What's happening with you now?

My back is painful..I'm having to nurse it very gently.. walking around very carefully, it keeps trying to go into Spasm.. It's a pity because it's very hot today and I had plans.. but over the weekend I did a lot, and then yesterday, lifting the heavy sack barrow into the car to take to the tip, just finished it off tbh.. Today I'm sitting indoors while the sun shines.. with a Heat pad on my back :rolleyes:
 

Gaer said:
I'm going through another creative explosion!
Planning things, making things, designing things, making terrible messes and cleaning them up.
I'm scattered. Been designing greeting cards, cartoon sculptures, sent another book in to be published.

I'm still MESMERIZED by the James Webb telescope photos! I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about them!
Like this! This is transparent, yet it has clean, crisp edges, form and intelligent design. The enormity of it is beyond comprehension!
What is it? It's driving me crazy! Someone tell me! #1223

And, I am sculpting a couple of soldiers faces, I guess, from eons ago. Well, haven't finished them yet. #1250
and, The weather is so beautiful, (rains every afternoon) it's hard to stay inside! Feel like a little kid that just landed on the Earth!

@Murrmurr, They have non-evasive back surgery now. That has to be so miserable! have you checked into that?
Hate to hear of a nice guy like you in so much pain!
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this is a site that discusses nebula. this may be what is driving you crazy:
http://www.seasky.org/celestial-objects/nebulae.html
 
Wow, good posts from many on here.

We have been retired for 7 years now. While planning for retirement I also developed a number of things for me to do or accomplish in retirement. These things I wanted to do when I was working, but I knew I would not have time to work on them, so I started a list for retirement.
It has worked out well, I am as busy as I want to be...I knew that in time, health issue may prohibit what we can do. So far, we are not limited, but I think I have enough projects that could be done, if we were limited health wise. So, I don't worry too much about that.

Those things are:
1 Manage our investments - On going, but under control
2 Learn to play a classical guitar - On going, still need more practice
3 Get back to doing landscape painting in oils - Maybe I will start this, Winter.
4 Learning magic tricks to entertain my 6 grandkids - Done, is great fun, when I put on a show...
5 Rebuild our basement workshop - Underway
6 Teach my grandsons to build plastic and wooden models - Done with the older one, soon I will start with the youngest
7 Visit my kids/ grandkids on a regular basis - on going, but well under control
8 Take two travel vacations a year with my wife - Covid mess this up, but we still have had one trip a year.
9 Hunt and fish more with my two sons - Underway and ongoing
10 Go snow skiing again with my wife - This was crazy, we both skied down Crested Butte Mountain two years ago. No crashes or injuries, but it was scary...glad we did it, but probably no more.
11 Put in two 4 X 4 Garden Beds and grow cucumbers and tomatoes. Underway and working very well.
12 Maintain an active workout routine at our local YMCA - Covid mess this up, but underway now...
13 Get back into coaching kids sports (baseball, football, wrestling) - nothing done on this yet.
14 Read more WWII personal account books, I have read many and always have another book underway. My current one is titled Damn Lucky, by Kevin Maurer, he writes about being in a B-17 bomber over Europe during the war. A fascinating story of what that was really like for the crews.
 

Gaer said:
@Murrmurr, They have non-evasive back surgery now. That has to be so miserable! have you checked into that?
Hate to hear of a nice guy like you in so much pain!
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Thank you, Gaer. The problems are too extensive for non-invasive procedures, though. And I don't know if the surgeon can make it better this time, since the problem now is regrowth/rerouting of some of the primary nerves (after fairly extensive damage years ago). He won't know either until he opens me up. If he can, he'll isolate the offending nerves and anesthetize them, but there's no telling how long that relief would last....sometimes it's years but sometimes it only lasts several weeks, and no one knows exactly why for sure. While it does last, it's freaking heavenly, so I told him to go for it.

If surgery doesn't help, I'm going to tell my PCP to get me on stronger medication, or a higher dose of the one I'm on. I'm totally over trying to keep the meds to a minimum. I've done that for years; I just want to be as comfortable as possible now. More importantly, I want to get back to being as active as possible.
 
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Been There said:
You should be aware that prolonged use of those narcotics can cause you to become addicted to them.
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At this point, I am not at all concerned about that. I sustained major spinal injuries 30yrs ago and managed to avoid becoming addicted to any of the pain medications I've been prescribed off and on since then. For the past several years, I've been on low doses of a "moderate" pain medication, and had no problem skipping it for days on end when the pain was tolerable. But, for some reason, those days are over, and I can't think of one single reason for suffering with intolerable pain, including the "possibility of addiction."
 
hollydolly said:
Tell us what's happening with You , Ruthanne :D
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Thanks for asking hd! Not much new here. Just made an appointment for my dog to see the Vet for her routine shots and wellness check up. Took doggie out and went to the store for a few things. My knee was acting up the other day and a bit today so I may put that sleeve on it. Having chicken breast and broccoli tonight with brown rice and alfredo sauce. I have laundry to do but really don't feel like doing it today and it can wait. I still have some clothes left to wear;)
 
Ruthanne said:
Thanks for asking hd! Not much new here. Just made an appointment for my dog to see the Vet for her routine shots and wellness check up. Took doggie out and went to the store for a few things. My knee was acting up the other day and a bit today so I may put that sleeve on it. Having chicken breast and broccoli tonight with brown rice and alfredo sauce. I have laundry to do but really don't feel like doing it today and it can wait. I still have some clothes left to wear;)
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I had chicken and Broccoli tonight as well.. great minds think alike..:D...sorry about your knee. .. mine has been acting up along with my back .. so yesterday I put my knee support on.. it really helps to lessen the pain.. albeit that it's a bit tight on me, but it makes a big difference particularly if I'm about to drive any real distance... hope yours gets better soon
 
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hollydolly said:
I had chicken and Broccoli tonight as well.. great minds think alike..:D...sorry about your knee. .. mine has been acting up along with my backl .. so yesterday I put my knee support on.. it really helps to lessen the pain.. albeit that it's a bit tight on me, but it makes a big difference particualrly if I'm about to drive any real distance... hope yours gets better soon
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Thanks! My knee support is a little tight, too, but sure helps. I hope your knee and back will heal up quickly--It's difficult to function when in pain, at least for me. Going to make my dinner shortly. Take care❣️
 
Murrmurr said:
At this point, I am not at all concerned about that. I sustained major spinal injuries 30yrs ago and managed to avoid becoming addicted to any of the pain medications I've been prescribed off and on since then. For the past several years, I've been on low doses of a "moderate" pain medication, and had no problem skipping it for days on end when the pain was tolerable. But, for some reason, those days are over, and I can't think of one single reason for suffering with intolerable pain, including the "possibility of addiction."
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I was like you. I didn’t care about becoming addicted. I just wanted the pain to go away and feel normal for awhile. I took about every brand of narcotic on the druggists shelf. I had 9 back surgeries and was in the hospital for almost 3 months. My back is now filled with rods, screens and pins, but believe it or not, I can stand up str8.

In 2009, I got rammed by a huge freakin’ KW semi. He all but went completely over top of me. It took the Paramedics almost an hour to dig me out of my vehicle. I had a lot of other injuries besides, including a broken back and cracked spine. Even though the doctors worked on me in surgery for almost 9 hours fixing everything, the doctors told my brother I was probably going to die due to blood loss, shock and a damaged liver. My spleen was also removed. My brother called for the Priest and he gave me my communion or last rites. I was in a coma for 5 days, but it was drug induced to relieve the stress off of my heart and lungs. I had 4 broken ribs, one punctured lung, so I also had a collapsed lung, broken right arm, broken left wrist, head injuries, but no brain damage. I also had a fractured left knee cap and a damaged right eye caused by my inside rear view mirror. They saved my eye. I was told that 7 different specialists worked on me in the operating room taking turns working on me fixing what was their area of expertise.

To make things worse, my mom died just 5 days before my accident and the funeral was the day before my accident. They said my brother was filled with grief. He wouldn’t leave my room until I either died or woke up. The nurse asked him where he was going to sleep. He told her on the floor if he had to, so they set up a bed in the hallway directly outside my room for him. After I woke up, he went home the next night. My brother and I was and still are best friends. It’s just him and me left in our family. My mom, dad and Sis are all gone. Sis died about 15 years ago during an asthmatic attack. That is what we named her, Sis. My brother is 4 years older than me. When he was a 6, mom had Sis and when she came home mom and dad told my brother that this is Sis, that’s what he always called her and it just stuck ever since.

When I left the hospital, I had 4 prescriptions to get filled, including antibiotics, Xanax. Percocet and another pill for Restless Leg Syndrome. After another 3 months, I was tapered off, or weaned off the opioids. After being off the pain pills for only 2 days, I had to have them, but not for pain, for addiction. I ended up having to get detoxed and then going to rehab for a month. Talk about a walk through hell, that’s what I was put through. Please be careful with the Norco and good luck.

My brother took this at the salvage yard after the vehicle was towed away.
F91939A0-129E-4FF7-8C07-DAC2862012D1.jpeg
 
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Moon Rat said:
I was like you. I didn’t care about becoming addicted. I just wanted the pain to go away and feel normal for awhile. I took about every brand of narcotic on the druggists shelf. I had 9 back surgeries and was in the hospital for almost 3 months. My back is now filled with rods, screens and pins, but believe it or not, I can stand up str8.

In 2009, I got rammed by a huge freakin’ KW semi. He all but went completely over top of me. It took the Paramedics almost an hour to dig me out of my vehicle. I had a lot of other injuries besides, including a broken back and cracked spine. Even though the doctors worked on me in surgery for almost 9 hours fixing everything, the doctors told my brother I was probably going to die due to blood loss, shock and a damaged liver. My spleen was also removed. My brother called for the Priest and he gave me my communion or last rites. I was in a coma for 5 days, but it was drug induced to relieve the stress off of my heart and lungs. I had 4 broken ribs, one punctured lung, so I also had a collapsed lung, broken right arm, broken left wrist, head injuries, but no brain damage. I also had a fractured left knee cap and a damaged right eye caused by my inside rear view mirror. They saved my eye. I was told that 7 different specialists worked on me in the operating room taking turns working on me fixing what was their area of expertise.

To make things worse, my mom died just 5 days before my accident and the funeral was the day before my accident. They said my brother was filled with grief. He wouldn’t leave my room until I either died or woke up. The nurse asked him where he was going to sleep. He told her on the floor if he had to, so they set up a bed in the hallway directly outside my room for him. After I woke up, he went home the next night. My brother and I was and still are best friends. It’s just him and me left in our family. My mom, dad and Sis are all gone. Sis died about 15 years ago during an asthmatic attack. That is what we named her, Sis. My brother is 4 years older than me. When he was a 6, mom had Sis and when she came home mom and dad told my brother that this is Sis, that’s what he always called her and it just stuck ever since.

When I left the hospital, I had 4 prescriptions to get filled, including antibiotics, Xanax. Percocet and another pill for Restless Leg Syndrome. After another 3 months, I was tapered off, or weaned off the opioids. After being off the pain pills for only 2 days, I had to have them, but not for pain, for addiction. I ended up having to get detoxed and then going to rehab for a month. Talk about a walk through hell, that’s what I was put through. Please be careful with the Norco and good luck.

My brother took this at the salvage yard after the vehicle was towed away.
View attachment 233587
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I basically fell off a mountain, and suffered multiple injuries, including internal. I don't know if there's such a thing as "the addiction gene" or not, but if there is, maybe I don't have it. I've been on and off pain medications as needed for various periods of time and never had any withdrawal symptoms. In any case, at this point and until I die, there's nothing anyone can do to stop the pain. It can only be made more tolerable.
 
Murrmurr said:
I basically fell off a mountain, and suffered multiple injuries, including internal. I don't know if there's such a thing as "the addiction gene" or not, but if there is, maybe I don't have it. I've been on and off pain medications as needed for various periods of time and never had any withdrawal symptoms. In any case, at this point and until I die, there's nothing anyone can do to stop the pain. It can only be made more tolerable.
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Were you a climber? What was the longest period of time you were on opiates?
When they brought me out of the coma, I had a line in me from a small plastic pouch of Morphine. Hell, I never felt nothing for almost a month. On my going home day, the doctor sent me home with a bottle of 100 Percocet pills. Good news is that I can do almost everything I could do before the accident. One thing I do miss is not being able to get on the rides at the amusement parks with my kids and grandkids.
 
I have decided to rent a home in Honolulu (just outside) for a year to be with my only child, a son. The only members of my direct family now living are my son and brother. Thank God, both are in very good health as of now. We never know what tomorrow brings. I was very concerned about leaving my doctors. As you read above, I had some very serious injuries. As of today, I only have real issues with my back. As long as I don’t do anything, except live without any lifting, pushing or pulling, I’m OK.

My son is on the search and it looks like I will have to pay around $3500.00 a month for something decent. I told my son jokingly to use his best discretion, but keep in mind, the more I spend, the less there will be in the kitty when I die. He said he wasn’t worried about the money and he shouldn’t be with the jobs he has had.
 
Moon Rat said:
Were you a climber? What was the longest period of time you were on opiates?
When they brought me out of the coma, I had a line in me from a small plastic pouch of Morphine. Hell, I never felt nothing for almost a month. On my going home day, the doctor sent me home with a bottle of 100 Percocet pills. Good news is that I can do almost everything I could do before the accident. One thing I do miss is not being able to get on the rides at the amusement parks with my kids and grandkids.
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Not a climber, I was a diver, and me and my buddy were on this peninsula off the Cali coast that has a super deep, water-filled, perfectly round hole in it known appropriately by locals as "The Hole in the Peninsula". On the hike from his car over to the coastline, we took a trail that goes along a ridge that overlooks The Hole. With my wetsuit on up to my waist and the top part hanging down, I walked over to the edge of the ridge so I could get a birds-eye view of The Hole, and a powerful gust of wind came up, and I guess it sort of filled the top part of my wetsuit and yanked me right off the ridge. I landed 60ft below - could have been worse because it was actually a drop of at least 80ft. Anyway, I bounced off a small ledge before I landed on this huge rock about 15-20 more feet below, and I think that ledge knocked me out. The next thing I remember is being strapped to a board and loaded into an ambulance.

The worst injuries were 2 spinal fractures, 3 broken ribs, a concussion, cracked skull, and lacerated liver, but none of the injuries were life-threatening; I mean, with treatment they were all totally survivable. I had to have surgery, but I only stayed in the hospital for a couple of weeks. I was sent home with Rx morphine. Not too long after, my legs didn't work so good and I had to be in a wheelchair for several months. I had a second surgery, and worked my butt off to get and stay out of the wheelchair. And it was pretty much up and down like that for over a couple decades - in and out of a wheelchair, off and on a walker - until I had a third surgery in 2017. And everything was awesome up until about a year ago when I started having occasional temporary paralysis in one or both my legs and a significant increase of pain, plus these horrific, excruciating leg & foot spasms.

But I've done really well at keeping my pain medication at low-doses, and had long periods of taking none at all. But it's bad again, and I'm really sick of dealing with it. I'm done "managing" it, putting up with it. I just want to feel good enough to be reasonably active, to enjoy my days and do my chores, and not have to choose between suffering or sitting.
 
Moon Rat said:
I have decided to rent a home in Honolulu (just outside) for a year to be with my only child, a son. The only members of my direct family now living are my son and brother. Thank God, both are in very good health as of now. We never know what tomorrow brings. I was very concerned about leaving my doctors. As you read above, I had some very serious injuries. As of today, I only have real issues with my back. As long as I don’t do anything, except live without any lifting, pushing or pulling, I’m OK.

My son is on the search and it looks like I will have to pay around $3500.00 a month for something decent. I told my son jokingly to use his best discretion, but keep in mind, the more I spend, the less there will be in the kitty when I die. He said he wasn’t worried about the money and he shouldn’t be with the jobs he has had.
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Good luck with finding the rental house. Honolulu is so beautiful from the pictures I've seen. 3500. is a lot for rent but if you can do it comfortably then why not. I hope your back gets better.
 
Timewise 60+ said:
Wow, good posts from many on here.

We have been retired for 7 years now. While planning for retirement I also developed a number of things for me to do or accomplish in retirement. These things I wanted to do when I was working, but I knew I would not have time to work on them, so I started a list for retirement.
It has worked out well, I am as busy as I want to be...I knew that in time, health issue may prohibit what we can do. So far, we are not limited, but I think I have enough projects that could be done, if we were limited health wise. So, I don't worry too much about that.

Those things are:
1 Manage our investments - On going, but under control
2 Learn to play a classical guitar - On going, still need more practice
3 Get back to doing landscape painting in oils - Maybe I will start this, Winter.
4 Learning magic tricks to entertain my 6 grandkids - Done, is great fun, when I put on a show...
5 Rebuild our basement workshop - Underway
6 Teach my grandsons to build plastic and wooden models - Done with the older one, soon I will start with the youngest
7 Visit my kids/ grandkids on a regular basis - on going, but well under control
8 Take two travel vacations a year with my wife - Covid mess this up, but we still have had one trip a year.
9 Hunt and fish more with my two sons - Underway and ongoing
10 Go snow skiing again with my wife - This was crazy, we both skied down Crested Butte Mountain two years ago. No crashes or injuries, but it was scary...glad we did it, but probably no more.
11 Put in two 4 X 4 Garden Beds and grow cucumbers and tomatoes. Underway and working very well.
12 Maintain an active workout routine at our local YMCA - Covid mess this up, but underway now...
13 Get back into coaching kids sports (baseball, football, wrestling) - nothing done on this yet.
14 Read more WWII personal account books, I have read many and always have another book underway. My current one is titled Damn Lucky, by Kevin Maurer, he writes about being in a B-17 bomber over Europe during the war. A fascinating story of what that was really like for the crews.
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You sure do have a lot of great goals and I wish you the best of luck with them! ❣️
 
MarciKS said:
How do you manage to break yours? I can easily break mine coughing too hard. Hope you feel better soon those are terrible!
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Truthfully I don't really know. I had a bad fall last year and landed squarely on my back, and fractured my shoulder blades. Doc thinks I may have fractured my ribs at the same time, and they hadn't healed properly. Thinks me handling heavy Garden equipment over my head.. tree pruners etc.. might have caused them to snap again..
 
Have been a little tired lately, and have slowed down the pace a bit. We close on the island house on the 18th, and my wife is coming home on the 24th. Haven't seen her since early February, and she is bringing Little Kitty with her. She was a stray that we started feeding two years ago, and isn't much older than that. Hoping that Li'l Bit, and Little Kitty hit it off. My wife and I had pretty much called it quits do to issues I really don't want to go into here. She wants to give it another try, so hoping things work out. Kind of tired of living alone.
 
Geezer Garage said:
Have been a little tired lately, and have slowed down the pace a bit. We close on the island house on the 18th, and my wife is coming home on the 24th. Haven't seen her since early February, and she is bringing Little Kitty with her. She was a stray that we started feeding two years ago, and isn't much older than that. Hoping that Li'l Bit, and Little Kitty hit it off. My wife and I had pretty much called it quits do to issues I really don't want to go into here. She wants to give it another try, so hoping things work out. Kind of tired of living alone.
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Hope it works out for you (y) Mine OTOH is now done and buried afaic.. there's no going back from what he did... such a terrible shame..It's like an Alien took him over... there's my husband, I can see him I can hear his voice, but he's not my husband , he did unspeakable things.. and I have to never forget that
 
Geezer Garage said:
Have been a little tired lately, and have slowed down the pace a bit. We close on the island house on the 18th, and my wife is coming home on the 24th. Haven't seen her since early February, and she is bringing Little Kitty with her. She was a stray that we started feeding two years ago, and isn't much older than that. Hoping that Li'l Bit, and Little Kitty hit it off. My wife and I had pretty much called it quits do to issues I really don't want to go into here. She wants to give it another try, so hoping things work out. Kind of tired of living alone.
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Hope things work out.
 

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