BACK in action soon?

Alright, it seems we have a plan. At least a short term one that I can live with (as long as it works like I want it to ;) ) I saw the neurosurgeon this morning and he seems to have some conflicting thoughts on my spine. His first thought is that I've done a great job with trying conservative therapy thus far. And there are a few more things that we can try and we can try a different combination of therapies. That said, he said he is disappointed that the therapies haven't worked well and he is not optimistic that further therapies will give me any long term relief. (bummer) He also said that he didn't know for sure that surgery would work either. But that if I was ever ready (I made it clear early on that I was more interested in conservative therapy more than surgery) there was more imaging and testing he could do to see if surgery would be a more viable option. That is to say, we could do further testing instead of just cutting. We decided that I should try epidural steriod injections a series of 3 over the next 6 weeks to try and reduce some of the inflammation in my lower back and give me more mobility. This would also help me to get back into physical therapy more regularly. The downside is that PT is costly so we will have to work that out somehow. I've also got to call today and find out how much these lovely epidural injections are going to set me back. :( He has also referred me to a doctor that specializes in conservative pain management. He will set me up with a TENS device and help me try to manage my pain in a non-invasive and non-medicated way. The surgeon was also very kind in that when I told him how terrified I was of the thought of back surgery at my age he reminded me that if that is what I needed, then that is what would help. But that we could try many other things before we went there. And if the day came that I woke up and said, "I can't handle this pain." then he said he would sit down with me and discuss surgery and go over all of my fears and concerns and the benefits until I was ready. I respect that. He also said that I could take my images to several other practices in Greenville and easily find a doctor who would do surgery next week because it generates good income, but he didn't think that it was right for me, right now. That I had other options to exhaust first. I am feeling optimistic about the short term. I kind of got the feeling that he was saying that at some point, I'd be like my mom, in my 50's and needing back surgery. But for now, I was young and willing and able, and we should try other things. And I'm totally with him on that!