[annapurna]

Thanks so much for the help. I'm beginning to realize that simply giving up on medical treatment for spine pain (including pain management)is really giving up on life. Simply circumscribing one's life to adapt to increasing pain and disability instead of using pain management and/or restorative spine treatments eventually leads to unacceptable levels of isolation and boredom. I had gotten to the point where I thought that my desire for better function and lower pain levels was just pride and an unwillingness to accept my own mortality. You're all reminding me that medicine is here to help us live as full a life as possible even within the confines of aging and mortality. Wanting to be healthy and active is NOT necessarily an emotionally unhealthy desire to be sixteen forever as I was thinking.