"Have You Tried This?"

I often get the following questions from well intentioned people when it comes to my back pain: Have you tried physical therapy? Have you seen a back surgeon? Have you tried a chiropractor? Yes, Yes, and Yes! So, I'm going to get it all out - all of the things I've tried:

1. Oral steroids: They helped for as long as I was on them and then, the pain always came back.

2. Physical Therapy: I tried full courses of physical therapy at least 3 times, maybe more, and the pain either stayed the same or got worse.

3. Pain Management Doctor: I saw a pain management doctor over the course of about 6 months and had 3 or 4 epidural injections, etc. to no avail.

4. Spine Surgeon: I saw one of THE BEST spine surgeons between here and Chicago. He told me that the tale bone is a very challenging source of pain and he doesn't have any surgical options for me. Thanks, Doc!

5. Cleveland Clinic: The doctor at the Cleveland Clinic in OH told me that it looked like I had some pretty good doctors at home. She didn't disagree with their diagnosis and had no further answers for me. I'm so glad I went all the way to Cleveland for that!

6. Chiropractor: I saw a Chiropractor for over 6 months. He did adjustments, a new form of traction, and get this. . . a cold laser treatment. For weeks, I had to expose my rump while a laser worked on healing my back. Yes, desperation will make you do strange things. And of course, it didn't help!

7. Rheumotologist: The rheumotologist wanted me to be treated for a genetic disorder she believes I have even though I tested negative for it - the only way to find out if I really have it is to try an injected medicine. No thanks!

8. Acupuncture: This was my most recent adventure! I'm not saying it wouldn't eventually have worked, but I'm not going to experiment with it for almost $5,000 which I could make in two easy payments or they generously offered to give me a high % loan. Gee, thanks!

9. Prayer: Now we're at the point in my list where I get to the things that have actually helped. I went from the begging prayers "Oh, God, please God take the pain away. Give me my life back!" to "Please bless me as I wait for the pain to go away. Thank you for bringing healing my way." Going from the begging prayer (which we all do from time to time) to the faithful prayer is not a short distance. But, I truly do be live that God has a plan of healing for me; it's just a matter of time.

10. Support of My Friends & Family: So many of my friends and family are praying for me. They listen to me when I'm sad, angry, frustrated, or smiling with hope. I don't think I could have gotten through the last 20 months without them.

Thank you, God. Thank you, friends & family!