the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single “Ow!”

bilateral facet hypertrophic degenerative change
bilateral paravertebral disc osteophyte complex
bilateral neural foraminal stenosis
marked central spinal stenosis
bilateral subarticular recess compromise
flattening of the interior thecal sac
multilevel disc bulging and spondylosis
multilevel facet arthrosis and disc herniations

That’s what my recent spinal MRI showed. It’s not going to kill me, but it sure gives me some pain and concern. Some of it’s simply a result of aging. But some might have been prevented.

So, how come all of my former doctors who saw X-rays of my spine only told me that I had bone spurs on my spinal discs and that was nothing to worry about. How come not one of them thought to send me for an MRI to get a better sense of what was going on.

Well, my new excellent doctor, who also sat down and went over all of the details with me, took that extra diagnostic step. The next step for me is to see an arthritis specialist. Then, probably some physical therapy. Ow!

As a friend of mine says the Jewish Buddha says:

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health, or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?

and

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

2 thoughts on “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single “Ow!”

  1. just further proves my point of late — when your gut is telling you your doctor is not paying attention, or is missing something, find someone else! they clearly to not know everything and some don’t care to find out.

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