Amazingly, I DID manage to convince my GP that the walking was fine, but only after I myself caved and signed up for a water aerobics class at the LA Fitness by my old apartment! I decided that his idea of "throwing everything we have at this" (i.e., 2400mg a day of Neurontin, only water exercise, and a third ESI) was something that I would actually feel better if I tried, because after my 5 days of walking, my pain was definitely increased. And I thought that if I was really going to be able to sort out what helps the pain, I needed to start the water aerobics immediately, so I can see if they help me at all before we throw the steroid into the mix in a week or two. (I'm already on the 2400mg of Neurontin, and it's doing ZIP for the pain.) Then, if neither the water class nor the steroid give me much improvement, I'm going back to the treadmill, and will just find a way to live with the pain, as long as I'm not losing any motor strength or reflexes.

Of course, that's all dependent on whether I ever get to TAKE a water aerobics class. I went through all the hassle of packing half my house into a bag yesterday, leaving work early to get to the gym so I have time to change out of my sweats and get to speak to the instructor before class, only to get there and be told the class had been canceled because the instructor's child was sick. Gah!!! The only good part of it was that the bathing suit I had on turned out to be too big now to stay up, so there was a good possibility of a "wardrobe malfunction" had I actually worn it in class. And of course it was amazing for me to realize that I have lost 20 pounds since I last wore that suit in July, when it still fit. The down side: the only suits I have that fit are old and really out of style. So I will be ordering new suits off the internet today, as there certainly aren't any in the stores in October!

In other news, I had my second business class on Tuesday, and I basically taught it! It was on researching your competition, and as I was the only person who's actually already done this, I was pretty much the primary speaker for the evening. The instructor even asked me to share my 7 page questionnaire that I created with everyone by email and bring in a book I read about it to the next class! So it was nice to know that everything I've done so far really had me on the right track! Can't wait for next week's class!