Need a new site; "For O-F-W-B-B Only"

[My imp]

We need a new site; "For Old Farts (or F*cks) With Bad Backs"! Sign up here. I was in Va. Beach for a week , which ended being (2) weeks because my G-Daughter & her best friend (both 2 yrs old)+ my Daughters (2) 50+lb. dogs were playing & jumping all over me. I was fine when I went to sleep, but around 3am I felt an excruciating stabbing pain at the pain of my spine. I shifted a little bit. The pain went away. I fell back asleep. When I awoke at 5 am, I couldn't move. AT ALL!! I've an interthecal (internal) drug pump that pumps dilaudid directly into my spine, 24/7/365. Didn't even phase the pain! Thank God we drove the Imp!, I'd still be down there! if we drove the Grand Marquis! After a methylprednisolone ('roids, baby, 'roids!) dosepak, & an industrial strength nerve block, I'm finally able to navigate under my own power! Jasper & I are charter members, slanty just joined the ranks of the fallen. Anyone else? I have to finish putting up my 10' Christmas Tree too! I've developed a foolproof system for assy. & decorating; 1) assemble & completely decorate top half of tree (lights, ornaments, garland, icicles, angel, etc..) in stand. 2) lift top half up & install bottom pole in stand. 3) install decorated top half in bottom pole. 4) assemble bottom half, & decorate. Never have to climb a ladder, lean into & possibly fall on tree, causing massive sadness & woe! No sore legs from 500 trips up & down a ladder, etc.. Much safer! The back's holding so far, we'll see after lifting the top half!

 

[tim berry]

my wife works in the local pain clinic sounds all to familiar I hope you find a happy medium with your back .

 

[Nuttyprof]

"For Old Fogies With Bad Backs"
I qualify for membership as well! L5-S1 fused, L5 laminectomy, damage to nerves that run my legs. In 1985 I was helping unload a 2 1/2 ton truck (Army) and the driver slipped off the clutch (was idling in gear with foot on clutch):angry3:. I landed on my back on a fist sized rock at L5. I put up with the pain for 23 years, it finally got so bad I couldn't walk and breathe at the same time so I had surgery. Pain down by 50% but will never be gone again. No over the counter pain meds work for me. Anything less than morphine does nothing for me and I will not be dependent on pain meds.

 

[slant6billy]

Yep, I joined a while back. Mine is part inherited from my dad. My one older sister (who owned the 77 Aspen SE) has had 3 surgeries. Me- I'm afraid of the knife. I can handle about 4 Ibuprofins at once, but the other hard stuff- don't get along with me. I find a chinup bar to hang upsidedown- too cheap for an inversion table. I've gone from crawling to standing this morning, but I slept on the floor. I had a platform years ago that would lay across the engine bay of my 76 Volare, so I could work on it w/o bending over the fender. Used to get a numb right leg while driving the 76 too after about 20mins. Learned to left foot the brake. I really missed that 60/40 split bench- even though the pattern did not line up correctly with the steering wheel. Is the Imp a bench seat car?

 

[jasperjacko]

As one slick guy used to say...."I FEEL YOUR PAIN". I've been able to work since my surgery, but I now limit myself from doing the 2 man stuff by myself. My surgeon said "a career change is in your future". (construction) I'm to old to become a surgeon and make his $3000.00/hr (literally). Buy the time I got my DR. degree I'd spend the rest of my life paying off the loans!lol. Anyway, I'm glad to still be able to provide for the family. God is good all the time! Merry Christmas to you all!

 

[holmes]

Where do I sign up? I had back surgery in 1998, shoulder surgery in 2009, heart surgery in 2011, 2 hand surgeries 2012 and just recovering from foot surgery in 2013. Getting old is a bi***!

 

[alf44]

i fell backwards down my basement steps, landing at the bottom in a pile ... took 3 people to lift me up stairs and in the car... a few hours in the ER and many x rays found a broken L 5.. im in pretty good shape now for being 49.. also my wife belongs to this new club. last year she had spine surgury.. fused upper verts together and put in 10 stainless screws in her upper spine...

 

[My imp]

It rings all too familiar! I'm not just the club Prez., I'm a client as well. No one thing finished off my body! Always swore I'd never let them cut my back. I put up with the pain for years until one day in downtown Cleveland. I went to run across the street. As I started to run across the street, my right leg decided it just didn't feel like working. No pain, no warning, just instant paralysis! Luckily, I was able to fall backwards (not forwards into the approaching car) onto a parked car. The next day I'd scheduled laminectomy surgury! After recovery, the mechanics were pretty much spot on. But I couldn't shake the pain. I went back to the surgeon who said if the damage encompassed a smaller area that they could do a fusion, but, & I quote, "Son, I could put an Erector Set in yor back, & it won't do you a lick of good!" That wasn't the first, it won't be the last bit 'o disappointment! I got an inversion table, used it twice, went to walk one of my dogs at night when my left leg found an 18" deep hole. If you've ever given a dog (no lectures please!) a chicken wing bone, you know the exact sound my leg made when my foot found the bottom of the hole. Did my best Joe Theisman imitation & broke the fibula & tibia of my left leg. A plate & 13 SS screws keep me walking. I can't decide which pain med.'s to take, so I've narrowed it down to two. I have an interthecal (inner) drug pump pumping dilaudid directly into my spine. To top that off, I take a few 40mg Opana to take the edge off! For the uneducated, Opana makes OxyContin look like Tylenol! Not to turn this into a PPPC (Peter Pullin', Pissin' Contest), but I've got enough breaks, strains, sprains, burns (nine skin grafts, 1tendon graft after a Cricket lighter blew up in my pocket), gashes, stitches, casts, splints, eye patches, pain patches, back, knee, elbow, & ankle braces to fill 9 medical histories. Some times between surgeries, procedures, accidents, & recovery time, I actually manage to work on my Imp, & talk with you fine folk! Merry Christmas to you & yours, from me & mine!

 

[BigWhip]

Can I get in this group?
I gained too much weight for surgery on my back.
I have lost 110 lbs. ( still weight at 370lbs)
When I loose 70 more lbs. my knees can be replaced.
The change in weight is changing the pressure points on my back.
I am also so tired of taking meds and being more stupid than my normal stupid.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Michael

 

[My imp]

I've been on no less than (6) 80 mg. OxyContin for 15 yrs.! In high school I'd've killed for that setup, now I'd kill to get off it. No meds, no move! My last MRI was four pages long, lower back only! When I got burned in '74, it trashed my left hand (doesn't work so well, I play rt. hand guitar), so I favor my rt. arm while working. That shoulder is so trashed, they want to replace it! One, not with the insurance I have now. Two, I've been under well over 50 times, I hate recovery rooms & recovery. Three, I'm in enough pain w/o adding another unsuccessful surgery. Four, I'm still holding out for getting my left knee unsuccessfully getting cleaned out.

 

[NoCar340]

I shattered myself in '99, including 3 vertebrae (2 back, 1 neck). Broke the same two vertebrae in my back in '01. Both times I was handed disability paperwork and told I'd never work again. I got lucky and was able to return to work both times, but believe me when I tell you I know what you guys are enduring and I completely hate it for you. I still have back trouble, but nothing like yours.

 

[My imp]

People actually have told me how LUCKY I was to have retired at 43 yrs old! LUCKY! Tell you what, I'll give you my disability check, you give me your spine, & other various damaged parts! I know I can make a living again! Just waiting for the technology to catch up. I thought that Laser Spine Surgery Center in Tampa, Fl. sounded like the ticket until I looked the guy up. He has killed, maimed, paralyzed, made people carry dookie & urine bags, & generally been kicked out of most decent states, so that's out! At least I still decide where & when I go to the bathroom. Speaking of... What's an 80 yr olds cootchie smell like? Depends So when we can graft our brains into an androids body... I'm in!

 

[slant6billy]

Yes Sir, Anyone who want's to just sit on their ass can, but those who are force to be bedridden.... just torture. Retirement for me as I hope to have it: Leave my current job after I get my 30 plus years in ( I've got 17 to go at minimum but would do another few if I can) and then open a shop with a few bays, maybe some gas pumps (maybe). Definitely detailing vehicles (polish/ waxing) bikes/ cars/trucks. Remember a clean car is sign of a sick mind. The marketing factor: Employ Hot girls as the detailers. It worked 25 years ago and it will work again. Have a little rock music playing, wrench'n, and a floorshow. Like I said, it is my retirement dream.

 

[My imp]

I was the epitome of a workaholic. I worked myself into an early forced retirement. I never sat still. I used to consider reading F'n off! Rather than sitting on your ass reading some trash novel, you could be working. You read when you need more knowledge, not entertainment! I can see a movie in 2 hrs that'll take you days to read. Now, I'll read (sometimes I still feel guilty!) if I can't find anything better to do. I've done more on this web page than I've done combined with all the computers we've had since 1993!

 

[My imp]

my wife works in the local pain clinic sounds all to familiar I hope you find a happy medium with your back .

You take care of that little Lady. It takes a special kind of person to care for people with chronic health issues. Many people have already given up & can depress a clown. The asshole dopers that ruin it for all the legitimate pain patients. The Dr.'s that just want to get rich off of all the procedures they do to you. The insurance companies that just want to get rich by denying as many procedures as they can, limit how much you can sue a Dr. for, DON'T limit how much they can charge a Dr. for malpractice insurance. They have the govt. pushing drug companies to come up with more med.'s, then punishing the Dr.'s for prescribing them? WTF!!!

 

[Bryan M.]

Hell, I joined that club at the ripe age of 23. L1-2, L2-3, and L3-4 are Degenerative Disc with 3-4 being the worst. Shattered coccyx at 8 years old. Have a trapped nerve somewhere in the neck (not 100% sure of location) that was found during my 2nd run at physical therapy...they cracked my neck and I dropped like a rock. Most days I'm ok, but if it's cold, or I work too much I'll feel it. Right now only thing I'm not supposed to do is run, but you can factor in a bad knee and two destroyed ankles (an aircraft crash recovery on a mountain) into that equation.

And I haven't even scratched the surface of the list...

 

[My imp]

Damn, talk about the walking wounded! Maybe we all shouldn't sit in the same place, we could prove that lightning DOES strike in the same place!lol I know, I haven't either! If we ever get sick of bench racing, we can always compare boo-boo's! Remember reading about the guy in the '70's that a Cricket lighter exploded in his pocket? Yours truly! 65 percent of my body was burned. Total of 9skin grafts, 1 tendon graft, 9 months in the hospital, & the hits just kept coming

 

[Bryan M.]

Burns always make me cringe. My first long-term girlfriend was 42% burned (head/face, arms, chest) from a mattress fire when she was about four years old...lots of surgeries. Always cringed when she explained details.