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Yelled Uncle! Went to the ER yesterday

Dave Hoskins

Dave Hoskins

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5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
My lower back was getting totally intolerable with pain. Started Saturday night and yesterday afternoon I finally gave in. At the ER they gave me a shot of Torodol which turned out to be really good for back pain. And a valium to act as a muscle relaxer (commonly used for that). Then they did a CT Scan. Two of the lower discs are rubbing against nerves. As the doctor there said, that will really hurt. No joke. I could have told her that. Anyway, no shop time for the next day or so until things mellow out back to the tolerable levels. AWK.
 
My wife is battling arthritis in her lower back alone with two dics that are warn out. She had her nerves burnt... and injections.. Some helps some, but she still suffers a lot... To day she bought some kind of cream the is suppose to help,,,, I have my doubts but worth a try... She had to go to the end of a road,,, in a little house..... get the picture... I told here to bring home some of those leaves people like to smoke... kinda what her doctor recommended.... I have no idea of what they speak,, my nephew seems to know something about it..

Dave, seriously, I hope you get some relief.... My wife really has been suffering for more than a year now. I think she has kinda been told, that at her age,,, it is what it is... I hope not,,,, I am older than her, I was expecting her to have to take care of me,,,, but it is not how it is turning out.
 
I feel your pain.... daily...

For now it is tolerable with some moderate strength pain pills. Someday it will get worse. When I wasn't taking them, my lower back would literally put me on the ground. There was no position I could stand, sit, or lay in that would stop it. Mine showed up on X-ray and one look and my Dr. got out her script pad. Been okay since. My dad asked me once if I was afraid of getting addicted to them. I told him I don't mind being addicted to being able to stand up, walk, etc....

Good luck Dave on mending up. Pain pills are not for everyone. I don't have an addictive type makeup. They don't bother me that way. I can take them or leave them. I take them though because I can locomot to a greater extent. My sister has the same issue that I do and she had surgery. Took her three years to mend and is still in some pain. I'm going to opt out on surgery as long as I can.

Alan
 
One more thing. In addition to the pills the thing that has helped me the most is dropping 60#. Not carrying a sack of feed around with me all the time has taken a lot of pressure off my back.

Alan
 
I remember the old adage of "No pain, no gain". But, this could be considered ridiculous. I've had the back issues for some time. I've lost some weight and am now considered with my build to be about 25# still too much. But, even though I have been seeing back pain specialists, everything with it is on hold until the kidney issue is resolved. So, I am just trying to keep things at a dull roar for now.
 
I've got three collapsed lumbar discs Spent too much time hauling "ALICE" around, I guess. Tolerable - most of the time - but occasional flare ups are pretty bad. Considering having the silicone (or whatever) injections to inflate/cushion the discs.

Hope you get your kidney issue resolved positively. Do you have two functioning kidneys? I only have one, so any malfunction (like my recent impacted stone) gets serious in a hurry.
 
My sympathies, Dave. Hope you get some continued relief for the back, and that kidney problem turns out to be treatable. Sending you some healing vibes.
 
Hi Dave,
Sorry to hear about the back... I don't have any real serious back issues, I do get up with a little lower back stiffness and pain first thing every morning, but by the time I've washed my face, combed my hair and taken my morning meds, mostly for blood pressure and cholesterol plus a couple of generic Aleve's I'm pretty much good to go for the day... just watching my posture helps me.

But my poor loml has an issue with her back that is pretty debilitating... she had a septic infection inf 2013 that nearly took her from me... after 4 months in hospital, nursing center, rehab etc, then a stroke and another month in nursing center and rehab, she's mostly over it... but the infection evidently destroyed the disc between L4 and L5 in her lower back allowing them to fuse at an angle and narrowed her spinal column... she can still motivate, but just walking from one end of the house to the other can be about all she can do... she's huffing and puffing with her breathing, she sleeps in a lounge chair because she can't lay flat on a bed.... we've visited a number of specialists that look and say no way will they attempt surgery... if the nick the spinal nerves she would be paralyzed permanently... she won't take the pain pills because of fear of addiction. Lately she's been using the CBD oils that seem to help some. It doesn't totally alleviate her pain, but does moderate it some.
I've had to take over all the cooking in the house as she can't stand for more than 15 minutes in the kitchen, she can motivate in the grocery store, but only by either laying over on the cart, or by riding the go-buggies in the stores (If we can find one).
 
Dave Hoskins said:
My lower back was getting totally intolerable with pain. Started Saturday night and yesterday afternoon I finally gave in. At the ER they gave me a shot of Torodol which turned out to be really good for back pain. And a valium to act as a muscle relaxer (commonly used for that). Then they did a CT Scan. Two of the lower discs are rubbing against nerves. As the doctor there said, that will really hurt. No joke. I could have told her that. Anyway, no shop time for the next day or so until things mellow out back to the tolerable levels. AWK.
Click to expand...

I've had 2 back surgeries due to herniated discs
The second time was an emergency and I understand the intolerable pain part
But as soon as the anesthesia wore off and I got out of the the following day I was walking totally pain free
What they can do today with surgery is amazing and I was sorry I hesitated so long the first time fearing the surgery and recovery
God speed rest it out and don't rush back
The shop will be there a few weeks later
 
Dave Hoskins said:
I guess you could say I'm a dog lover. The most comfortable time for my back is when I am in bed, laying on my side, and Rosco crawls up there next to me and sleeps with his back against mine. Nothing like a furry heating pad!
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Critters sure can be sensitive to us humans. In our case, it's cats. My wife has had back issues all her life due to scoliosis with a serious twist at the base of her spine. If one of the cats is inside the house, it gravitates to her especially when her back is really bothering her. In bed, she likes it when one curls up to her back like you describe Rosco doing with you.
 
I must admit it is really wonderful feeling when Rosco does that. He is a sensitive pooch. You can see it in his eyes. For getting by with the back we are doing a pain med and muscle relaxer change to see if that helps. Along with a pile of 5% lidocaine patches. I got an update on the CT Scan of the kidneys and it is renal cell carcinoma. But, according to sources it is not large enough (1 1/2") instead of just about 1" to be adding to the pain.
 
For wife's lower back and my knee problems, we have found a product called "Tiger Balm" and the "Maximum Strength" seems to help us quite a bit. It's kind-of expensive for the size jar that it's available in, at about $5 for a 1 1/2 X 1 1/4" hexagonal jar, but it has worked quite well when nothing else seems to do anything. It's about the consistency of Vaseline, so a little rubbed on in the pain area goes quite a ways, but we together can sometimes use one jar up in about a week. The smell isn't unpleasant and it seems to go away quickly, while the relief continues for the better part of 24 hours. I think it's worth trying if you aren't getting much relief any other way.

Charley
 
Two retired doctor friends of mine told me about some stuff called HempEmu. It's expensive. $35.00 for a 4oz jar. But, you know? If it works I don't care. That's the 500mg strength stuff. They have 1500mg stuff too but that is way way top dollar. I'll let you know about the HempEmu when it gets here.
 
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