The Rest is Still Unwritten

(Gommie, etc: There is no new news or appointments. This is just a summary.)

So, first, the MRI shows that my back pain is nothing more than the scoliosis causing joint inflammation and perhaps some disc degeneration.

But the radiologists also had what they call an "incidental finding": basically, a gray spot where there shouldn't be one. This could be just a blurry MRI mistake, from movement or something else. A "false positive," the doctor called it. Or it could be some kind of demylinization, caused by some autoimmune disease like MS or ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease, which killed my grandmother Bammie, though they say it isn't hereditary). That would be bad.

So, there will be another MRI, with dye contrast, and a consultation with a neurologist, all of which will take longer than I'd like.

For now, I'm just taking it one day at a time, trying not to imagine the worst-case. But that's easier said than done. So I guess I'm spreading my worries around to friends, family, and the internet at large, if only to ease them.

It's been hard not to cry and worry, especially because Sis sang to me last night the song from their upcoming graduation:

"You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me"

I love that girl, and her brother, and Mama, and my parents, and my sister, and all my family and friends. Thanks for being with me with this, regardless of what this is.