Two Steps Forward...........

In the last week, we went to see John Hiatt in concert for Andy's birthday, then went to the Boise Blues Society picnic on Sunday, and I think I can now safely say that my back might be making progress, but really uncomfortable chairs are NOT my friends.  Yesterday I finally had to break down and take the original pain medication they gave me--the stuff I've generally refused to take because it knocks me out.  I have an appointment with a specialist on Monday, so hopefully I'll get this sorted out soon.  It's a physiatrist, which I'd never heard of, but from the description, it sounds exactly like what I need.  I had been resistant to call a specialist because I was afraid they'd want to talk about surgery, which I don't think would help and which I would not discuss until all other options have been explored, but what I do want is someone to look at the original injury, the three subsequent injuries, and either give me new exercises, tell me if I'm approaching it correctly, change my exercises, or tell me I'm on the right track.  And being me, I actually wanted to impress this new doctor with my determination, so I've been picking up the pace in the pool a fair bit--which I think would have been fine without the chair incidents, but still might have caused the newest bout of pain.  I am nothing if not a consistent idiot about these things.