Date: 2011-07-18
To: My new best friend...
Miles today: 0.0

AMAZING. Simply AMAZING. I've never taken steriods before. I think I like them. Scratch that: Steroids are my new best friend! Ok, maybe a bit of catching up is in order. As required, I met with my orthopedic surgeon's partner in crime, Dr. Wallach. It was sort of to get a second opinion. I didn't like his! He didn't seem to think that I was in enough pain to justify the risks of the operation. Like everyone eles who sees my MRI, his first reaction is: "Oh yeah. This guy's back is ALL messed up. I can see why he's looking to have it fixed." Then they meet ME. And they go, like, "this can't be the same guy!" It gets worse when they ask me to turn this way and that, and then try to touch my toes, and ask me about how limited my activities are (and I'm like, well, I can only do about five miles in an hour and then it starts to hurt so I have to stop....). And they think they have either the wrong MRI or the wrong patient. He was running an hour behind schedule already, so I didn't feel like giving him the benefit of my life story, or at least the story of my '05 hike and my two aborted thru-hike attempts, and how, if I DON"T get the back operation so I can get back out there on the AT, I might have to kill myself or something. Instead,I reluctantly agreed to have an epidural injection of steroids as a condition for going to the next step -- which for me was actualy scheduling the surgery. According to the good doc, if the SHOT works, then there's a reasonable chance the surgery will work; if not, then it may not. I couldn't argue with that but was disappointed at the further delay. So I went from his office to Dr. Mazahery's office to schedule the steroids. Unfortunately, it was going to be another two weeks before their shots Doctor had an opening, so I took a pass. I turned instead to a back and pain clinic, and booked an appointment there, for July 14 -- which was last Thursday. The epidural was absolutely no big thing; overwith in an hour, start to finish. The only interesting thing, as noted above, was THAT doctor's reaction to my MRI, which he told me about later during my exam. He takes one look and says to a colleague: "Holy crap. C'mere. You gotta see this!" Did I mention my back is really messed up? So then he comes in to see me and we go through the usual round of interogation, and I'm seeing him mentally go through the "wrong MRI? Wrong Patient?" thing. He does, however, agree that a steroids injection is called for, so we get on with that. He said I should feel some pain relief in 3-4 days, and suggested I give it a week or ten days and then "give it a test". By Thursday night I can feel some improvement; the next morning, it's not totally better, but getting there. By that night, it's like I don't HAVE a back problem! Having seen the MRI myself, however, I'm sceptical, and I'm just waiting for me to twist a certain way and -- wham -- the pain will be back. So I'm still moving around kind of gingerly like. I wake up Saturday morning, and I don't feel a thing! I mean, I have feelings, but they don't include pain. Cool, I think. I skip my normal five miles to get the yard mowed before the temperature reaches the day's predicted 95 degrees. Then I clean the pool, water the garden, and do a few other chores. When I'm done, I go for a swim. Then I start getting ansy. Hmmm, I think. I could maybe go for a day hike. Not far; a couple of miles. Test the back a bit. The next thing I know, I'm in the basement going through my backpacking gear, throwing shit into my pack like the cops are after me and I've got to get out the back door before they arive. An hour later, at 3 pm, with temperatures in the mid-90's I'm at the trailhead at Snickers Gap, just north of Bears Den hostel and about 20 miles south of Harper's Ferry. The Plan: test the back with a hike north to Blackburn Trail Center, a distance of 7 miles. The first three miles include that last three miles of the infamous "Roller Coaster". By 6:30 pm, I'm at Blackburn. MAN! It was like I didn't HAVE a back problem. Once through the roller coaster, I was able to do three miles of ridge waking in an hour. My "muscle memory" kicked in, and I got into a rhythm just like I had last August when I was doing 20+mile days on my way to Katahdin. I was so happy to be out there, I couldn't have cared less about the heat or the bugs or the hills. It was so joyful to be hiking without pain, just to be hiking on the AT at all, I nearly cried.   I got some trail magic at the Blackburn Center, a big bowl of pasta and veggies, so I didn't even have to cook dinner. (It was compliments of my old friend, Chris Bunton "Trail Boss", who maintains the center and the trail in that area.) I set up my tent, climbed in, and had a wonderful night's sleep. The next morning, I half expected to wake up in agony, or at least with my back talking to me, but it was like I'd never HAD a back problem. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I booked it back to my car in under four hours. On the way home, I recalculated my plans! Here's what they look like now:First, I see Dr. Mazahery on Wednesday morning. I've got a few questions about the steroids, like how long I can expect the shot to last, how often I can get additional shots, side effects, etc. My main question is: "with judicious use of pain meds and steroids, would I be able to complete another through-hike -- God willin' and the creek don't rise? If the answer is yes, then there is no longer a reason to do the operation -- at least for now. At some point, I will need it. And I'm sure they don't want you using steroids too often or for too long, but my time horizon is the 2012 AT hiking season. Then, if it looks possible, I will begin more serious plans for 2012. I still don't know if it will be a complete thru-hike attempt -- from Springer in early to mid-March, or a resumption of one of my two subsequent attempts, but I WILL BE OUT THERE, one way or anther, next season. Hmm. Depending on what the good Dr. says on Wednesday morning, I might actually have to start a new journal soon. Break, darlin' -- are ya out there? Are you listenin'?