Glad you've made improvement, Ered. I'll bet it felt good to do some XC skiing. I really miss the good workouts, but I've gotta keep looking at the big picture right now.

Trek, I don't think my doctor does back surgery. He mainly works with ankles, knees and shoulders, and he sees general sports medicine which is why he was willing to see me in the first place. He prescribed physical therapy after my first visit when it appeared that I had a hamstring sprain or spasms, but he didn't seem to want to mess with a back problem. He did give me a PT order when I asked, and if I end up having surgery I'm leaning towards going to a neurosurgeon anyway.

I don't want to give up my active lifestyle for too long, but yeah, the human body has an amazing ability to heal. I want to give it every reasonable chance first.