Day after Tomorrow

I'm getting shots in my SI Joint.

I went to see Dr. Sean, a pain management specialist.  He is a sweet guy and was really good at explaining stuff.  It was most of the stuff that has been explained to me before about my back, but he threw in some extra info that made me say, "ah ha," a few times.  The Doc. also talks really really fast, so it wasn't as though he was boring me.  He agrees that my pain looks like SI Joint less than herniated discs.  He also said my MRI shows pretty significant damage to one of my discs.

The plan for Thursday is to get up at the crack of dawn and go to his office for my injection(s).  He is going to shoot some numbing stuff into the joint, and if there is instant relief, he will know that is where the problem lies.  If there is no relief, this would indicate that my disc is the problem, and he will do an epidural at the offending spinal locale.

Following that party, I will do physical therapy, the importance of which had not been explained to me in detail before (or perhaps, I just understood the new doc's explanation better).  Dr. Sean said that due to the weakness in my core/spinal muscles, my other muscles contract to try to compensate, causing unnatural tension and the ensuing discomfort and pain in my SI joint.  In order to alleviate the over-compensation, I need the physical therapy to isolate and strengthen those core muscles.

I've already started with a few of my previous PT exercises.  After the family crisis, I didn't sleep, eat, or do much of anything besides get through the day for a few weeks.  I'm doing much better now, and am ready to get back on track.