Get well wishes for Augie(bigragu)
03-08-2018, 11:57 AM
#31
Registered User
I can say from experience pain control starts in your head. You can choose how much or how little of it you want to feel. I've helped a few people get through their pain, I also couldn't stop a close friend from committing suicide. It's a mater of finding those things that make life worth continuing. Like my one friend that also has hardware in the back. 70 years old and still manages shooting competitions in Arizona.
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03-09-2018, 02:12 AM
#34
Registered User
Prayers
My prayers go out to you and your family for a speedy recovery . I have C3-C7 fussed , 1st Doc botched up surgery , installed 4 screws into disc space . 2nd surgery is great . L3-L4 torn , L4-L5 buldging , taking steroid shots at this time for pain issues . Mine all happened from a rear end crash riding my Harley years ago . I was Mr Tuff guy , got up dusted off , all is good . Years later not so good , I pay for it daily . Moral of my story , if you are ever in any type of accident , go to hospital for X-rays . Define if you have any issues then, don’t wait for years like me and suffer through it because you think your OK . Again good luck , prayers for speedy recovery . I’m here to help you and your family anyway I possibly can .
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bigragu (03-09-2018)
03-09-2018, 03:12 PM
#35
Registered User
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1STGENFARMBOY (04-05-2018),
mknittle (03-11-2018)
04-04-2018, 12:09 PM
#38
Registered User
Thread Starter
I got an e-mail from him last weekend. He is home now after a month in the hospital. He said most of his previous pain is gone but is still sore and has some nerve shock. He is getting around with a walker during therapy.
I am going to give him a phone call later.
I am going to give him a phone call later.
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mknittle (04-04-2018)
04-04-2018, 05:50 PM
#40
Hey, all. Just read these last few comments on this tread started by Mark, and I truly want to say thank you all, for the “brotherhood” like comments and offers to help from all you guys. I am currently 35 day’s post surgery, and man it seems like time has flown.
Looking back at it all, after reflecting on 7 spine surgeries and 3 knee surgeries since I got into my trade back in 1984, I’ve always wondered how I trashed myself so. I have many close friends that I worked side by side with, whom are now all retired, and yes, they have their share of injuries to the knees and some back aches and rotator cuff from the hard trade as a sheet metal worker, but not like in my case.
When my Dr visited me the day after surgery, he said that the MRI pics did me no justice as to what he saw when he had me cut open. He said almost 100% of my discs were either ruptured, disintegrated, dried out, and a couple just gone and bone on bone.
With all the emotions, pain from surgery, all coupled with the ivy narcotics being administered into me, I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck I could have done to trash my back so. There was a spell in my early 20’s when I use to body build and tried the “get big fast” stuff that the majority of guys try that get into that sport do, but I was an amateur, and only tried that stuff for not even a year.
But, the one thing I did for 32 years, was mask pain from my job with Advil and Motrin. I told myself getting into this trade I vowed that I would not be ever laid off and replaced by another due to lack of performance, and swore I’d never stand in the unemployment line. I took on all the overtime offered, and climbed up the ranks to being a general foreman quickly after I finished my apprenticeship. Looking back, I successfully achieved my commitments, but at a price.
Construction work, as some of you on here that make a living at it know, is a very cut throat business. Yeah, I get it when all say ‘Work Smart, not Hard” but I also see that the bottom line is the almighty dollar, and how your performance can affect that for the companies profits. So, I did not ever want to be labeled as the “guy who lost the most” on a project, so I did whatever it took to just keep on plugging away, even though my body was saying “Enough already, geez!”
Back hurt by noon? No biggie, 3 Advil’s will hold me till quitting time. But that three was on top of the three I already took before start time, and I’ll for sure be taking more so I can sleep with some comfort that evening. Stupidly, I didn’t realize I was doing more and more damage to the nerves and discs in the back by pushing them past their limits.
Anyway, I’m paying for it all now. The good thing is, all that nagging pain I had prior to surgery that would lock me onto a lazy boy for most of the day is all gone now. I still have reoccurring pain just from the surgery, mainly in my pelvis area where my Dr locked in that titanium cage by tapping and drilling in a 4” long lag bolt, at both sides of the pelvic bone.
I’m setting new goals for myself for when I’m all healed. I plan first getting myself into shape, enjoying myself with the shooting sports, get back into hunting, and currently I’m all into PCP air rifles and target shooting. Now that, is a kick in the butt fun hobby. Hopefully my dodge is all good, and the wrenching to keep it on the road remains light duty, as I won’t be able to get into certain positions due to the locked up back, but if I can smile more, get my social life back, and help others along the way(was shying away from that due to pain), all this would have been worth it. I must do some5hing crazy special for my wife of 30 years, as she has been the backbone(pun, lol) to keeping our ship afloat, and being a dang great care taker with me. She’s had to put on not only her big girl pants on with this one, but also my pants, too. All that while working a full time job. Great gal.
Anyway, this has to be my longest post on DTR ever, and I wanted to say thanks. I am on DTR everyday reading up all the new posts, but I haven’t been able to drive my truck for almost two years now, so I haven’t posted up much. In time, I’ll be back on here more and more. I truly enjoy each and everyone of you all’ posts and comments, and I’ll forever be a member on this site!
Be good, and be safe!
Looking back at it all, after reflecting on 7 spine surgeries and 3 knee surgeries since I got into my trade back in 1984, I’ve always wondered how I trashed myself so. I have many close friends that I worked side by side with, whom are now all retired, and yes, they have their share of injuries to the knees and some back aches and rotator cuff from the hard trade as a sheet metal worker, but not like in my case.
When my Dr visited me the day after surgery, he said that the MRI pics did me no justice as to what he saw when he had me cut open. He said almost 100% of my discs were either ruptured, disintegrated, dried out, and a couple just gone and bone on bone.
With all the emotions, pain from surgery, all coupled with the ivy narcotics being administered into me, I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck I could have done to trash my back so. There was a spell in my early 20’s when I use to body build and tried the “get big fast” stuff that the majority of guys try that get into that sport do, but I was an amateur, and only tried that stuff for not even a year.
But, the one thing I did for 32 years, was mask pain from my job with Advil and Motrin. I told myself getting into this trade I vowed that I would not be ever laid off and replaced by another due to lack of performance, and swore I’d never stand in the unemployment line. I took on all the overtime offered, and climbed up the ranks to being a general foreman quickly after I finished my apprenticeship. Looking back, I successfully achieved my commitments, but at a price.
Construction work, as some of you on here that make a living at it know, is a very cut throat business. Yeah, I get it when all say ‘Work Smart, not Hard” but I also see that the bottom line is the almighty dollar, and how your performance can affect that for the companies profits. So, I did not ever want to be labeled as the “guy who lost the most” on a project, so I did whatever it took to just keep on plugging away, even though my body was saying “Enough already, geez!”
Back hurt by noon? No biggie, 3 Advil’s will hold me till quitting time. But that three was on top of the three I already took before start time, and I’ll for sure be taking more so I can sleep with some comfort that evening. Stupidly, I didn’t realize I was doing more and more damage to the nerves and discs in the back by pushing them past their limits.
Anyway, I’m paying for it all now. The good thing is, all that nagging pain I had prior to surgery that would lock me onto a lazy boy for most of the day is all gone now. I still have reoccurring pain just from the surgery, mainly in my pelvis area where my Dr locked in that titanium cage by tapping and drilling in a 4” long lag bolt, at both sides of the pelvic bone.
I’m setting new goals for myself for when I’m all healed. I plan first getting myself into shape, enjoying myself with the shooting sports, get back into hunting, and currently I’m all into PCP air rifles and target shooting. Now that, is a kick in the butt fun hobby. Hopefully my dodge is all good, and the wrenching to keep it on the road remains light duty, as I won’t be able to get into certain positions due to the locked up back, but if I can smile more, get my social life back, and help others along the way(was shying away from that due to pain), all this would have been worth it. I must do some5hing crazy special for my wife of 30 years, as she has been the backbone(pun, lol) to keeping our ship afloat, and being a dang great care taker with me. She’s had to put on not only her big girl pants on with this one, but also my pants, too. All that while working a full time job. Great gal.
Anyway, this has to be my longest post on DTR ever, and I wanted to say thanks. I am on DTR everyday reading up all the new posts, but I haven’t been able to drive my truck for almost two years now, so I haven’t posted up much. In time, I’ll be back on here more and more. I truly enjoy each and everyone of you all’ posts and comments, and I’ll forever be a member on this site!
Be good, and be safe!
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PapeCAT (04-05-2018)
04-04-2018, 06:18 PM
#41
Pic of lag bolt into pelvic bone. What this is causing is Charlie horse type of pain that is on both outer thigh muscles onto the knee cap. A hand powered massager helps with pain relief.
04-04-2018, 06:19 PM
#42
Guess the pic won’t post up, dang.
04-04-2018, 06:35 PM
#43
Registered User
Glad to read your post!
I also have been plagued with back and joint pain. For most of my life I have been in pain but I just toughed it out with painkillers. I took so much Excedrin that I gave myself colitis so I had to stop that. I tried Ibuprofen later on but it only helped a little. Then I got into the Vicodin and such provided so liberally by the VA but I never got addicted. The problem with Vicodin is the Acetaminophen they put in it. It poisons your liver so you have to be careful with it.
Eventually I found a doctor at the VA who ran a genetic test for the HLA-B27 gene. I'm positive. That confirmed a diagnosis for ankylosing spondylitis. This is literally arthritis of the spine where the spine can eventually fuse together but hurts like heck until it does.
Luckily my skills are in Computer Science so I do very little manual labor. Aside from a few machinist jobs at Boeing and the like I mostly set at a desk and twiddle my bits.
Even the machinist jobs weren't that strenuous and the lifting was minimal.
Suffice to say I know your pain. I live with it every day. I haven't found it necessary to get your kind of surgery but I've has steroid shots literally in my wazoo or very near to it.
Have you ever been tested for autoimmune syndrome? RA and AS are both autoimmune conditions but AS is more insidious because the test for RA is always negative.
Anyway hang in there and get well so you can drive the truck. I took mine out today just for a joyride. It was great!
Edwin
I also have been plagued with back and joint pain. For most of my life I have been in pain but I just toughed it out with painkillers. I took so much Excedrin that I gave myself colitis so I had to stop that. I tried Ibuprofen later on but it only helped a little. Then I got into the Vicodin and such provided so liberally by the VA but I never got addicted. The problem with Vicodin is the Acetaminophen they put in it. It poisons your liver so you have to be careful with it.
Eventually I found a doctor at the VA who ran a genetic test for the HLA-B27 gene. I'm positive. That confirmed a diagnosis for ankylosing spondylitis. This is literally arthritis of the spine where the spine can eventually fuse together but hurts like heck until it does.
Luckily my skills are in Computer Science so I do very little manual labor. Aside from a few machinist jobs at Boeing and the like I mostly set at a desk and twiddle my bits.
Even the machinist jobs weren't that strenuous and the lifting was minimal.Suffice to say I know your pain. I live with it every day. I haven't found it necessary to get your kind of surgery but I've has steroid shots literally in my wazoo or very near to it.
Have you ever been tested for autoimmune syndrome? RA and AS are both autoimmune conditions but AS is more insidious because the test for RA is always negative.
Anyway hang in there and get well so you can drive the truck. I took mine out today just for a joyride. It was great!
Edwin
04-04-2018, 06:50 PM
#44
Yo! Hey, Edwin! Thanks for the reply. I have never heard of those tests, and if you don’t mind, explain it to me in more laymen’s terms. I am not understanding what the tests are for specifically.
Can you believe, I haven’t driven my truck in so long? It’s probably close to two years or a few months before. Do you recall when I converted to hydroboost brakes, had the problems of lock up at the rears, and in the end had the brake light in the dash stay on? Well, I came up with three plans to get all that fixed, invested in specialized tools to fabricate kick butt brake lines and flares, have all the materials to fix it, then my aches just kept getting worse. I decided that the truck will have to be put on hold, till I’m fixed and agile again.
I’ll try and post up a pic of adarondack chairs I built for my wife. I was going stir crazy with nothing to do, and with surgery a month away I found myself just chewing on my fingernails, staring out the window.
My wife asked if I could build four chairs, with out hurting myself, and just taking my time. I had never built an adarondack chair before, so I figured I’d try my hand at it. When they were finally done, I had a week before surgery and realized that was what I needed. Something to feel good about, a feeling of self worth. The future problem I have now, is my wife had shown pics of my progress from start to finish to her co workers, and so now they all want one or two.
Can you believe, I haven’t driven my truck in so long? It’s probably close to two years or a few months before. Do you recall when I converted to hydroboost brakes, had the problems of lock up at the rears, and in the end had the brake light in the dash stay on? Well, I came up with three plans to get all that fixed, invested in specialized tools to fabricate kick butt brake lines and flares, have all the materials to fix it, then my aches just kept getting worse. I decided that the truck will have to be put on hold, till I’m fixed and agile again.
I’ll try and post up a pic of adarondack chairs I built for my wife. I was going stir crazy with nothing to do, and with surgery a month away I found myself just chewing on my fingernails, staring out the window.
My wife asked if I could build four chairs, with out hurting myself, and just taking my time. I had never built an adarondack chair before, so I figured I’d try my hand at it. When they were finally done, I had a week before surgery and realized that was what I needed. Something to feel good about, a feeling of self worth. The future problem I have now, is my wife had shown pics of my progress from start to finish to her co workers, and so now they all want one or two.
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mknittle (04-04-2018)
