My messed up neck

After a couple of weeks of doing therapy with no signs of improvement, I had to bite the bullet and get an MRI. 

I'm not claustrophobic but I'm not a fan of being in an enclosed space either. And I had no idea that it was going to be that loud. Sure they gave me ear plugs but they didn't fit properly in my cauliflower ears so it was louder than it should've been. 

But the worst part was how painful it was, for me specifically. MRIs don't hurt but I can't lie down flat without getting the craziest nerve pain, which runs from my neck down to my left arm. And you're supposed to stay perfectly still during the process. So I just sucked it up, closed my eyes, and tried not to think about the pain. That was 20 minutes of pure agony. 

The guy in white is getting stacked by the guy in black.

My messed up neck is probably from years of doing BJJ, getting stacked by bigger guys and inverting (see picture above). The "gentle art" indeed.

A lot of complicated words that just means I'm screwed.

The MRI confirmed that I have facet hypertrophy (joints in the spine degenerate to the point of causing painful symptoms) and multiple disc herniations, which are causing my nerve pain. On top of that, there's also a disc tear. 😑

But not all is lost. Thanks to the help of Anh Vien and the BACS Clinic, there is a road to recovery. But in the meantime, that means no jiu-jitsu. I haven't trained since November and I miss it terribly... but I'm okay with walking away from it if it means living without the constant pain.