I just got off the phone with the orthopedist’s office. I apparently have a herniated disc, which is likely what’s been causing me pain in my left leg. This isn’t great news, but it’s nice to put a name to it, especially when it’s something that will hopefully respond well to treatment. I absolutely hurt my back when I was in New Orleans at the end of March*, but I’d felt like I had made a full recovery right away.
Well, maybe not. I don’t know that the herniated disc has anything to do with the slight but persistent numbness I’ve been getting in my opposite toe, but I have an appointment with the orthopedist next Wednesday to discuss all of this — and one with a neurologist in July, if it turns out to be unrelated.
Again, it’s not great news — hooray! my spine is falling apart! — but it’s preferable to being in pain or discomfort all the time and not knowing why.
* Did I mention this? How I went to the convention center across the street from the hotel, carrying maybe forty pounds of books, only to discover (after I first registered at the wrong conference and walked three or four city blocks carrying those damn books) that the conference I was looking for was actually inside the hotel? I was in a little bit of agony the rest of that weekend. It didn’t help that the hotel bed was ridiculously soft and high off the ground.