Since the day I was born, Iāve been extremely lucky and thankful for health insurance and living near a hospital. Unlike most people, my second home is urgent care and the ER. To put it in the most straightforward way possible, Iām someone with a broken body. If there was a bone to be broken, Iāve broken it. If there was a sprain to be sprained, Iāve sprained it. If there was a surgery to be had, Iāve had it. Now donāt get it twisted, I donāt have some secret āillnessā or hidden trait about me. Unfortunately, Iām just someone who trips and falls more than the average individual; and for some reason, my trips and falls are more severe than just needing an ice pack. Itās gotten to the point where Iāve unironically been to my universityās urgent care every semester since I began my fall freshman year. For context, this is my fifth semester. But alas, here is my latest urgent care chronicle.Ā
It was a very typical Thursday morning for me as I got ready to go to my back-to-back lectures of the day. However I was particularly slow and tired this day, so I did my face and hair routine whilst sitting on the floor facing my full-length closet mirror. Ten minutes later, I got up and felt the absolute worst jolt in my lower back, a very clear indicator that something had gone wrong in my body. For context, Iāve had back problems since high school, so I didnāt immediately go to urgent care, assuming this pain would wear off by my second lecture. Nine hours later, my back was in the worst state it could be in. Moving any part of my body would cause a jolt up my leg, so standing was a no-go unless I wanted to shift in pain. The only way I didnāt feel back pain was when I laid on my side. Safe to say, this was not ordinary back pain. By this point, urgent care had closed, so I was stuck waiting till the next morning.Ā
Fast forward to the next day, and the pain was astronomically worse. I had woken up forgetting that I was in pain, so as I did my morning stretch, I quickly cringed and curled into my side, and went back into bed. It was obvious by this point that I needed to go to urgent care, and so I emailed my professors letting them know that I wouldnāt be in class. Just like that, I quickly threw on a hoodie, and penguin walked over to urgent care.Ā
The urgent care results came out: I had sprained my back.Ā
Apparently, I had torn a muscle as a result of overworking it. My excuse: my backpack is quite heavy. All jokes aside, I was completely unaware you could sprain your back (as noted earlier, if there was something to sprain, Iāve sprained it). But alas, I am happy to check off my back from my list of body parts that have been injured as a result of myself.Ā
Thankfully, this visit to urgent care was not severe, and thatās saying a lot as someone who went to urgent care and later had to have surgery for what they thought was a stomach ache. Although Iād much prefer not to be in urgent care as often as I am, I do appreciate that all my doctors and nurses understand my body and my being prone to falling seriously. Care teams are truly the best people to be around, so if Iām stuck in urgent care for the rest of my life, I am very grateful to be around amazing individuals. And with my luck, Iām sure Iāll have a new urgent care chronicle in no time.