Wednesday, I went to class without a problem.  We rolled relatively light.  I had a great roll with Mark W, the kids’ coach, which I always enjoy a lot.  He and I match up well, enough to push me, but not overwhelm me. 

Thursday, I was a little stiff in my hip.  Nothing unusual, though.  I live with that pretty much all the time now.  I was in charge of the turkey, the gravy and the wine.  My wife pretty much took care of everything else… because she rocks like that.  My 12 year old daughter made pumpkin pie and pumpkin loaf for dessert.  I’ll have to take some time to write an entire post about how completely amazed I am with her passion and talent for baking and cooking.  Suffice to say that her pies were great… crust nice and flaky. 

Anyway, Thanksgiving day was fine.  I felt okay.  Still a little stiff, but as I said, nothing unusual.  Friday morning I woke up and went to yoga with my wife and daughter.  I didn’t overdo it at all.  Felt a little more tweaky Friday night.

Saturday morning, I woke up in a lot of pain.  So, I began icing my back.  Slept like hell that night and Sunday was in a lot of pain.  My right hip was on fire and my back was killing me.  Monday, I drove to work, although I’m not sure how.  I made it about 2 hours before I called the doctor.

Two days off work and I’m starting to feel better.  I slept last night, but it was drug assisted sleep, so not very restful.  Enough, though, that my mood is considerably better.  As usual, I’m a little depressed.  The conversation with the doctor was entirely without hope.

Doctor:  "So, what’s going on?"
Me:  "My back is killing me.  Look, Doc.  Here’s the deal.  I exercise more than most of America.  I have a strong core.  I have lost 40 lbs.  I want to figure out a way to break this cycle.  What can I do?"
Doctor:  "Well, unfortunately, there’s not a lot that you can do.  It sounds like you’re doing all of the right things."
Me:  "So, you’re telling me that I can just expect this to happen for the rest of my life?"
Doctor:  "Basically, yeah."

WTF??

He actually said, "Welcome to the world of chronic back pain, along with millions of other people in America."  Well, if it’s all the same, I’ll pull out my member card from the Six Million Dollar Man Bionic Action Club (which I still have!) and go that route.

So, Dr. Sean, you were right and I was wrong.  I have a hangups with chiropractors, but I trust you and need to do something else.  Traditional medicine has failed me.  Unless I want to live with a cycle of pain, vicodin and flexeril, I need to do something different.  I’ll talk with you about it next time I see you, even if you weren’t man enough to wear the stache!  hehe.