I was lucky that David was in NY when I had this appointment, even if he was unable to be helpful in note-taking and question-asking as we hoped. Because what he did do was VALIDATE my experience. It was crazy-making to see a doctor who never even asked me if I'm in pain.

I talked to a rheumatologist friend who told me he's the best spine surgoen in NY. I told him I found it impossible to talk with him, and he replied, "yes, that's how it is. He relies on neurologists to take care of people and to send them to him when they're ready to be operated on, and then he sends them back," he said. "Why I sent my father in law to him, and he never met him until the Operating Room!"

I could have told the story of this guy and how crazy it was, but it's so hard to believe, that I'm glad David was there to tell me I'm not crazy; the surgeon was.

(PS. I didn't think him arrogant, btw. I thought him odd. A bit off, like a super-geek who can only talk in an algorithm and if you throw him off he gets all flustered and might get angry, but not mean it. Kind of like overstimulating someone with Asperger's. He was really odd. My own surgeon says he's terrific, and that if I want to abandon him to this one, he'd understand.)

Anyway, I've found another non-surgical thing to investigate. This might be the time for Prolotherapy. This is an injection of an mixture of irritating saline/sugar solutions that cause inflammation and tight up ligaments. It's done by osteopaths mainly. It doesn't have much science behind it, but some people have been helped. A "fibrous" fusion can keep people from feeling pain, they say. So I'm going to call for an appt with someone who does this tomorrow.