Slipped My Mind... I Mean, Disc

The other week or so I was diagnosed with having a Grade II (prolapsed) herniated disc. The bewildered look on friends' faces when I informed them of my condition turned to one of surprise and concern when I used the layman's term --a slipped disc-- immediately after. Guess that pain in my lower back that I've been experiencing since Bora was more serious than I thought.

Ok but how serious is it, really?

After our family friend/spine surgeon saw my MRI films and expressed "Hmms" of concern, he immediately showed me a Powerpoint presentation (either he's been at this profession for a while or my condition is more common than I thought) discussing the problem and possible solutions, both involving surgery. Option A was involves a bigger incision and at least an overnight hospital stay. The latter uses a smaller incision and is an outpatient treatment. Both involve slicing away the "slipped" portion of the disc (w/c will not regenerate, mind you), but he says the former is more effective than the latter. So much for efficiency being the better way to go.

Suffice to say I had mixed feeling about the situation, but to give you a sense of my priorities my second thought was how will this affect my workout schedule? Doc said I'm gonna be limited to just doing bench presses, or any heavy lifting will have to be done lying down. I was almost resigned to that situation before the benefit of internet research and some phone calls/texts.

Huzzah! Seems it is still possible to continue kettlebell workouts in my condition. (No-no on the regular sit-ups or crunches, though.) Still, online information is sparse.

An online reply from Sadrina suggested I contact Dr. George Canlas, sports medicine doctor for our local Olympic team (start at the top, why don't we...) who supposedly charges a thousand bucks for a consult. A text from Lisabelle, a Bowen Technique practitioner, referred me to Sandro Toledo, a "Connective Tissue Mobilization Specialist or Acupuncturist." When I met w/ Dr. "Strix" at one his clinics (located, oddly enough, at a hair salon), he looked me over, gave me some pointers on proper sitting (admittedly that sounded less silly in my head) and told me surgery should really be a last resort. He also looked my at my MRI films and said my condition (and he's seen much worse), while not completely reversible, is definitely treatable.

Maybe it was the painkiller I took the other day, but I felt real relief from hearing that. The next day he sent me the number of Rheysonn Cornilla, PT for the Coca-Cola Tigers, now known as the Powerade Tigers. (NBA names teams by state, PBA does it by corporate sponsor.)

Two days ago Rheysonn came by the house for our appointed PT session. The cheapskate in me was grateful he didn't charge by the hour, coz he was around for almost 3 hours showing me butt, back and core-strengthening exercises I can do on my own, as well as answering my 101 questions on what past exercises I can still do (weighted obliques no, sumo deadlift and jump squats yes) and even what sleeping positions are good for the current state of my back. While checking my back he also delivered some well-placed pokes that would've brought me down if I was mugger and he was Spock from Star Trek. He also gave me some common-sense pointers when it came to dealing w/ the dull pain the slipped disc caused. (A dull pinch that starts from my right buttcheek that crawls down to just below the right knee.)

I am grateful to be out of my worrisome funk and back in the game. I'm reminded of Chris Rock's joke of how Man will not cure AIDS ("because the money's in the medicine") and instead will just find a way for people to live with it. I hope that my newfound knowledge I will learn to live w/ my Grade II (prolapsed) herniated disc and still do the things I wanna do with the physique I wanna have w/o having to undergo surgery.