Of disks and diagnoses...

Well, thanks for your prayers. I saw the doctor again today, and the good news is that the disk isn't torn like it was three years ago. I won't need to spend any time in bed, and it won't prevent me from travelling to the Netherlands next weekend.

The doctor scared me at first, though. When she held my x-rays up to the light, she looked at me and just said, "Lo siento mucho," (which means "I'm really sorry.") Then she went on to tell me that I have chronic arthritis - together with a form of lumbar degenerative disc disease - and that all of the disks she could see were affected.

"Lo siento mucho," she repeated two or three times. Basically, there's nothing that can really be done at this stage, other than taking painkillers when it's unbearable, and trying to get plenty of non-weight-bearing exercise, like swimming, so that the surrounding muscles are kept as strong as possible.

Of course, I already knew that I had some form of arthritis; two doctors in South Africa had given me this diagnosis at the time when I was experiencing so much pain from an old neck injury. But I had seen a huge improvement in mobility and a considerable decrease in pain during 2007... and so it was rather disappointing to be reminded today that the condition of my spine still seems to be deteriorating. (During my last year in Cape Town, I needed to take painkillers almost every day; in contrast, I've only needed to take them a handful of times over the past eighteen months.)

The good news, however, is that I don't need to worry that I'm causing further damage by sitting too long (it often hurts when I sit) or by lifting my suitcase at the airport. I am thankful to the Lord that it isn't as much of a handicap now as it was just a few years ago, and I can only pray that it won't continue to degenerate too quickly. Thanks again for your prayers as I travel over the next few weeks.