It's painfully obvious that I haven't updated in awhile. I really don't have that much to say.
It's been about a month or so since I finished my traction therapy. I can now tell that it hasn't really done much to help me out. I'm not terribly surprised, since traction is focused on the lumbar vertebra, which, I have stressed many times, is not the location of the majority of my pain. It seems that, once again, the red herring of my herniated disc ruled out the thoracic pain around my curve. They even said that "Sometimes the nerves that the disc pinches can cause pain in the upper back, too."
Do any of these people really listen to what I say?
To their credit, they gave me exercises to work on my mid-back. However, they're difficult to do on what I have at home, and my back hurts a lot worse after I do them. I've tried to keep up on them, I really have, but when I'm already in pain before I start, it makes the prospect of continuing to aggravate it less than appealing.
So, where am I now? Right back where I started. Taking painkillers and living every day in fear of hurting myself. Truly, that expensive and risky surgery is possibly the only solution, and that won't be possible again for at least a few years.
In the last few weeks, I've had to take my painkillers almost every time I've gone out. It only continues to get worse. I guess all I can do now is continue to live as best I can.
And wait.
