Please help me understand degenerative disc disease?

I'm a 25 yr. old veteran and I have been having bad back pain forthe last few months, so I went to the VA and had a MRI done and I can't get a doctor to read it for atleast 2 weeks and i'm just wondering what it all means.. it says at L4-L5 mild central annular disc bulging is present and is indenting the anterior border of the thecal sac but is not causing any significant neural impingement. At L5-S1 there is slightly more marked right paracentral disc protrusion which is coming close to, but not displacing, the traversing S1 nerve root. Other disc spaces are normally preserved... degenerative disc disease L4-L5 and L5-S1 as described above with mild levoscoliosis.. i'm just wondering how serious this is, because it hurts so bad and what kind of treatment can I expect? Please only serious answers.. thanks..