Lumbosciatica – man, that word just totally freaks me out and fills me with so much doubt, worry, and straight-up fear.

I was just thinking how that one word meant stepping into one of the biggest nightmares of my life. Plus, how do you even say that new word that just landed in my vocabulary? I was definitely gonna look it up online. Ever since I got into this new company project, I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy to get out of.

I especially feel that now that 2015 is wrapping up—it’s been a crazy bad year for me. But at least now I’m learning how to roll with it, not just that one word but the bad stuff that comes with it. Handling all of that, plus still having to double up on my current job with the project I just started.

Step by step, we’re finding people who are totally on board with the company’s goals.”

My project.

I’m getting used to this whole air conditioning world, which meant learning it all from scratch. The good thing is I’ve got a crew under me now, even if my team doesn’t stick around for long. While I totally dig it, the work is intense—I had to start out as a tech’s assistant just to learn the ropes.

And yeah, I’ll admit that whole learning curve made me pretty picky, but things are actually turning out great. Step by step, we’re finding people who are totally on board with the company’s goals. Being selective isn’t easy, but when you start seeing results, it’s so satisfying. That’s why I keep saying, I love my job.

After the initial aches and pains, I hit up the doc, totally freaking out that she was gonna say it was my lumbago again.”

Getting to Know the Pain.

I was gonna get into a bunch of other stuff, but it’s not just the whole crew-not-sticking-around thing. Even with all the care we’ve been taking at work, I messed up my back again for a second time. It wasn’t on purpose, obviously—I mean, who in their right mind would do that to themselves? But it happened.

After the initial aches and pains, I hit up the doc, totally freaking out that she was gonna say it was my lumbago again. And honestly, with how I was feeling the day before, all signs pointed to that bad news coming back. Anyway, after a few quick checks, my doctor—who was super chill and great, by the way—told me it wasn’t lumbago.

At first, I was pissed at myself because it felt like I’d found a new way to really screw myself over.”

Lumbosciatica: The Lowdown on My New Pain

At first, I just let out this huge sigh of relief. “Whew,” I thought, but just a second later, she hit me with it: “You’ve got lumbosciatica.” And I just stood there blank as a freaking idiot, completely stunned. So I looked at her and was like, “Lumboscia… what?” “Lumbosciatica,” she said. Which, basically, is low back pain plus sciatica, and holy crap, it hurt like both.

So yeah, on top of already being a total mess, the pain in my lower back decided to get way worse this time. At first, I was pissed at myself because it felt like I’d found a new way to really screw myself over. But my doctor said it was a manageable thing—though I had to be super careful from now on.

But no matter how light my duties were, I guess I just wasn’t careful enough.”

Mea culpa.

I have to admit, a lot of this is on me. I should have paid more attention when it was just lumbago. At the beginning, I was even just self-medicating with painkillers that only suppressed the pain, just so I could keep working. My drive to keep learning made me stick to a really common habit here in Peru, which just messed me up in the end.

On top of that, just a week after I got the all-clear, I was already back to checking on equipment and scheduled maintenance. I really wasn’t pushing myself too hard at work, thanks to the recommendations from the first doctor I saw. But no matter how light my duties were, I guess I just wasn’t careful enough.

So now, all I can do is wait for my rehab therapy to be done so I can get back to it.”

The Takeaway.

So yeah, that’s my “mea culpa” moment. The best thing would have been to just take time off work for treatment, but I didn’t. So now, all I can do is wait for my rehab therapy to be done so I can get back to it. The funny thing is, whenever I tell my friends the story now, sooner or later they always say, “Lumboscia… what?”

I’m gonna keep working, keep learning, and keep building my project. This whole lumbosciatica thing isn’t going to stop me. But I’ll definitely have to be twice as careful from now on, which probably means limiting my technical duties even more. But I’ve got a crew that’s coming together, people who are showing me that I can delegate certain tasks and that they can be productive.

Meet you at the next entry.