I'm HURTIN!!

[Motorhead]

I just got to talk to someone... Last May, I took a fall at work while I was loading a truck at UPS. They had me working on some Mickey Mouse docks that we had complained about at safety meetings for the past year. I was carring a 40lb box and I slipped through between the dock and roller slide that had been incorrectly set up the night before. My right leg went through to the floor below while the rest of me crumpled up on the dock with the box in hands. I ended up re-rupturing the disc in L4-L5 lower back again!. I had the disc repaired 12 years ago, the first time, from an injury at work. I can't get rid of the pain in my back. The only real surgery option is to fuse the vertibrae and those aren't that successfull. Doctors really don't give you any great promise.



I'm the kind of guy that can't sit still. I like to be active and do what ever I can when I want to do it. Now... I have to see how I feel first and push myself to do things and suffer later!



I have 25 vested years at UPS and I need 3 more to secure my lifetime medical and to draw my pension. I will be 53yrs old then. I have not worked but a month since last May. I have to be able to perform like a 20 yr old or they won't take me back. I can't sleep well, I am not the best of company to my family... This is the PITTS!!



My wife has been the GREATEST through all of this even though I can see that it is wearing on her. My two daughters, 14 and 19 sure don't deserve this either.



You know, You give your best years to a company to work for your retirement so you can travel, take it easy, and enjoy your life.



You get hurt..... and everything turns to ****. and THEY (work) don't want you any more.



This is cheaper than a thearpy session... you are ALL a bunch of great Guys. Thanks for listening

Chris

 

[**ICEMAN**]

i know exactly what pain your going thru. i have 2 ruptured disc that have been putting me down about twice a year for the last few years. cant pinpoint mine as happening at work though,,wish i could cause the sickness benefit ain't much. i am currently off again. this time it has my sciatic nerve pinched and my left side of my butt down to my toes hurts like mad. . especially when i cough or sneeze etc. for a while my whole left leg was numb. i finally cant take it anymore and am scheduled to see a neuro surgen today for consultation. i've taken so many pain killers lately that they dont even work. i have a lot of years left before even thinking retirement so i need to get this straightened out. i hear horror stories and good stories about back operations. most horror stories are from people that had surgery 20 + years ago. i'm hoping things have changed some since then. i am tired of missing out on alot of stuff because of my back. i'll see what they say today.

 

[Champane Flight]

Now

Get opinions from another doctor, find one who has done this type of surgery many times and has a good success rate. I have a trucker buddy who just had four vertebrae fused, he is doing real well. He had the operation in Oct and is expected back to work in May. The recovery time/ rehabilitation time is rough, but he is sticking to it. He says the pain is gone right now and that is something. I can find out who his doctor was if you want?



As far as the company not taking you back, you might want to remind them of the "worker disability's act". It states they have to give you a position that you can do with your disability. Get ahold of your Union steward and do some finagling.



In the meantime take up something to do with your hands, nothing extreme. Maybe take on some work on the computer?

Sit the family down and give em all the lowdown. Good luck man.

 

[LSMITH]

Darn Chris, sorry to hear that the back is not any better yet. I will put in a word with the Big Guy for you and your family. Take care and holler if I can help. Howard.

 

[jwoelfle]

Try to find a GOOD chiropractor in your area... seriously. I know a lot of people think they are all quacks and I'm sure there are many that are. I used to be of that opinion as well. I have had genetic lower back problems all my life... L5 is fused to the sacrum. I had spent 25 years in severe pain seeing doctor after doctor after doctor. The usual treatment was to give me enough medication to keep in bed for 3-4 days, sleeping... none of the doctors could figure out exactly what was wrong. All they knew was my lower back muscles were hard as rock so they gave me muscle relaxers and put me to bed. Had to do it this way because I am like you... I can't sit still. I'd be laying in bed lookiing around the room and find something that needed to be done and get up and do it. Then one episode with my back just wouldn't go away. After 3 weeks of no relief, and getting stuck on my knees on the floor for a couple of hours waiting for someone, anyone, to knock on the door(single, lived alone and couldn't reach the phone), I broke down and visited a highly respected chiro. After the most thorough exam I have ever been through in my life, he pinpointed exactly what was wrong. I was wheeled into his office but walked out under my own power. I still hurt like crap, but I could walk. The initial treatment was pretty intense... saw him every other day for 3 weeks. Since then, I've seen him once a month for the last 4 years.



I know a lot of people think they are a scam and try to suck your bank account dry by making you come back every month for adjustments, but a good reputable chiro just ain't that way. I have had ZERO downtime since I started seeing him. Has it cost me a chunk of change? Sure... prolly about $300/year but I'm still walking and haven't been on meds in 4 years. I say it's worth it for me to be able to walk.



It has also been a lifestyle change for me. I'm the stubborn sort and have always been of the brute force mentality. Now I have to think about it before I move it or lift it and use mechanical advantage when I can. Just getting smarter as I get older.



I don't know if a chiro would be able to help you or not, but it is worth investigating. Take it from someone that has been there and thought they were all voodoo witch doctor quacks. The key will be finding a good one. Check with the chiropractic schools and see if they recommend someone in your area. Do some research about the chiro field of medicine. Some of the things you will find that chiro care can cure will amaze you. I also haven't had an allergy steroid shot in 4 years either... used to get 4 per year.



YMMV... but I'd at least think about it. Let the flames begin.



Jim

 

[Silver]

I agree with Jwoelfle

My father has had back problems for years. He is just like you guys, he can't sit still. A couple of years ago his back problems led to a pinched sciatic nerve. His pain was so bad that he would have to pull over twice on way to work each day just to stand up and relieve his pain. His doctors suggested sugery, but he'll "be damned if he lets some butcher cut him open to poke around" He decided to try a chiropractor as a last result before surgery. After about three months of therapy 3x weekly he was pain free. He cancelled the rest of his appointments and has been fine for the last two years. To all of our suprise the "quack" worked. We're all relieved that he didn't have to have surgery. Oo.



It may not be the answer for all back problems but it saved him a lot $$ and a lot of anguish.

 

[Motorhead]

Like I said in the end of my post last night... You are all a bunch of great guys!!!

I have used a chiropractor once a week for years. I get massage also.

It has been one heck of a last 10 months... I got injured, just when things at work and the money situation was doing pretty good.

We were sued by a family member on a house that my wife held on deed, 50% interest on... The family member said that we had no interest in the property!!! GO FIGURE!!!

We were on the phone today with our atty because the thing still isn't settled... even after going to mediation.

It says in the Bible that God never gives us more than we can handle... . My shoulders are FULL!

I go to the pain specialist again on Friday for some more blocks.





The Beat Goes on!!! THANKS TO YOU FOR LISTENING AND FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS.

 

[lgibson]

I know what you are going though. I was T-boned by a Kenworth pulling twin 40' belly dumps full of gravel, and me in a Jeep CJ-5. This was back in 95 and that ended my job as a Heavy Equipment Mechanic, now I am an office worker.



Two surgeries on my busted hip. Nerve damage, closed head injury, and crushed T-12, L-1 disk. I know what is like living with pain and going from a very active life to sitting or lying down all day. The first year was doctors, doctors and more doctors. Bunches of "fun" test. The I had the laywers and doctors telling me how I feel. If that wasn't enough year two had the same lawyers, a few more doctors and now Voc. Rehab. But by the second year you will be able to deal with the pain. I quit pain killers and came to terms with the pain. Believe it or not I like the pain now, at least I know I am alive.



Your employeer will have to find a position that you can do within your limitations. If they don't have anything, which that is unlikely, they will have to retrain you. You will not lose the years you put in. Also your pay has to stay the same as it was before. If not Workerman's Comp. has to pay the difference. Don't worry about that.



For the bad news. It's the durn laywers and the legal system. My case was an easy one because the trucker ran a red light. I could not be blamed at all. I never had a privous injury to worry about. It was set for trail Dec. of 2001, yep 6 years after the accident. We went into Mediation June of 1998, almost three years later. The way the trail worked was it was set for Dec. but they get pushed back at least six months to a year. When the trail is over the defendent, them, will appeal and offer you something low. Next trial could be another 6 years. I settled in Med. because I wanted my life back. I know I could have went to trail and would have come out well off. But the question I asked myself was, " How much is my time worth?"



I can tell you the day I settled, my condition improved. It felt like a load of bricks was lifted off my chest. I was a free man again.



The people that I have known that had back surgury all say if they had to do it over again they would not get the surgury. Your body will adapted to the injury. My father's back with is really screwed up has fused itself natually, he did not have a doctor do it. You will learn how to live with it. Just make sure you do your homework and get plenty of 2nd opinions, there are no undoing the damage from a surgery.



I know what you are going through and if you need to talk just PM me.

 

[bmoeller]

OUCH! I hope all turns out well for you. I have to go to the chiro. sometimes too. Don't go as much as I should. Helps alot when I do. You may need to try different ones to find a good one. Took me several tries. At least for me anyway, I don't go to female chiro. 's. They're not always stong enough to get some of them that are out of place.

 

[Mike Ellis]

Motorhead,



I did not have good luck with the chiropracters, some folks do and some don't. Other than feeling good and "loose" after a treatment, I never noticed any improvement in the pain. And the pain was constant, like a toothache that lasted for months and months and months.



I was starting college and didn't want to risk the fusion surgery, considered risky back then. So they kept me in a fog of muscle-relaxers and pain killers, nearly flunked out of college in my doped up state. To this day can't remember much at all of my freshman year. After getting married and struggling to go to school and work too, with back zapping all the while, I finally got fed up and threw out all the medicine. They never made it quit hurting anyway, just made me goofy, so I figured if I was going to hurt anyway I might as well be clear headed. After several months of tooth-grinding pain, I began to get used to it and a few years down the road essentially was pain free except for the occasional "episode" from sneezing, turning too quick, etc.



Things that helped me:

- Learning to SLOW DOWN and quit rushing. Quick unthinking movements often produced back spasms.

- swimming

- wearing low heeled, cushy sole hiking boots laced TIGHT to reduce shock on back when walking and make steps more firm and sure (the little wobbles and slips really give the back fits so good shoes help a LOT)

- throwing out water bed and getting a HARD mattress

- sitting in hard straightbacked chairs and avoiding "poofy" furniture

- making conscious effort to walk and sit carefully and straight, pick things up the right way, etc.

- daily doses of Vitamin C and other vitamins

- sticking with showers and eliminating baths (boy a good soak feels GREAT but I have been stuck in the tub several times with back gone south after getting too relaxed. NOT WORTH IT)

- heatpad gizmo like a big sock full of rice or corn meal or something, it is called a "back buddy" and when microwaved it gives off warm moist heat for a long time. Better yet, the thing is like a long cylinder just the right size to poke behind small of the back and keep heat where it needs to be, it is firm enough to lean back on and it somehow helps "push" (???) the spine back into alignment. Like leaning on a little pile of hot, firm sand. Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended. Don't know if they still sell 'em though.



Things that didn't work

- pain killers

- muscle relaxers (EXCEPT when pain was so great that abdominal muscles locked up and breathing was tough - the relaxers helped that almost instantly... talk about relief)

- regular heat pads

- ice pads

- liniments

- ointments

- ultrasound

- electrical stimulus

- chiropractor

- massage



It seems to play out differently for everybody, so you pretty much have to pay your $$$ and take your chances. If it works, stick with it. Try to figure out what causes a bad spell and AVOID it like the plague.



Remember to buy your wife flowers once in awhile because the fog of pain makes for a grumpy, tough-to-live-with husband indeed.....

 

[Dreher]

Right now, I am in my fifth week of recovery from a ruptured L4/L5 disc surgery (micro discectomy/laminatomy) on Feb 4th.



That was the best decision I've ever made. I could hardly walk when I went into the hospital at 5am. Had the surgery at 7:30am and was out the door mostly pain-free at 4:00pm. Went back to work in two weeks, though light-duty.



I had previously tried epidural steroids and it helped for a while but the debilitating pain soon returned. Surgery was the only thing that made a significant difference. Things aren't perfect, but at least I can function normally. I couldn't attribute it to my job but my medical insurance picked up the tab.



They are doing medical trials in the US right now on artificial discs. They've been doing them for some time in Europe with good results. Good luck, I feel for you - literally.



Bob

 

[Stranger]

APLD

Ask your othopedic surgeon, (you do have one, don't you?), about Automated Percutaneous Lumbar Discectomy. (My fingers hurt after typing that).



I injured my back, herniated a disc in 1986, waited 9 years before I agreed to the procedure. I walked hunched over from injury date until surgery date.



It's an outpatient procedure. I hobbled in to the hospital and walked out pain free for the first time 45 minutes later. Have very minor residual pain, only after I do something stupid.



E-mail me @ -- email address removed -- for more info. Also since you are in Northern CA I can give you my Ortho's number if your's doesn't know the process or you need a second opinion.



Best of Luck, and we will keep you in our prayers.



Stranger

 

[Mike Ellis]

Stranger,



That signature quote is OUTSTANDING, I am gonna hafta steal it... !