The Idiot, who planned to fly to Cairo today, was persuaded to postpone his MedTrek from Gaza across the Sinai Peninsula to Alexandria, Egypt, due to a medical/MRI diagnosis of “severe central spinal stenosis.” The nerve-compressing affliction painfully impacted his hamstrings and led to an oft-excruciating walk from Syria down the coasts of Lebanon and Israel last autumn.

The discomfort forced The Idiot to take frequent seated breaks and constantly bend over to alleviate pain caused by compressed spinal nerves, or “severe crowding of the caudal equine fibers and narrowing of the neural foramina.”

The result: MedTrekking was much less fun, daily distances were much shorter and The Idiot swore more than any current candidate for US president.

The Idiot constantly leaned forward or bent over (traditional signs exhibited by someone with spinal stenosis) to alleviate constant pain in his hamstrings and legs.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

The Idiot took short breaks whenever and wherever he could find a place to sit down.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

A plea for a cup of coffee led not only to a respite from leg pain caused by stenosis but also to a breakfast of shakshuka and an hour-long discussion of the Israeli penchant for communal tent life on the beach.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

The Idiot appreciated having a shortened day when his MedTrekking partner needed medical attention after a fall on sharp rocks.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

The Idiot created numerous photo ops to enable him to rest his legs. This one was at a viewing platform in Israel’s Palmahim Beach National Park, site of the remains of a port dating from the Middle Bronze Age.
(Photo: Michael Knipe)

The process to determine that his ailment was “severe central spinal stenosis,” rather than the usual “classic overuse syndrome” due to too much walking, began with X-rays (he had a slightly fractured femoral head due to a fall in July), a CT scan and a month of complete physical inactivity complemented by a regimen of massages, chiropractor adjustments, acupuncture and various mystical treatments.

“You’re a lucky bastard,” said Dr. Trudi Pratt after seeing initial X-rays of The Idiot’s pelvis, spine and hip in November. “The slight femur head fracture is painful but should heal in a couple months and you’ve got great disc space. These are the X-rays of a 30-year old.”

The Idiot’s slew of medical appointments included numerous visits to Dr. Trudi Pratt, his chiropractor since 2009.
(Photo: Marc Beauchamp)

When these attempted remedies failed to provide any significant relief, Dr. Pratt ordered a truth-telling lumbar spine MRI in December which determined that The Idiot has stenosis, a fairly common affliction for people his age, though his was deemed “severe.”

The Idiot’s medical team has currently prescribed a series of epidural steroid injections in an effort to reduce pain-provoking swelling and stave off, or even avoid, surgery to remove the malicious bone growth causing nerval compression. While the surgery itself is fairly simple and usually provides tangible relief, any back operation changes the structure of the spine and opens a Pandora’s Box of potential complications.

Although surgery is likely, The Idiot is attempting to avoid it.

The Idiot gets an epidural steroid injection that will hopefully reduce his inability to walk more than a block without being put out of action by intolerable pain in his hips, hamstrings and legs.

The pain was reduced enough following two injections that The Idiot is now able to get back in reasonable shape with light exercise that includes spinning, stretching, swimming, walking and yoga. But while his hamstrings no longer feel like taut steel cables and he can hike fairly long distances with a half smile, he’s not in the shape required for a serious six-week round of daily 30-kilometer MedTrekking in Egypt — or anywhere else. He felt, as he hiked in New Zealand and California this year, that he’s only at 46.57 percent of his usual physical prowess.

Walking with sheep above the South Pacific Ocean in New Zealand in January.

The Idiot is a shadow of his former self as he hikes a six-mile loop on the Sacramento River Trail in Redding, CA, in February.

The Idiot’s medical team will decide whether he can operate (a much-too-used word recently) on injections alone or require surgery in May. His current plan is to resume the MedTrek in Egypt in November when the summer heat has waned.

Inshallah.

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."