On the way to a better back:


I found out today I have major issues with my 51 year-old back.  And I about had major issues with my newly found doctor after she flatly refused to honor my uneducated request for an MRI to confirm what I already know.  I have been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, which has led to the herniation of four discs, which has led to spinal stenosis and nearly three inches of lost height over the last few years.  So now what?

I was all set to "order" (or should I say, insist) that I have the MRI when she calmly said that it was a direct route to surgery which we were (are) trying to avoid.  Thus my well-educated primary care physician recommended physical therapy and rest as the first line of treatment which should span over the course of the next 6 weeks.  Really?  I can't just get on the fast track with some injection or simple surgery so I can get on with my oh-so-busy, too-busy-to-take-care-of-myself life?  Hello??  Oh yea, that's the old pattern.  Isn't now the time for new, better patterns of self-care?  Hasn't it become apparent time and time again that there are no quick fixes -- for anything?  So slow-down Miss Kim, as my grandmother would say, and take heed to the Doc's advice.  Call the insurance company - ( that I am lucky to have health insurance is another topic for another day ) and set this plan in motion.  Six weeks of physical therapy is a gift on the road to a better back!

Smiling