Rub, Rub, Rub

I'm sure you're pretty impressed, getting two posts in such close proximity to one another! Today was too eventful a day to not be written about, and we could certainly benefit from your prayers!!

The story started about 3 weeks ago and resulted in me having a very tender back today: We went to Mercer Island a few Saturdays ago... just to check it out. We hadn't ever been there before, so we thought we'd give it a shot. After driving through most of the Island (it's very small - you can walk around the whole island in a few hours!), we happened upon a little street fair with dozens of booths and food stands. Apparently, in God's providence, we came on the weekend that they have this annual fair! So we passed through, stopping at booths occasionally and talking with the volunteers.

As we approached the end of the booths, we came upon a sign for a free massage and a raffle to win three free one-hour massages. (Which I obviously couldn't pass up.) I've had pretty constant back pain basically since I graduated college, but have never done anything about it... I could never justify in my mind dropping all this cash on "spa" therapy. I just feel bad "treating" myself! But free... oh yeah. I'm all over it.

Well, the catch was that the massage therapist who was volunteering his time was working with a chiropractor who was also volunteering his time. And we had to schedule an appointment for a free exam with the chiropractor. Of course, this didn't ward me off, though. I figured this guy might be able to help me out with some tips on how to lessen the pain. Sign me up!!

I followed up with him last Friday in his office, but from the descriptions I gave him, he didn't have any solid conclusions. So he took a few x-rays of my lower back and asked me to come in again after the images were developed. Quite honestly, I didn't think that he was going to be able to do much. I figured my pain had to do with sore, over-extended muscles, and he'd likely refer me to see a massage therapist.

Well. Today we came into his office to see these two images... and there wasn't much that needed to be said!

In fact, the doctor didn't say anything at first. "That looks like scoliosis!" came from my own mouth! The doctor said that my spine was a whole two inches out of alignment - which means the weight that my body felt it was carrying due to the pressure was almost double my weight - about 65lbs per inch! The 260 lbs of pressure easily explained the pain.

He further explained that he could correct the problem, which would take several visits a week, for 10-16 weeks. He suggested I not postpone treatment for too long, especially if I considered having children in the near future. He offered some pain medicine (which I declined) and suggested I get some massage therapy as well - since the muscles have been trained to hold my spine this way, it would be more efficient for treatment if I loosen them while I'm getting the adjustments.

So the doctor offered a payment plan - and Maurice volunteered for massage therapy! - so we went ahead with the first treatment today and will be talking about how to finance it. (It's gonna run us nearly $1000.00, even with the discount.)

But, despite the newfound mess and impending expenses, I'm excited. Maurice said he'd massage my back every night before we go to bed... and we called up a friend who is a massage therapist at church, and scheduled a time to meet up with her next week to get him some tips! I can't wait for the first session tonight! ;-)