neck, doctors, and arthritis oh my.....

I have been actively seeking relief for my neck issues for almost two years...had a third treatment with this new doc yesterday.  She is working not just on the neck, but on the SI joint and the tail bone.  She has explained it to me twice, but I never remember the names of things...short hand is that there is some sort of connection between the top of the spine and...well, I guess the bottom of the spine. So she treats both to relieve neck pain. 

Something let go big time yesterday...a huge release in a nasty spot on the right side~right at the top of the spine.  I could feel it letting go...cause my right foot got hot...yeah, I know that's weird...but my foot got hot...then my hands...both of them....started to tingle. 

She reminded me to drink lots of water...I asked if I could workout...Yup...

Then I asked the question.... "So, what are your thoughts on my neck at this point?"

"The arthritis is really bad...it will never go away,  but you can keep it from flaring up.  You have structural anomalies in your neck as well...possibly from trauma and the damage from the arthritis.  If you don't feel much better from this last treatment....this may be about as good as it ever gets for you."

Not what you really want to hear your doc say...but what are ya gonna do?

I am guessing she saw my face fall a little....

She then added..."I have your old records, You have taken control of your health, really gone after it. Most people don't do that."

Yes...it is better than it was two years ago.  Maybe this is as good as it gets and maybe that is ok. I am still loose today...mostly pain free.  It is, thankfully, hard to remember how much pain I used to be in...So I will keep seeing her...and I will keep seeing Paul....and I will keep seeing Dan.  I know if I could, I would see them more often, but I will do what I can.

I am having a tough time with the whole feeling healthy thing...I realized that I keep having these moments where I am convinced I am having a stroke, or I joke that the pain must be cancer...I realized that I saw my sister go through the same thing as she hit her mid 40's.  By this time in his life, my Father was already very ill...

When I was young, I was told it was lung cancer...it wasn't. It was some odd ball spinal cord cancer that had spread throughout his whole body...
 
I think this is in the back of my head...this fear that the weird ass cancer he had will just show up. Truth be told...it could...or any other such weird thing.  Life is unpredictable. My sister...she went through a period leading up to age 49 (when my Dad died) that she had every test you could ever imagine..I think that is why I panic so much when the numbness shows up....when my neck hurts...even though I know it is arthritis.

So...I guess I will just keep throwing...lifting....moving...and getting treatment. He was so young when he first became ill...I really don't remember much about him, except his cancer. I do think of my Father sometimes when I am on the field and imagine he would get a kick out of me throwing heavy crap around.