[Cheryl]

Well, I had a cervical MRI on Tuesday and we met with the doctor for the results today. I'm not sure what I expected or wanted to hear but MORE PHYSICAL THERAPY was not it.

I have a small bulge at c5-c6. He thinks that is typical for my age and is not the cause of my neck pain. Another reason he doesn't think its this bulge is the fact that it is on the right and my numbness, tingling is on the left. Of course, I can remember the first results of my lumbar MRI and the doctors saying that degeneration at my age is normal. Well that pain was not normal among anyone else my age that I know. So, although I want to believe that I think the jury is still out.

So, he insists that I now see his highly experienced PT for more aggressive treatement. He says this therapist will know in a few weeks if he can fix me. I'm aggravated because I've gone to another PT for several weeks now with no relief and just wish that the doctor had started me with this one to begin with. Now, my kids are out of preschool so I have to hire a sitter and drive to downtown to go to these appointments.

He prescribed Arthrotec and said I should know in a week if that is working.

My husband came with me to the appointment. He's normally quiet but this time he explained how this is affecting (ruining) our lives. He's had to stay home from work because I can't take care of the kids. My mom is searching for plane tickets to take the girls up North with her for a long stay to give me relief. We told him I'm crying in pain every night but the doctor just says that its going to take "a lot longer than I would like" to get better.

I can't say much except that this really sucks.