[Freedom1990]

Seriously, my time would have been better spent picking up dog crap in the back yard. I filled out all my paperwork ahead of time (they sent out a packet in advance), my appointment was at 10 this morning, I walked out of there at 1 this afternoon, and spent 10 minutes with the specialist. Does that tell you anything?

I realize pain is subjective. I seriously considered ripping his arm off and beating him over the head with the bloody end of it to give him a good estimate of the pain.

I know what the MRI looks like. Yes, that particular disk does still look hydrated, doesn't it? There is leakage however. Yes, that is a slightly different color than the others, indicating leakage from the disk. There is pain there, Mr. Specialist. It's like a flamethrower when I get up from a sitting position, if I bend over to clean the cat litter box and then try to stand up.

My back is cooked after a measly 5 minutes of mopping my kitchen floor. I have trouble picking up the dogs' dishes after feeding time, for Pete's sake. Driving more than an hour in my car sets the back spasms into high gear.

I was already planning my next step by the time I walked out of there or else I might have just driven myself into the closest telephone pole, honestly.

I can have a discography done locally here at the hospital to see if that particular disk is indeed the main culprit of my pain. I don't need to drive the 60 miles again to get that done, thank you very much. I'll faithfully complete my 4 weeks of physical therapy that Mr. Specialist ordered that has not helped in the past, gritting my teeth while I'm made to stretch and hurt and 'atta girl' and all that good stuff.

If the discography does indicate that the leaking disk is the problem, then I will have my AA sponsor find out just what surgeon some of his co-workers have gone to who have had minimally invasive surgery to correct the very same problem, and were back to work in a very short period of time.

I'll gimp the rest of my life if need be because I will not have vertebra fused that Mr. Specialist presented as my only surgical option, thank you very much.

Now I think I'll have a good cry since I'm off the highway and in the safety of my own home.