Just got back from Wilce Student Health Center, not for the cough I've been having for weeks... but for my back pain... again! As far as I remember, this is the third time I am under treatment for this very same problem. It makes me wonder whether I have injured my muscle or joint permanently, since it just keeps occurring... The story goes back to summer 2005, I was playing basketball - and somehow I fell over and my right knee hit the hard wood floor. Not feeling any real pain, I kept playing. Days later, my knee turned blue and I was unable to walk normally for a couple of days. Even so, I keep playing beach volleyball on weekend (hey, it's summer... so what can I say?) And weeks later, even though my knee had healed - I started having a strange tingling sensation on my lower back / hip area, sometimes it was so bad that I can't sleep on my back like I normally do. But I did not take it seriously, and I think it gets better to a point that it’s not bothering me – although I feel that something is still not right with my back… December 2005, it was my second winter break and I went back to Indonesia after one and a half year abstinence from nasi ayam and tahu pong =D That was not the best vacation I ever had. I put way too many things on my backpack, causing my whole back aching real badly, and the fact that one of my luggages loses all its wheels just make me works extra hard. I managed to reach Semarang with all the pain in the world hanging on my back. So yeah, my super worried mum took me to a doctor that always these kinds of injuries at Ungaran – about 25 minutes from Semarang. And there I was, sitting patiently as the youngest patient since everyone else are senior people. Anyway, the verdict from the doctor is that I probably stress the muscle on my knee and hip, simply causing my back structure to lose its integrity. So during my precious break, I was forced to go to multiple therapy sessions where the nurse simply lay me down and strapped my body to the bed. Afterwards she attached my right feet on a machine (with a couple of blinking red LEDs) and for the next half an hour, it would stretch my right part of my body. I was hoping that by the end of those sessions I will be taller by a centimetre or two, but it never happened. But God bless that doctor and nurses, those therapies do works! I got all the therapy done before Christmas 2005, and spent what’s left on my break joyfully (That makes me remember, I never post anything about that… well, let’s save that for later.) Spring break 2006 (yes, that’s exactly a year ago), I went to Wilce Student Health Center… for the very same problem. I do not remember what starting the pain, but what I remember is that the pain was so unbearable that I can’t sleep on the bed. I had to be in fetal position on the carpet in order for me to sleep. Doctor Rangwani examined my condition, and decided to do x-ray scan on my upper and lower body part. From there she concluded that it might just be a normal sprain caused by stress or something. She gave me muscle relaxer (Prednisone) and pain killer(Orphenadrine) and instructed me to go back if things get worse. And praise God, it gets better and I don’t feel any problem with my back until recently. I even played basketball, volleyball, and even Lasertron (which is quite hard since the players have to stand, kneel, run, and jump all the time.) That make me wonder... If my body was able to handle it, then why so suddenly it just went kaput ? Yes, I played basketball recently, but it wasn’t a competitive one.. (like I ever play competitively anyway...)  and I did not forget to do a fair amount of stretching before playing. So why? Is it because I lift heavy things before the PD training? But I did that too last year… Is it my sleeping habit? Is it because of the flu? Or is it my diet? Do I have high cholesterol? Gout acid problem? Or is it because I’m getting older? Good grief... Anyway……… today they assign me to the same doctor, and she gave me the same medication as last time. She also said that if it doesn’t work, I will have to do a MRI scan. That will help them finding the root cause of my problem. As far as I remember, the MRI scan can cost me $2000, but I have health insurance, I just need to pay $200. And it’s actually quite cheap, considering it cost me Rp 175,000.00 (about $20) to do a small x-ray on my teeth last December (I need it for my wisdom teeth removal surgery). At least if I do that I will know the real problem. But still, please please please pray for me that the medication works and this wont’ be a permanent injury. Pax vobiscum.