Hi Nixter I also live in Canada my problems r close to yours iam 57 not young like u I also trained with weights for 30 years I've been dealing with this for. 4 years going for left side rfa next week and then starting injection on right in march waiting to see a neuro dr.that could take a year took me over a year to get a mri and 16 month to get the rfa date I think this will only delay surgery. What I can tell u to get things going as guickas possible because of the wait in our healthcare. At least it covers your appointments chances are this will not get better for u just worst I thought it was nothing when it started but it has force me toquit work sell my house move into condo thank god i took out extra insurance at my job All i can say to u is move guick as u can on this don't take no for a answer u are the only one who knows how much pain your in and how it start to effects the way you have to live. Good luck I hope you get relief soon.