Nervous...scared...anxious...
Thanks for keeping us up to date on all of the stressors and your experience with your pain problems and how you have been treated and how you are dealing with it.
I am not nearly as bad off as you are, but I have degenerative disc disease, and it's a challenge to keep mobile and working.
I take it one day at a time, and I go to a good chiropractor once a month and he gives me a ''tune up'' to keep me going.
He never has cracked my back, he just manipulates the muscles in my back and my legs, and it's working out for me in that way.
His approach is that I don't need an adjustment which is ''cracking'' and that I need regular manipulation.
I've been seeing him for 4 years now, and he has given me a lot of pain relief.
Keep up the faith and promise of a life without much meds and suffering.
Also, I hope your wife has a full recovery as well.
"
degenerative disc disease"....Sadly this is one of those things we will all have to face as we age. Some of us....well...it just got an early start on. It is not uncommon for "DDD" to advance to Stenosis...
"Spinal
stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine."
Thing I would like to stress to all you younger folks....is that you MAY be able to delay the onset of DDD. Lift correctly. Avoid repetitive motion jobs. Avoid being hung over a fender all day. Use a bit of common sense in your life.
Most of what is torn up on me is from repetitive motion injuries. For years my job with the USPS was to separate incoming trays of letter mail. For years, being left handed, I used my left arm for all of the pulling. Might explain the torn bicep. Might also explain why the carpal tunnel in my left hand was in labeled as extreme versus my right hand only being moderate. Thing about repetitive motion injuries is the big A, arthritis, will tag along with it. As many of us aging folks are well aware of once "Arthur" shows up the best that can be done is to slow its progress.
All you younger folks....please take care of your back and joints. While being a mechanic may be your dream job....well....it may make your later years less than a dream.
My docs have all told me that all of the crap I am dealing with was going to happen to me, sooner or later. I have several genetic issues that helped speed things up a bit.
Really wishing that I had listened to the folks that tried to educate me when I was younger. Educate me on how to lift correctly. On how to bend and twist correctly.
It is what it is. The pain is slowly returning. But it feels different this now, which is completely normal. Only have to tolerate it for 5 weeks or so. I am fighting off taking any additional pain meds.
