Travelling to Almaty, Kazakhstan from Austin, Texas requires two rather long (7-9 hour) flights. Chicago to Frankfort and Frankfort to Almaty. Sitting in coach for that long can be problematic to anyone. But for the past two years I've had chronic lower back pain.
Today I found out the source of the problem.
It's a deteriorating disc between the 4th and 5th Lombar vertebrae -- I saw the MRI pictures -- very elightening. It was immediately obvious to my layman's eyes that "one of these discs is not like the others" (sing along if you remember the song from Sesame Street.) So I'm going in on Monday for a steriod shot to the disc, to be followed by more rigorous therapy to try to squeeze the bulging disk back into shape. The hope is that with the right therapy the deterioration can be managed and surgery averted.
My departure for Almaty is just 30 days away, so I'm hoping to make the most of these 30 days by a) getting as much therapy as possible and b) losing some weight on the Adkins diet. I had already stared on "b" on Saturday and now it seems the two goals go well together. More trips to the doctor, more time in the gym, more protein, no carbs, etc.
Stay tuned for more pain reports.
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