I’m afraid I caused quite a bit of concern recently.

I was at home, alone, while my wife and our son were visiting her mom in Minnesota.

At about 6:30 a.m. on June 24, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, more undressed than dressed. I was shaving. Nothing unusual. But, then, something unusual happened. I felt this slow, dull pull in my lower back that spread to my upper back. Then came a spasm. I've had this happen to me only twice before. The last time was 2 years ago. I recognized it immediately. As it was getting worse, I managed to make it into the bedroom to lie down on the bed.

With the back spasms that I’ve had before, I’ve still been able to move around, dress myself, and even go to work. This time, it was different. It not only hurt to move, but I was afraid to try.

As I was lying on the bed, I started to think of what I should have done if I had been more organized. For example, while I was in the bathroom bending over in pain anyway, I should have grabbed some aspirin out of the drawer. And, before I started into the bedroom, I should have grabbed my cell phone that was recharging on the bathroom counter.

Now, I was on the wrong side of the bed. The bedroom phone was on the other side of the bed on top of a dresser. It took me about an hour and a half to figure out how to scoot myself, inch by inch, from one side of the bed to the other. When finally across, I managed to pick up a small wire rack that was on the floor next to the bed and use it to hook the phone cord. I pulled the phone off of the top of the dresser then dragged it up by the cord to where I could grab the phone and dial it.

I called City Hall to say that I wouldn’t be in for a while. At this point, I was still hoping that my back would straighten itself out. As the morning went on, I started to get spasms even when I didn’t move. I called the medical clinic and asked for some medicine. I then called City Hall to ask if someone could pick it up for me. But, there was a problem. I was home alone, and the house was locked.

Diane Frandsen and Terry Bronson came to the house to try to figure a way to get in. They also brought Pat Fier from the police department. After some time, Pat figured out a way to get in. Diane and Terry gave me the medicine that they had picked up. They later also brought me another prescription and something to eat and drink.

During all of this, I called my wife at her mom’s and asked her to come home. She cut her visit there short by about a day and got back home at about 5:30 that afternoon.

I got through the night mostly OK, but with little sleep because I was afraid I’d move and set things off again.

At about noon on the next day, I felt like the painkillers were finally starting to catch up with the spasms, so we decided that I should try to get up and go to the doctor’s office.

On a count of three, we jointly stood me up and sat me down in a chair that had been moved next to the bed.

I hadn’t thought about it before, but, apparently, when you lie down for a long time then suddenly stand up quickly, it can cause your blood pressure to drop really fast. I passed out. The next thing I remember is Julie’s voice saying my name over and over again. At first it was in the distance and then I heard her more clearly. I looked at her. The phone was next to her ear, and she said, "I’m calling the ambulance." I think I nodded that I agreed then struggled to the bed.

The ambulance team and two members of the police department arrived. They helped me on to hard backboard then on to a gurney. The motion of doing this suddenly made me nauseous. I must have been quite a sight. I was still dressed in only the track shorts that I was wearing from the day before, sweating heavily, and gagging as they took me into the ambulance.

At the hospital, the doctor saw me, and I was given an I.V. I was later given more medicine to help with the pain. The nurses were very good to me.

The next day, a back x-ray was taken, but it didn’t show anything abnormal. They kept me until about 5 p.m., then let me go home.

I’m a lot better now, and I’m taking physical therapy to try to keep things stretched out.

If there are any realizations that I can draw from this experience, I suppose I could offer these:

1.) I am grateful that I have friends with the City who were willing to check on me, pick up my medication, and even break into our house in order to help me.

2.) I am grateful that there are people in the world who can do jobs that I would never be able to do, namely, nurses, ambulance technicians, and police officers.

3.) I am grateful for my wife’s help during this time.

4.) I also learned that, if I really have to, I can hold-off on going to the bathroom for over 24 hours.