First time in 35 years....

Oh gosh, that may have been awful, being in so much pain and having to get it done. But a HUGE well done to you!! You got it there and I’m sure the couple would have completely understood the circumstances if you hadn’t been able to. Don’t be too hard on yourself. When you end up in Hospital because you are in do much pain and probably very tired, work will be the last thing on your mind.
Don’t give up because of this one incident and look after yourself as a priority! There are going to be days where we are not well enough to work, you are right to talk to others about contingency plans in that case. But the truth is if no one can do it someone may not get their dream cake, they will be disappointed but ultimately it’s not the worse thing that can happen in life.
I hope you get better soon, wishing you all the best. Jo xx

Im so sorry to hear you haven’t been well and had such a bad time!! you sound like you did an amazing job though so you should be so proud of yourself for what you achieved. Your cakes are stunning and you definitely shouldn’t give up!!! It just means you need to rest until you are well again, once you feel better and are no longer in pain you will be so happy and want to get back to what you do best!! This bad experience will pass I’m sure of it!! I really hope you will feel better soon!! :-) x

Thank you both for such kind words. Yes, contingency plans are definitely needed. After all these years, cakes are still my passion. I have one more specialty cake to make this weekend, a two tier baby shower cake for tomorrow, then a couple days of much needed rest. My pain level today is less than yesterday thank goodness.

Don’t beat yourself up over it Sharon, as you never know when Sciatica is going to kick in. I injured my back a long long time ago and am now paying the price. I have always got a bit of backache, unless I am flat out, first thing when I wake up, but it varies from a dull ache to full blown sciatica down both legs. All I can say is I feel for you and I can pass on a few tips that have worked for me.
When I get stressed or really tired out, the muscles in my back pinch on the sciatic nerve and I have found that laying flat with a hot wheatbag on the spot, helps with the pain and also relaxes the muscles. Another option is a gentle back rub before the pain starts with a little bit of massage oil to unlock the muscles. Hot baths always work and I have some really good medicine prescribed by the doctor – amytriptiline ( a muscle relaxant) and lyrica ( a nerve duller). I have to say that if I take this medication I am like someone who has had a couple of bottles of wine, totally stress free, relaxed, and generally off to sleep pretty easily. I therefore only take this when I have had a really long day and have stood a lot, and know I can knock myself out, and won’t have to drive for 12 hours. This helps again for another few weeks.
Only one thing to say, God help you if you have a client ring up when you have taken this , as if you are like me, they won;t get a lot of sense out of you and it is extremely difficult pretending to be “sober” and sensible.
Another said to work is yoga and stretching out your muscles, but I never manage to find that calm sanctuary in my house.
I hope you are up and about soon, and just remember it will get better, so read some good books and watch some good tele while you rest.

Hats off to you… And what a fabulous family who all mucked into getting the done and delivered on time… What a scare and can well imagine the pain you must have been in!!! I’ve never had that happen (re remembering a cake order last minute) but know how it feels to do a cake in a lot of pain… I had two incidents, one was after an operation on both my feet and had to get it done three days after op and on crutches…. The other is more recent as have had to have a Trapeziectomy on my hand to relieve the severe arthritis in my right hand… I have it in left hand too, but minor… I’m left handed, so silver linings… BUT… I underestimated the pain and ignored the surgeon’s words (four months recovery) …. But I had committed myself to an exciting magazine project and so continued with it and worked through the pain. I did no damage, but yes it was painful…. But what I’m saying here, is cakes are our passion and please, if you are still so passionate about your cakes, your bakery and running the business, please just take this as an isolated incident and not be put off by it…. Ciatica is EXTREMELY painful… I do hope you recover really quickly. Take care and sending healing hugs xxxx

Well you’ve got pluck that’s all I can say!! Don’t know if I could have did what you did. Thank goodness for your family. Number #1…get some rest and recover. Sciatica is so painful..and can just “appear”. Hubby got diagnosed with a pinched nerve in his back and he drove himself crazy trying to figure out how it happened. Doc said it could have been any number of ways. He gets numbness in his feet and sciatic pain. Make sure you go to your Doctor Sharon and see if there’s and underlying reason for this. Could be just a fluke. Bent or turned the wrong way…twisted your back without noticing. Mandy’s recommendations are excellent My hubby also went to phisio, helped tremendously, he leaned valuable excercises and safe stretches to do. Hopefully this will pass as you love decorating…and your cakes are beautiful ….

Sounds to me like everything turned out ok in the end. But what you need to focus on with this is all the good that came from it. You have a family that’s there when you need them and you DIDN’T let anyone down. You DIDN’T walk away, and you DID finish the job. Also, it just shows what you can achieve in a very short space of time. I think you Won, and also maybe learned to look after yourself a little more too. Hope you’re soon back to full health again xxx

Sharon you delivered on all your orders….why or how can you be ashamed? Good on you for battling through…now rest and recuperate!!!!!

Sweetie don’t be so hard on yourself please… You pulled out all the stops and did an amazing job despite extreme personal circumstances, now it’s time to congratulate yourself not to bring yourself down, we are all human and anyone can overlook something like an order, what we do afterwards is what counts. I agree that maybe now is time to have a conversation, but purely about you and what would make you happy. You have a great family behind you, it might be that you could delegate bookings and admin out so you don’t need to worry yourself, or consider how many orders you want to take on for the time being. Whatever you decide please remember you are amazing and bring a lot of happiness to others in what you do, and should love yourself just as much and put your own happiness first so that you can continue to give. And go take a look at cakewrecks.com. Those bakers seemingly had no issue with what they do for a living, if anyone needs to give up work its people like that! Xx

Thank you so much everyone! I just got home from another long day at work and read all of your replies. I’m moved to tears by all your caring words. The pain is about 40% better today. I have a girlfriend that has some “good” medications that I took last night and will take again tonight. The only thing I have to really do in the next couple days is some bookwork and file my sales taxes on Monday, then I don’t really have any cakes that I need to do until Friday.
I also own an engraving studio (for the past 10 years) that is in the same building as the bakery and connected by a door. It’s been weighing me down a lot and I’ve been trying to sell it. I put the engraving machine on Ebay and it sold today. I’m just hoping the people follow through with the purchase as they only have 1 feedback. Fingers crossed. The engraving studio is 1000 square feet and I’m going to turn it into a cake studio and move all the decorating equipment to that side. I’m so excited to get that all set up! Hugs to you all for the kind and encouraging words!