Doctor's Indelicate Diagnosis - Ned's Life Stories

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My brother, Nick, a Naturopathic Medical Doctor, has been treating me for a four-year-old, low-back injury with chronic nerve pain.

There is a chart on his clinic wall showing the five causes of spinal neuropathy (nerve pain, like sciatica or lumbar radiculopathy).

Doctor's wall chart showing five causes of nerve pain originating in the spine. — Five causes of spinal nerve pain

I noted that I had four out of the five, so I said, “Tell it to me straight, Doc, what’s my diagnosis and prognosis?”

His diagnosis was indelicately stated:

I’ve just finished five days of treatment for my back injury at this Arizona clinic belonging to my brother, who’s a naturopathic doctor and a spinal manipulation expert.

Spent a lot of time on this device here, getting manipulated, acupuncture, electrical stimulation and he’s got over here all these charts. Let’s see if I can show you. Of all the things that can go wrong that cause pain in the back and out of the five things that are listed here, I have four of them.

(Pointing with my finger)

Spinal Stenosis
Bulging Disc
Osteoarthritis
Facet Joint Trauma

Anyway, so I asked my brother, I said, Hey, you’re the doctor. What’s your official diagnosis for my back?

He says, Bro, your back is fucked up.

Ned's Life Stories

A multimedia memoir with written, photo and video vignettes

Doctor’s Indelicate Diagnosis

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