Not that anyone is asking

You are absolutely right! They made me try so many things when I first got sick. 10 years later one of the docs asked me if anyone checked my neck. MRI showed problem in the cervical area, bulging discs and narrowing of the spinal formalin.

I would have shot back "Why have you not been worried about my liver all these years?" It is because you know how bad my injuries are and I need my pain relief to even function. It all makes me so made and my problems are mild compared to what others suffer.
 
Mitch86 said:
I'm age 90 in great health. I have never engorged nicotine, alcohol, meat or sweets. Those things destroy millions of people needlessly!
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At age 90, you've earned every opinion you have and I respect them as much as I respect you.

But I'd like to give you a little background:

Today, aside from my liver, the health of my organs is excellent for a 70yr-old. Annual chest xrays show that even my lungs are exceptionally good for a long-time smoker.

My liver and spine were seriously damaged when I was in my 30s and fell an estimated 60 to 70 feet off a rocky ridge onto the rocky ground below. On arriving at a hospital I had emergency surgery to repair a lacerated liver and 3 spinal fractures, and probably thanks to growing up on a healthy diet, I recovered quickly. I'd been a smoker for about 10 years at that point.

When I was 50, a routine MRI showed a deformity in a lumbar nerve root that caused me to need a wheelchair. I fought my way back to walking normally less than a year later thanks to lots of specific exercises, a healthy diet, and a healthy metabolic system. I've had two major spine surgeries since, basically to repair old repairs, and always recovered very quickly.

But the deformed nerve root can't be repaired. It's the main source of my current pain, and I'm just going to have to live with it. Pain medication and lots of vitamins and taurine keep me active, and smoking helps immensely with the stress and the lousy mood the pain causes.
 
In about 4 months, Michelle and I will be married for 4 years. Swear to god it feels like decades....in a good way; like we’ve known each other our whole lives and we’re both totally cool with the other, warts and all.

And in 4 or 5 months, Michelle will be taking the NCLEX-RN exam for her RN license. She’s shooting for eventually becoming a teaching nurse, so, while going to school, she’s also been working at a local clinic for school credits, and hopes to be working as an RN at a local hospital to earn the required bedside credits.

She still has at least a few years to go, but nurse educators in California earn from around $80,000 to about $180,000 a year, depending on location and experience. Sacramento’s an excellent location because it has major university and veteran’s hospitals. She doesn’t have to earn her bedside credits at both, but she’s gonna try bc it would open the door to more teaching opportunities.

So I guess I should stick around for at least a few more years, so she doesn't get distracted. 🤪
 
Good grief...I remember before you even met her, how you had no intentions of getting married... and them I remember the meeting.. and her sauciness to get your attention.:love:. and your marital intentions went right out of the window...lol


4 years it's just shot by.....
 
Murrmurr said:
In about 4 months, Michelle and I will be married for 4 years. Swear to god it feels like decades....in a good way; like we’ve known each other our whole lives and we’re both totally cool with the other, warts and all. ...
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:) I remember, after each of my children were born, that it seemed they had always been with me, that I couldn't imagine or remember life without them.
 
Frank, you’re a lucky man that such an exceptional woman chose you. It doesn’t seem like four years. She lucked out too.
 
gruntlabor said:
:) I remember, after each of my children were born, that it seemed they had always been with me, that I couldn't imagine or remember life without them.
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I know exactly what you mean.

My daughter was only 9months old when their mom left me, and the boys were 2 and 4, but I barely remember the years before then. I distinctly remember our wedding, the day she left, and being in the labor-delivery room when the kids were born, but not much besides that.

Every once in a while, my mom would be talking about things Shelly did (my 1st wife), and then she'd have to ask me "You don't remember that?!" I didn't til she reminded me. I just remember suddenly being a single dad, and it seems like I always was.

I always thought that was really odd, but I guess raising kids, especially on your own, just fills your head so much, everything else is a blur. You're so focused on them 24-7, nothing else is really worth remembering. Like I can tell you all about the day Maud took her first steps and the time Grant broke his front teeth and the first time Liam put gas in our car, but I'd have to think real hard before I could tell you where I was working at the time.
 
Murrmurr said:
I know exactly what you mean.

My daughter was only 9months old when their mom left me, and the boys were 2 and 4, but I barely remember the years before then. I distinctly remember our wedding, the day she left, and being in the labor-delivery room when the kids were born, but not much besides that.

Every once in a while, my mom would be talking about things Shelly did (my 1st wife), and then she'd have to ask me "You don't remember that?!" I didn't til she reminded me. I just remember suddenly being a single dad, and it seems like I always was.

I always thought that was really odd, but I guess raising kids, especially on your own, just fills your head so much, everything else is a blur. You're so focused on them 24-7, nothing else is really worth remembering. Like I can tell you all about the day Maud took her first steps and the time Grant broke his front teeth and the first time Liam put gas in our car, but I'd have to think real hard before I could tell you where I was working at the time.
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I raised mine by myself from when she was young after our marriage broke down.....no family to help either..... It was very hard work trying to earn enough to keep the roof ovver our heads, and kee her in everything she neded.. paying the bills... doing everything by myself... I didn't remarry until she was 23
 
Meesh and I had a great weekend up at the cabin.

We stopped for a delicious steak dinner on the way, at a restaurant in the last town before you get up into the big hills, and my cousin, Craig, happened to be there. A huge surprise, and I only recognized him by his voice. It’s very distinct.

“Craig! Is that you?”
“Well hey, Frank. Yeah, it’s me.”

Craig is the youngest son of my uncle who left the cabin to me. He and his brother and sister were perfectly fine with that, but I gave each of them a key so they could use it whenever they want. Craig’s the only one who ever has, usually when he goes hunting. He just sends a text “Gone for deer this weekend” (he means going), and I text him a (y).

Anyway, I hadn’t seen him in 30-some years. He came to see me after I was hurt real bad from a fall of about 60 feet or so when I was 38...I think. Maybe 36 (minor brain damage 🤪). He joined us for dinner, and I introduced him to Michelle (“What?! Frank married?”), and we ate and chatted and laughed for nearly 2 hours.

Craig still lives up in the hills, not too awfully far from the cabin (45-50 minutes), and he checks on the place now and then. He’d just finished taking care of some storm damage there when he decided to get himself some dinner at that restaurant.

So that was a really cool coincidence. Craig is your typical solitary, down-to-earth, simple-living mountain-man, and it was great seeing him.

Even though he didn’t know we were literally on our way up there, among a few other things he’d cleared snow off the front path, the windows, and the roof, and took some firewood inside so it could dry out and burn well. So we didn’t have much work to do besides firing up the stove and taking dust-covers off a few things. And that was nice to "come home to," you know?

Saturday evening, we had hot cocoa out on the porch and watched for the planetary alignment. We didn’t see anything – it was a couple days too early and the trees are too tall – but it was so nice sitting out there all bundled up, our hands wrapped around warm mugs, just chatting and saying Hey to a neighbor now and then.

There are 4 permanent residences there, and a 5th place, an old mobile home, that’s sometimes rented to vacationers and hunters…so a total of 6 homes on about a 2 - 2 ½ acre chunk of privately owned land that’s a 10-15 minute drive from a general store, a couple little shops, and a little gas station with 2 pumps and a part-time mechanic; same places that were there when I was a tot.

It was just a cozy, quiet, relaxing little weekend.
 
It's really a shame what has happened to pain management these days. My husband gets treated like a drug addict every time he goes to his Special Pain Doctor - can't get pain meds from regular doctor anymore.

He's had 5 back surgeries and never come close to being addicted to the pain meds. He takes them as needed, period. One time, they denied him a refill because he tested and didn't have anything in his system - so they said he was selling them. 🤬
 
CaliS said:
It's really a shame what has happened to pain management these days. My husband gets treated like a drug addict every time he goes to his Special Pain Doctor - can't get pain meds from regular doctor anymore.
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I bet I know why. Every time a family doctor prescribes a narcotic medication, s/he has to fill out a bunch of documents (online), get it signed by the director of their clinic or group, have the patient sign a document saying they promise not to abuse the drug, then submit all that along with the patient's dx record or a dx code and images THEN wait for FDA approval. The doc has to do that every single month, and the patient has to sign that promise document every year.

I mean, maybe that doesn't sound like all that much, but it's time consuming, it's a hassle that didn't used to exist, it's stupid, and it feels like the FDA is breathing down the doctor's neck. Plus, their license is on the line. It's awful, honestly. And for the amount insurances compensate family doctors these days, a lot of them figure it's not worth it.
CaliS said:
He's had 5 back surgeries and never come close to being addicted to the pain meds. He takes them as needed, period.
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Same here. I watched a medical lecture about a study that showed the older you get, the less likely you are to become addicted to Rx narcotics. Most seniors simply aren't susceptible to addiction.
CaliS said:
One time, they denied him a refill because he tested and didn't have anything in his system - so they said he was selling them. 🤬
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ffs

Yeah, there's been many many months when I had to wait 3 or 4 days for a pharmacist to "release" my monthly Rx of Norco, and I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever....just a lot of freaking pain.

That's when my pharmacy was a CVS :sick:. If possible, your husband should have his Rx's filled at a pharmacy inside a hospital or in his doctor's building. They usually always have a pharmacist there....you know, to "release" your meds. Another new FDA requirement.
 
Murrmurr said:
I bet I know why. Every time a family doctor prescribes a narcotic medication, s/he has to fill out a bunch of documents (online), get it signed by the director of their clinic or group, have the patient sign a document saying they promise not to abuse the drug, then submit all that along with the patient's dx record or a dx code and images THEN wait for FDA approval. The doc has to do that every single month, and the patient has to sign that promise document every year.

I mean, maybe that doesn't sound like all that much, but it's time consuming, it's a hassle that didn't used to exist, it's stupid, and it feels like the FDA is breathing down the doctor's neck. Plus, their license is on the line. It's awful, honestly. And for the amount insurances compensate family doctors these days, a lot of them figure it's not worth it.

Same here. I watched a medical lecture about a study that showed the older you get, the less likely you are to become addicted to Rx narcotics. Most seniors simply aren't susceptible to addiction.

ffs

Yeah, there's been many many months when I had to wait 3 or 4 days for a pharmacist to "release" my monthly Rx of Norco, and I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever....just a lot of freaking pain.

That's when my pharmacy was a CVS :sick:. If possible, your husband should have his Rx's filled at a pharmacy inside a hospital or in his doctor's building. They usually always have a pharmacist there....you know, to "release" your meds. Another new FDA requirement.
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Thank you 🙏
 
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