Appointment 2 & 3 Pretty Simple.

This one is about appointments 2 and 3; they were short.

I had my appointment with the spinal and back doctor, and it was a fairly relaxed experience overall. We got everything ready the night before—packed the bags, prepped snacks, and hit the road feeling good. The drive is starting to feel like a breeze since we’ve done it a bunch of times now.

I wasn’t as stressed about this one, but those nerves were still lurking a bit. We used valet parking again, and it was nice not to have any hiccups this time. We even arrived a bit early because the appointment was in a different building.

Once we met with the doctor, it was all straightforward. We talked about my leg weakness and back pain, and she did a physical exam while reviewing my X-rays. Luckily, nothing too crazy showed up! I found out I have a few things going on: lumbar spondylosis, lumbar facet arthropathies, and some myofascial pain—basically meaning, my back and joints are starting to wear out. Who knew being in my late 30s could feel like I’m aging way too fast?

The good news is I get to start physical therapy. They took X-rays of my neck since that’s been hurting too, but everything looked fine there; just more physical therapy in the plan.

Afterward, we picked up our car (and had the valet card situation sorted, thank goodness!) and then treated ourselves to some ice cream from Flapdoodles. The guy working there was super nice—he even opened a new container for me to avoid any gluten mix-ups. So, we decided that ice cream after appointments is officially our new tradition. It definitely makes the day feel a little brighter!

Also, a week later, I had a telehealth appointment with my internal medicine doctor. It was only a quick check-in to review my blood work and neck X-rays. Luckily, everything was good! I need to take some vitamins and do more physical therapy, but nothing too intense right now.

And yep, obviously, I had ice cream again after that one too!

All in all, these two appointments were low-key, which is a nice change of pace since the next ones are going to be more complicated. But I’m just taking it all in and keeping my spirits up!