My doctor has a sense of humor. I go to see him every year or two, just to make sure I'm not at Death's door, or to complain about my aching back, and he always asks, "What the hell are you doing here?" Then he looks at my chart and has himself a good laugh.
"You first came to me with a back problem in 1980," he said with a chuckle earlier this week. "And you had an MRI in 1988 – you must have been the first person on the East Coast to have one. "And now you're back here already complaining that it still hurts. Maybe you should give it some time."
Hardy har har.
So, he sends me for an x-ray and another MRI. He called me yesterday with the results.
"I've got good news for you and bad news," he said, trying to keep a straight face, I'm sure.
"The good news is that you're not going to die from this. The bad news is that you're going to be miserable until you do."
Yuk yuk yuk.
He said I should learn to live with the pain and avoid surgery, at least for now.
"Hey, this will give you something to be grumpy about," he suggested.
Ho ho ho.
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I've had back problems for almost 30 years, mostly sciatica. I've been to chiropractors and PT but finally gave up on chiros about a year ago. In April I under went 15 PT sessions, including about six traction sessions and started doing a series of stretches that includes 60 situps a day as well as -- during the summer -- a daily four-mile walk. I'm down to walking about twice a week now in winter, but I've lost 30 pounds and the stretching seems to keep the sciatica at bay, although it will never go away without surgery. But it's much better and less painful -- very livable. We're the same age, but you're slimmer than I am and probably more flexible. If you haven't tried PT lately, give it a hot.
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