Thank you so much for answering me and providing information. I still need to schedule the MRI. I have started to twice and did not finish. I questioned the poor techs to death trying to find an alternative. they are so very nice. Honestly, I have been freaking myself out a bit with claustrophobia concerns. I have talked myself through MRI's before but they confirmed I will have to wear the "Hannibal Lector" mask as well on top of it. darn it all. I have tried acupuncture, traction, physical therapy, occupational therapy, yoga, meditation, stretching everything under the sun. Massage and water therapy were my saving grace. I would do my favorite therapy exercises (including creating my own) in the salted, heated pool and that helped the most (until I had to drive home). I ultimately bought a tuff pool, attached a salt water pump (that was a little too big for the unit so it sent circulated the water like a jacuzzi) and added a heater (and 220 electricity) in my garage. I also got help adding a dehumidifier and took other steps to protect against humidity. I would tie myself to the ladder to sleep for a while until I was able to start taking ambien at night (which actually helped to quiet the nerve pain some and knocked me out so I could sleep). I move items around using my walker and changed my heavy dishes to lightweight and am lucky enough to have someone help me each week with housework (that I pay). It is nice to talk to people that understand. thank you again and I will let you know what happens. (if I live through the mri) 🙂