After my last appointment with Dr. Zimmerman in June of 2005, my low back pain (LBP for short) was getting worse. The double laminectomies with Dr. Jones eighteen months prior had done little to address my pain.

My partner and I had a long-standing plan to go to Italy for a two-week vacation that fall. I didn’t want to give up on that. I’d been to Paris once and Hannover (Germany) once — both work-related trips — but I’d never been to Italy. I had been a professional chef for more than a decade, and food was my passion, particularly pizza. We made a plan to eat our way through the Emilia-Romagna region, the birthplaces of Modena balsamic vinegar, parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and Parma prosciutto. We had found a local guide to take us. We were all set and ready to go. But my pain wouldn’t go away.

By the end of August, I was miserable. I really wanted our trip to work. In our next visit, Dr. Z said the best option was to do an injection into my lumbar spine. We made the appointment for mid-September. The procedure was going to be one day before my flight.

The injection was performed in an outpatient OR. The nurse was annoyed by my low blood pressure monitor when the alarm kept going off. Low blood pressure is one of my irregularities, which almost always requires explanation. That’s when I started bringing a one-pager detailing my current medical history to every appointment — a huge time-saver. (I highly recommend getting one, if you are so inclined.)

First Dr. Z inserted a catheter into the base of my spine, up under my tailbone, then a needle. I don’t know if I missed the memo or what, because I had no idea that poking a needle up through the base of my spinal cord would hurt so much. Holy fucking shit. It felt like a hot poker drilling into my lower spine. It was excruciating and caused a bad flare-up. I was a little freaked out later when I saw the blood in my underwear. The flight the next day was awful.

I was dazed after that, not knowing what was going to happen. After a week or so, I did feel some relief. Was it just a temporary fix?

It lasted for about five weeks, then my pain returned.

Italy, however, was amazing.