Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Traveling with a Bad Back

 I got an MRI yesterday for my back. I thought about the interesting journey of my injury. Six years ago I fell down a flight of stairs and fucked my entire back. It was early in the morning and I was laid out on a flight of slippery wooden steps. I was covered in tea, but I managed not to break the cup or the pot. I staggered to my feet in unbelievable pain. It was a fairly significant injury and a huge lump of damage skin protruded out on my right side.

I went the alternative medicine route. My choice wasn't b/c I was Zen. I was broke! I didn't have health insurance, so Chinese doctors, meditations, needles, and bottles of herbs, YAH! I did acupuncture at a training school that only charged me $10-20 to be a guinea pig for practicing students. I found Chinese medicine doctors who gave me discounts on herb concoctions, and I did particular meditations on removing pain. The pain went away first and then the throbbing. The damaged skin shrunk by about 90-95% after two years. What was once a huge lump the size of two grapefruits is now a knot the size of a bowtie. And then when my back was manageable I started doing yoga. And then after about 4 yrs, I got health insurance and yes, this happened once my back was pretty much good. I didn't rush out to a doctor but then I figured 'let's use this fancy WGA Blue Cross insurance.'

So I'm sitting in the MRI spaceship being bombarded by sounds. I have headphones on. They told me I could listen to music and I thought I would be the 'cool patient' and jam out to rap. But after about 30 seconds of Mobb Deep, I told the technician 'I can't listen to this shit when I'm getting an MRI." So they put on classical music...like an old fart. I'm re-enacting "2001: Space Odyssey" as the MRI makes its demonic dial-up modem sounds. I've met an entire world of fascinating ppl b/c of a fucked-up back. I've done research, learned matrix energetic healing, practiced healing on others, studied Medicine Buddha mantras, and grown as a person b/c of a fucked-up back. Who knows: maybe the angels were pushing me along on the journey. Sometimes I remember that when I'm feeling physical or emotional pain in a moment. I straighten up and touch the knot of scar tissue on my back. Oh, the places you will go!

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