Sunshine on a rainy day

Everything has been feeling really blah lately. There has been so much rain that it has dampened not only the ground but my mood as well. I am a person who needs sunshine. Both literally and figuratively.
Today I found a bit of relief. For quite some time now I have been suffering from a bulging disk in my back. I know it sounds painful. Trust me, it is. The back pain is bad enough, but add to it some sharp nerve pain down the leg and it is close to debilitating. Even more difficult to handle, however, is the frustration. Listening to all the health care debate while laid up on your back for a month is very frustrating. Who can help me? I didn't know.
When I first started having trouble I was very hesitant to go to my Doctor. I like her, but I just never feel like I can get anywhere with one. Like they are just listing diseases on a big dart board, close their eyes, throw the dart, and diagnose by where the hole is made on the circle. I hate paying a copay just to hear them spout jargon that really means "I don't know what is wrong with you." So I put it off until the day I was sitting in the living room, not really able to move, and reduced to tears.
Fortunately I did get in to see her and an MRI was ordered. That was how they found the bulging disk at L5. Great! Now I know what is wrong! It can be addressed! I was so happy to know what it was. Then I had to make an appointment with a neurosurgeon-but they couldn't see me for 6 weeks. Yep. 6 weeks. Really? I had to suffer that long? Did they know I could barely function? Frustrated again.
I am really fortunate to work for a company that is flexible and I was able to work from home for the greater part of February. And my husband, family and friends are so helpful. I even had one friend save me a chair at the dance studio so I could sit comfortably, and another offer herself to me for anything I needed, even though she owns a business and is one of the busiest people I know. Such simple, kind, generous acts were everywhere and helped me get through. I push myself more than I should, but I know that they are all there for me, for anything I may need.
But yet again, I got to a point of total frustration, and called my Dr for another visit. I couldn't sit. I couldn't stand. I couldn't play with my kids. I got by, but not easily. We found that I had lost some reflexes and so we decided to go to Lahey. I got an appointment the next day. Yes, the next day. Why it took so long to make that decision I'll never know but it was the best decision I had made that whole time. The NP I saw was great and she educated me and gave me something for the pain and to reduce the swelling. It just takes time she said. These things heal by themselves but it takes time. Three months at least.
So I keep resting. Stretching a bit. I am seeing a chiropractor and that is helping, but she is out of town this week. So she suggested I make an appointment with the massage therapist. Sounded good to me so I did.
Well, after all the medication, the resting, the stretching, the adjustments, this half-hour $40 massage seems to have made all the difference! Not that I am cured. Not that I won't be sore again tomorrow. But for about 3 hours now, I have felt normal. I almost forgot what that was like. Normal. As in no pain. I actually stood in the kitchen and made a sandwich and didn't wince even once. It's a miracle. It's my sunshine for this rainy day.
Kristin