The very long story is that back in 2011, I ended up with a cervical disk herniation that caused excruciating chronic pain in my right shoulder and arm for three solid months. I was eventually steered toward Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, by John E. Sarno, and it worked.

Move forward to February, 2014, 15 months ago, and I developed lower back pain. Had back pain before, always went away. This time, it didn’t—at least until it took permanent residence in my left butt, hip, hamstring, calf, ankle and big toe without much back pain. This time, Sarno was only effective insofar as getting rid of the constant chronic aspect, and intensity, making it somewhat manageable—with good days, bad days, and the awful dreary days.

In short, while I could function, I was pretty much in pain most of the time. Sitting was the worst, driving was excruciatingly painful most of the time and after a long drive the intensity could last for 2 days afterward.

I don’t do pain pills much, very rarely. A couple Advil is about it for me. Alcohol is my pharmaceutical of choice.

In retrospect, today, the biggest toll on me I’d not taken account of is a general lack of interest in just about everything. I suppose that’s a reasonable description of depression setting in. It’s probably why I went so gung-ho on the move to Mexico. Only thing I could find that gave me a semblance of a sense of life.

The reason for the retrospective? Because since 2 p.m. yesterday I’ve been pain free for the first time in 15 months. I opted for the discectomy surgery and it appears to have been a 100% success. For the reasons why I made this choice and how it went down, read on. I really enjoyed doing this write up, the first I recall truly delighted in writing in a long time. Hope that comes through.