room is 1.3 kilometres away.

I went to get breakfast and met a few people who were getting a ride to the trailhead. I asked if they would mind if I went to the emergency room with their driver; they all agreed and I was at the emergency room by 8:40 am.

My heart felt like it was beating out of my chest, with a pulse rate of 81 beats per minute (normally my resting heart rate is now 60). The doctor isn't talking about a herniated disc, but I know that's the diagnosis – probably around L1 because of the pelvic pain, maybe L5 because of the lower leg pain. She's checking my toes for signs of a medical emergency, loss of feeling or inability to move, but those signs are fine.

I am prescribed high doses of steroids and anti-muscle spasm medication. I pick them up at Walmart and take them immediately. Over the next few hours, the pain slowly subsides and my mobility improves.

I can get up from the couch and sit back down without having to stop in an uncomfortable hunched position until my muscles relax enough to bring my upper body into an upright position. At one point I drop something on the floor and can almost pick it up again, so that's definitely an improvement.

The next day I have a slight relapse, the pain is a little worse and my mobility is limited. The antispasmodic, which I was told is less effective than my current muscle relaxers, makes me stoned.

I've been struggling for days. But now the pain has subsided a little and small bumps no longer cause stabbing pains in my legs or throughout my body.

I've delayed my departure because of the rain, but we'll pack loosely for a day and then, if I'm able, head out the next morning.

If it's too painful, I'll have to make some very tough decisions about how to give myself the best chance of healing while finishing the trail, if at all possible. I'm also afraid that if I stop taking the steroids, the inflammation will return and incapacitate me.

This could be the end. Wish me and my spine luck. I'll post another update in about a week and let you know how it turns out.

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