Hi Michelle,
My husband complaons of back pain daily and we don't even sleep together anymore because he can't sleep in the waterbed as I can. I went to the dr. with him and brought up about his lower back (because it would be nice to sleep together again). The dr. ordered him to get an x-ray which showed arthrtis. They also said that they would like to get a closer look at the L5 region because there is an abnormalty there. They are suggesting a cat scan. So now he needs to go get that done. My understanding is that a ct scan is more rapid than an mri. I would suggest that you talk to your dr. again and mention about a cat scan. If he doesn't listen or seems to you that he doesn't care, go get another opinion elsewhere. You have that right. I have been seeing many dr's myself for chronic neck pain and finally after about a dozen different dr's and years i now know that I have arthritis in my neck. Funny how that works but that is the way it is. Don't give up. Keep pushing and looking for an answer because obviously something is wrong or you wouldn't be complaining.