I am so very lucky when it comes to health care options. It’s distressing to think of the millions of people live (and used to live) with deep or searing chronic pain who did not have this kind of treatment available. I was lucky to have good health insurance and highly competent doctors. No one, however, should have to deal with this sort of pain without treatment and hope. For the past two years, I’ve been struggling with a pinched nerve in my neck that caused serious pain in my left arm and left side of my back. On several occasions, I referenced some of the treatment I have been receiving, including this post on acupuncture, this post on the incredible fact that there is a skeleton inside my body, and this confession that I don’t do well when it comes to getting injections. I’ve had all kinds of conservative treatment, including intensive physical therapy. None of my conservative treatments worked. The most recent symptom was numbness several in my fingers (feeling in some of my fingers came back, but not in my left index finger). It's worth taking the time to tell you what my doctor told me about numbness. If you have it, permanent nerve damage is being done. If you don’t jump on it and address it quickly (within a matter of weeks), you might lose that sensation permanently. Numbness is different than pain, then, which doesn’t usually cause permanent injury. Because I had significant numbness, I had surgery, which occurred four days ago.