Details of my Medical Experience for my close friends

Well for 3 weeks the pain continues and Peggy convinced me to go to one of the “Doc in the Box” places. I research and found a place Med Express which has facilities all over USA and are open 7 days a week from 8AM to 8PM. The main complaints were long wait times, they take no appointments.

The place was located back near Lithia Springs. So early on Sunday morning we left EG Simmons to get there shortly after 8 AM and were done by 10:30AM, with 4 X-rays and 3 prescriptions, and referral to go to a Orthopedic Doctor. We went back to Lithia Springs to camp and hoped to stay 6 days until the weekend and then head south to near Fort Myers.

More research on his referrals and I got an appointment with Florida Orthopedic Institute at 8AM on Tuesday morning in Tampa. Because of the time of day, we decided to drive over to Tampa in mid-afternoon on Monday and stay overnight at a Wal-Mart that was only ˝ mile from the clinic. The place was only 25 miles away but even in non-rush hour traffic, it took close to an hour. I hate Tampa traffic.

This clinic really looked fancy and very busy. The doctor and his assistant were very thorough and didn’t seem negative at all with all the problems they could see on the X-rays, there was no MRI required.

I have a badly curved spine in my lower back (Scoliosis), some arthritic bone spurs on my discs and some pinching of the nerve that caused the Sciatic Nerve Pain. But with continued use of a steroid pill and some pain medication and physical therapy the prognosis was a full recovery.

They gave me some stretching exercises that I should do and said riding bike and canoeing were good. Walking not as good, but not carrying the canoe or heavy lifting. The pain comes and goes, it is sometimes severe in the morning but not so much at night.

Our plans are to continue our trip as planned. We plan to go to W.P. Franklin Campground on the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers for two weeks.

So we are now back at Lithia Springs untill Saturday morning.