oh my aching back

A very long time ago, I worked in construction. An ironworker, to be precise. I built pre fabricated steel buildings and grain storage systems. I did not make a lot of money doing this, or meet cute girls, or go to faraway places doing this work. It was just a job. I was young, and had no skills, so any job is a good job. One day, I fell off a step ladder. It wasn't that far, but it injured my back. That fall, and several years of lifting heavy objects I should not be lifting has resulted in a herniated disc that causes new adventures in pain. I have undergone physical therapy (which is really just a very expensive workout), chiropractic treament (pops and yanks in the spine that sound terrifying at first, but then I wiggle my toes and thank God I have movement still) and a series of epidural steroidal injections, known in the trade as an ESI. I have now had 6 ESI injections, including 2 today. An ESI is injecting steroids in the back to reduce the swelling. Only in the trade we call swelling 'inflammation'. Whatever. The doc takes a really long needle and slides into the lower back and shoots the steroid solution in between the discs so the nerves get a break and stop hurting for awhile. Sometimes the relief will last a year, sometimes a week. Thus the term practicing medicine. Today I went to a 'pain center' for the first time. Where it takes a few hours as a hospital out patient procedure, the pain center gets the job done in less than an hour. I enter the procedure room, lay face down on the table, drop my pants, raise my shirt, and the doctor and her team get down to business. With the speed and spirit of an Indy pit crew (not a NASCAR fan, sorry) the doc and her nurses numb, jab, inject. One of the nurses patted me on the back during the procedure. I suspect this was just a cover move for pinning me down in case I went psycho on them. Good luck with that. In just a few minutes they are done, I pull up my pants, pull down my shirt, and am whisked away to the recovery room, which is just a place to sign a few more papers. Then they give me the heave ho and I am on my way home. Now I just wait for the ESI to kick in and give me relief. Since was my fifth and sixth inject I suspect it may not be my last, but if I have my way surgery is the next stop. Either that or they install a fitting in the lower back, much like a grease fitting on a car, so I can just stop by and get some relief. Because I am getting weary of injections, therapies, adjustments, advil, ice packs, and mostly, pain surveys. How is my pain? It fricking hurts, that's how it is. Now can we just get an injection please?