The Answer: Nic

The Question: Who in the world can break their back THREE times and only be aware of it once?

And have you heard the story about the one time when he knew he broke his back?

The only reason Nic ever got good grades was to get a free ski pass to The Canyons. So of course on the first jump of the first run of the season during his junior year, he missed the landing and came crashing down, resulting in a compound fracture in his arm/wrist and a broken back. The rest of the story as I've heard it is that his brother Justin was focusing on the bones sticking out of Nic's arm, but to give a better idea of what the problem really was, Nic whipped his limp, dangling hand back and forth, saying, "This? This doesn't hurt. My back hurts!" Oh, and do you want to know what Justin did? He picked Nic up and tried to crack his back. And it gets worse. After that, Nic proceeded to snowboard ALL THE WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN with a broken back.

It's a wonder he can even walk.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when the chiropractor looked at Nic's X-rays and informed him that he has broken his back not just that once, but TWO OTHER TIMES. Nic had no idea. The only way he could explain it to me was, "I told you I have a high tolerance for pain."

It's a wonder we haven't put him down.

So, now. Now it's something like ten years later and Nic is officially the "worst 29 year old" his chiropractor has ever seen. But there is some good news: Although he has three bulging discs in his lower back, they have not herniated, which means he doesn't have to have surgery. He just has to have three different chiropractic treatments three times a week for the next two months, followed by less frequent visits for, like, eternity.

One bulging disc is bad. Imagine three.

When I tell people that a big reason why I work is for the insurance, I should reference this. I could also reference any one of the six major surgeries Nic has had in our past six years of marriage. I've written about a few of them here, here, and here. I didn't even mention last September's ankle surgery; the one where he was in a walking cast for six weeks. Seriously guys, we have to have insurance.