Sorry to hear of your problems & wish you the best of luck. Hope you can get off those pain killers too.
A good friend of mine & I were involved in a very bad accident in 1980. Lots of broken bones, internal injuries, etc. After 4 years of sporadic medical treatment, I finally began to heal & went back to a "normal" life. Unfortunately, my friend continued to take pain killers as he still had problems. He died in a house fire a few years ago & nobody knows for sure if he was under the influence.
This is an extreme example but just goes to show we never know from one day to the next what's in store for us. |
Ernie, I am really sorry about what has happened. My prayers to you to return to normal as soon as possible.
You should give acupuncture and arnica montana a try, both are supposedly worthwhile. Also, whatever you do, keep your wallet out of your back pocket. This goes for everyone as most cases of sciatica are from men carrying their wallets in their back pockets. Sitting on them does a lot of damage over the years. A good friend of mine who is the former trainer of the Philadelphia Flyers told me this a decade ago.
GOOD LUCK! |
Hello,
Wanted to say sorry for your back problem, I had surgery 5 years ago for an L4/5 herniated disk, and although the sciatica pressure was relieved, other problems can arise from surgery such as
problems from scar tissue, muscle weakness,possible arthritis,and constant pain. I wanted to add another alternative to surgery, which may be available which involves injection of a papaya enzyme into the nucleus of the disc, and over a several week period shrinks the disc and impending bulge. The downside is that if there is an allergic reaction to the enzyme,death can occur, but I understand that there is a test which can be performed to rule that out. Good luck on your recovery, and hope you can avoid surgery!
Jerry |
All my wishes from afar for patience (back problems take time to heal), perseverance (keep the music flowing). May the butt remain & the pain go away! Cheers |
Ernie, i'm sorry to hear and learn of your situation. Health issues are never easy to deal with, especially when it comes to just being able to perform normal run of the mill, day to day functions. Health is something that most of us take for granted and don't realize the value of it until something "bad" happens.
While i've never had to deal with anything near as serious as what you state, i've had more than my fair share of visits to medical therapists, specialists and chiropractor's. Learning from experience, i would only like to pass on that one needs to exercise on a regular basis and never overlook the importance of having a good "sleeping platform" aka "bed". Much of the pain that we suffer can be relieved by simply paying attention to the basics that are bodies require. I'm sure that i'm preaching to the choir on this, but i'd rather have others think about such things now than have to deal with the repurcussions later.
Once again, best wishes and we'll be praying for a full and speedy recovery. In the meantime, crank some tunes and keep pushing forward. Sean
> |
Sorry to read of your condition, get well soon. OTOH, my brother is interested in getting a late model Subaru - are you anywhere near Philly?! (With a business like that, you're probably in Seattle - where he just moved from!) |
Chronic back pain can be distressing and can diminish quality of life as you have found. Speaking plainly, it sucks and my heart goes out to you and all those individuals (and their caregivers) who must live in near-constant pain.
My wife had an auto accident a few years ago and suffered disc herniation at L4-L5, as you have. She has not worked full time since and she spends a lot of time in bed in pain. Not fun for her or me. A while ago, as an alternative to risky disc-fusion surgery, we found out about a procedure called an IDETT (intradiscal electro thermal therapy). The procedure is minimally invasive and not nearly as risky as disk surgery. If I recall correctly, the success rate is better than that of disc surgery. They basically insert a wire into the disc under X-ray and heat it up, which causes the herniation to heal. I believe it is done under mild anesthesia. If I were you, I would look into this procedure and find out if you are a good candidate.
My wife is actually an ideal candidate, but she has now developed a phobia to undergoing anesthesia, which has caused her to postpone the procedure. Possibly after undergoing psychotherapy for this irrational (but very real) fear, she will eventually have the IDETT. SHEESH!
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that there are other alternatives to disc surgery. Do some research and find out more about the IDETT and you could also look at something called a nucleoplasty.
Good Luck! |
Sorry to hear this. I know too many people who have this crippling problem. Hopefully physical therapy and massage can help. Many times problems like this will stabilize over time and problem becomes less. Wish you the best. |
Yea, I understand that back thing. In the past two years I had to have a surgery that bolted seven of my vertebras together and fused them with bone from my hip in the thoracic spine area. This year, they went in through my chest and removed a thoracic disk and fused it with a rib and bolted it with a plate. SO, make sure you take very good care of it because once it is damaged beyond standard repair it is much more difficult and you have to take a lot more medications. I am very happy that I had finished my system to a good point to get through recovery. It made life very tolerable.
Take very good care of yourself. Don't rush it! Very few things are worth your health, especially when it comes to terminal pain.
Dale |
Good Cheer friend. You were missed. Welcome back.
I remain, |
Ernie: Hope that you were @ least still able to attend the tea party after the fall.
"One pill makes you better and..." |
I'm very glad to meet to have met you. I'm sorry about your condition, and I hope for the most part that it is mostly temparary. I'm kinda in a health scare at the moment also, and it's a pain in the butt, but without the pain. To say I feel your pain would be subjective.(ha!)
We all like it when our stereo's work really well, we don't like it when our dryers don't work, the car, the refrigerater, but we can just put that stuff waay down on the list. There are just some things that HAVE to work.
But then really there is just too much to life and in life to give up on anything. There isn't a bright side, there are many.
I think slipped disc can get you out of a colonoscophy. (yeah, I know it's not that bad, but you didn't want one anyway I bet).
I've had my back out from a strain, I've had pain that wouldn't go away, but sir, I must bow to your resilience. I hope you post, so we could learn from you. Like how to actually listen to music. I've heard stories about people listening to music without actually being in the sweet spot (I can't provide proof, I just heard that). I also read a review on a piece of music where there was these things in the recording that I hadn't heard, (different pressing?) and a friend told me it had to be played all the way through, and without stopping. (How does that work, that something is not there when you start it again?)
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Damn Rabbit! Seriously, is it just something that heals on its own? My mom had a ruptured disc years ago and first treatment was lay/lie (?) around for weeks and hope it corrects itself and if that didn't work-which it didn't--surgery. She's fine now though.
I do like rabbits though. There's this loose one that's been living behind my apartment building for 9 months now. Its a female calico lop-eared and must've been someone's pet--obviously not a wild breed. Its really friendly and one night I pull up and the rabbits sitting under the porchlight and 3 feet over one of the stray cats is just sittin there two. And there's about three regular stray cats. I thought they would've have surely done her in-but she's fine. They're hardy little things. I think the other neighbors are feeding too--there's carrots layin around back there. But she eats the weeds too. |
Ernie,
Get well soon.
You stay in Edinburgh? |
Ernie,
Get well soon. I know it sounds hokey but the healing power of positive energy counts for a lot, so stay positive!
Jon |
My sympathy and best of luck. I have a similar problem which we have managed successfully for years with care and therapy (and occasional drugs). It can be done although while getting through the crises it may be hard to believe. |
All I can say is OUCH!
Get well soon!
KF |
Just answered another one of your posts mostly tongue in cheek. Now I realise your not feeling so great. Hope I didn't annoy you too much and wish you a speedy recovery. |
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