Having my head examined

Getting old is really a pain - literally. Recently I've been suffering from some lower back pain, slight clumsiness in my walk, and some difficulty standing up from a sitting position. My primary physician referred me to a neurologist who ordered several lab tests on my blood and MRI scans of my brain and neck.

One of the things we really like about where we live is our close proximity to the Kaiser Medical Center. It is a full service medical center which means that almost all the diagnostic tests ordered by our doctors can be performed here although we've also used the facility out in Roseville quite a bit. That isn't all that inconvenient but it's maybe 10 miles further.

Tucked behind the local Medical Center are a couple of trailers for doing some of the more esoteric testing. This is the third time I had a chance to visit the MRI trailer. The first two times were to examine my neck for blood flow and nerve compression. This latest time was a brain scan to see if I might have some nerve blockage there.

When I saw the neurologist today to get the results of the tests he said, "I've got bad news and good news. The bad news is that I couldn't find what could be causing your problems. The good news is that I couldn't find anything wrong with your any of your scans and blood work." I wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he appeared much more distressed about the bad news than he was happy about the good news. In the event, he came up with some more exotic lab tests to order and then suggested that unless they turn up something, we wait until my symptoms get better or worse.