Back by Demand; Demand by Back.

Week 7 of 7. Seven weeks of 13 hour days, 7 days a week. Not a single day off. This is AFI.

And yet, here I sit. I should not be sitting here. I should be on set. I want to be on set. I want to be there for my friends. I want to get as much experience as possible.

But these 7 weeks have taken their toll. When I woke up yesterday, I was in a deal of discomfort in my lower back. At 7am, I was at the Depot, buying a back brace, hoping it would carry me through a day of Key Gripping. The Key Grip is a major part of any set, and there are few on set who work harder. It's tough, physical work: Laying and leveling dolly track, then dolly gripping; carrying stands of varying sizes and weights; flags, scrims, silks, frames, bead board, muscle carts, gennys, stingers; loading and unloading the grip truck every day.

Take a day of that on top of 6.5 weeks of build up, add one back at the tipping point of failure, and you get one horrific night.

I came home and did something I never do: Take a bath. Not that I don't clean myself—I'm just a shower guy. But a hot bath sounded good for the back. Of course, Finn had to join me as soon as he found out—despite recently having a bath himself.

A hot bath had the opposite effect of its intention. All I can say is it set a fire in my back like I've never felt. I could literally barely get myself out 10 minutes later, and what followed was one of the worst nights I've ever had in my life. It was excruciating pain, to the point that breathing hurt, and every movement induced a stabbing pain on either side of my spine. I crawled to bed, hoping that a horizontal could lend relief. It couldn't.

I kept saying "what have I done to myself?" I was genuinely frightened.

It took everything in me just to roll over. What a ridiculous thing! To roll over. But it did. The thought of the hospital at Midnight was more terrible than just laying there, so I found a position that induced the least amount of pain, and Lyndsay coached me to sleep with Lamaze breathing. I fell asleep. Woke up out of my 'position' in total pain, when back to my position. Repeat 5-7 times throughout the night. And.....morning. Still hurting intensely.

Urgent Care. Calls to my ER technician Brother. Prescriptions ordered. Now I have an appointment with a holistic chiropractor at 12:30. Fingers crossed.

I am letting my friends down. I should be on set. But this is beyond my control.

Please, body. I am trying to be good to you. Stick with me. We have a long road ahead of us.

wes.

(PS—Someone remind me to talk about Roger Deakins and Jason Reitman)