The Pain Scale

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Only goes to 10? Phuh!!!

All these years of back pain and I didn't think it could get worse. The last couple of weeks have been pretty brutal but today was unbelievable. Don't even know how to describe it other than maybe like what it feels like to be cut in half. 

The really bad news in all of this is that I had a gravy job today, finally, and even though I started out fine, about 3:00 it set in and I couldn't get up from a chair. Got up a couple inches and right back down. Tried to laugh it off with the the customer and keep my eyes from welling up with water, but this is most troubling. Especially considering the large project I have in the works (if it FINALLY goes through) and the labor intensive requirements of it. How the FCUK am I going to do it?

Going to the doctor Thursday afternoon. Gonna tell him I want the tests and I want them rapido. Need to know once and for all exactly is going on and what can be done about it.

Or Dilaudid. Dilaudid will work too I suppose.

[k9krap]

Oh, my. Good luck! Does weather change affect your back? Today has been an awful day for me, as far as pain is concerned.  I don’t have the option of dilaudid.  

I did did get something new to try at bedtime.  Doc said it’s for restless legs, but also helps with pain and makes you drowsy.  After picking it up, I’ve discovered that it’s anticonvulsant or antiepileptic.   I’ll try anything, as I dread bedtime now.  

Gabapentin is is the name.  

[Dave's Not Here Man]

No difference that I've noticed. When I went tits of teakettle on the job in July it really made my bad problem worse. While dilaudid or other morphs might take the pain away, temporarily, it won't make the problem better. Sometimes I can get some relief if I take 800mg of Advil and .5mg of Ativan (not what it's for per se', but helping me to relax can't hurt at all under the circumstances). That has not worked at all this week and I don't want to take 2400mgs of ibuprofen a day unless there are no other options. Actually, I took 600mg of Advil and 1.5mg of ativan before bed last night and at least I was able to stay unconscious through the night. And at this point, I'll take it!

The gave me neurontin years ago for my "thoracic outlet syndrome" and otherwise "non-specific connective tissue imflammation"....... it made my anxiety problems 5000x worse so I couldn't take it. It's mostly for nerve pain, which there is actually no real cure for, and everything they advertise for slowing down certain nerve pathways, they think.

[minx]

You both have my sympathy - I have been very, very, very lucky to have never thrown my back out. Friend in AL did last week, and she said the pain was worse than childbirth - as John noted there is no scale for it.

[k9krap]

Yes, back pain is the worst. My heating pad gets a workout - stays on all the time. It’s part of my routine. I even had one at work, and I’m constantly taking care of burns on my lower back because I keep it so hot.

John, do muscle relaxers help at all? They are cheap and have helped me in the past. I know they helped my dad. He had horrible back issues. I found him one day, prone in the backyard. He had bent over to pull a weed and his back spasmed and blam, he’s down. We took him to the doc, and he refused sit. Just leaned against the wall. My grandmother also had back issues and had a couple surgeries for it.

Speaking of sitting in a doctors office, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get up out of that chair yesterday! Lord, do I need one of those chairs that push you out?!!!

Shoot me. Please.

[k9krap]

Mom had a pinched nerve in her back for the final years of her life. I’m thinking it was 6 years. I know it was a lot. It incapacitated her. She went to a pain specialist and they tried all they could, but she could get no relief.

I’m sure things have improved since she died in 2006.

[minx]

John - did you make it to the doctor yesterday? How did it go?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Yes. He didn't do anything except say that wearing jeans and being overweight are causing my problem. He got me the MRI scheduled for the 14th, which is all I went there for. Once he sees the result of that, he's going to have to eat some crow.

[minx]

How the hell is wearing jeans causing your back pain? What does he want you to do, wear leggings?
Glad he at least got you a date for an MRI though.

[k9krap]

Jeans? Is he a nudist?

Doctors really burn me up.  My entire life has changed, mostly due to pain.  The past 3 or 4 days have been brutal.  My right knee hurts, sitting, standing, walking, lying down.  And it hurts a lot.  As I hobbled into the pharmacy the other day, I realized I was hunched over like a crippled old woman.   I’m fucking 61!  And you’re a lot younger.  No way you should have to put up with this. 

[Dave's Not Here Man]

This is the same guy who went all Ted Nugent one time with his right wing bullshit. My wife dumped him as her primary and I have thought about following suit. The reason I haven't is because when I've needed something urgently, he's been right on top of it without hesitation. So for now, I just let him have his perch as long as he gives me the treatments I expect.

And yeah.... jeans. What the fuck.

[bobathon]

Don't tell him about that jungle music you listen to.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Or that I drink beer. Because a person who drinks beer every day has "a problem with alcohol".

I wonder if Planet Fitness has doctors.

[minx]

Ah, my mom has a dentist like your doctor - does excellent work, but is a total nut-job. I think he looks forward to her visits so he can talk about how Trump is wonderful when her mouth is full of crap so she can't answer.

And if you limit it to one beer a day, who cares? I mean it's not like you have to tell him the container size, right?

[k9krap]

So, how’s the back? Have you had the scan yet?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Haven't had any "call the amperlamps" moments in about a week but it's a steady 6 all the time. The MRI was supposed to be on the 14th at 11pm. It was made that way just to get me in the system. Then I had/have the option of checking with them every day for cancellations. I rescheduled for the 28th at 11am anyway, just in case no one cancels on a day and time that works for me driving to and from Tyson's. The last time I went up the road in the wee hours was the time when I had that job killing panic attack. Not eee-ven tempting that shit again. Especially when the main question they keep asking is "are you claustrophobic"?


/Just re-read my OP. Sheesh, that was only like 2 weeks ago. Still FUBAR but thankfully not that level of pain in a few days. Of course, no work.... no working out... not really lifting anything heavier than a beer bottle..... not much to irritate it like that.

[k9krap]

Why are you going to Tysons for the MRI?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Kaiser doesn't have an MRI machine in FXBG. The closest one is in Woodbridge. That one is the "normal" sized and I'm double "normal" size". The last time I had an MRI at MWH, it was like I was in a simulated birth canal and I asked the doc if Kaiser had a large or open MRI and he said they had a biggun at Tysons. So Tyson's it is.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Just got my new heating pad delivered this morning. Amazon, bitches! Daughter commandeered my other one about 6 months ago and since it doesn't have anything to do with her benefit, she keeps forgetting to bring it back. Already got this sucker on and it feels great on by lower back. Bonus: Whatever cheese I ate yesterday should return to liquid form and not collect in my bowels.

Also found out that my MRI is only estimated to cost me around $50. So now I don't have to cancel it. Thanks OBAMA!!!!

[minx]

What setting do you have that thing on? Hellfire?
Glad it's helping, and doubly-glad that the MRI will only be $50!

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Medium seems to be about all I can stand. Going to try hitting the store in a little while so we'll see if it loosens me up.

[bobathon]

Set it to "Fondue".

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Because there's no setting for Fond-le.

[k9krap]

I keep a backup, because I seem to wear them out quickly. Highest setting is the only way to go!

ETA:  I’ve had neck problems since I fell down the steps and jammed my head on the opposite wall.  (Pauses for laughter).  I got an awesome neck and shoulder heating pad on Amazon as well.  When I have both going, it’s pretty toasty!

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I'll have to pass on HIGH. Medium was about enough to turn my boys into hard boiled eggs.

[minx]

Just don't fall asleep on one of them, or you will fry like an egg. When I worked at BC, I had a case where a woman fell asleep on one and had third-degree burns

[k9krap]

I burn myself constantly on mine, no matter how much padding I put between it and my lower back. I have beaucoup scars to prove it.  I still have problems reaching to tend to the burns (range of motion in the shoulders), but that’s getting better.  

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Well, finally got the MRI this morning. Even the "big" machine was tight. I don't know how Kaiser would handle a person larger than me. It's not like I'm the fattest fucker in DC. There are fatter fuckers everywhere you look. It's not a comfortable feeling to be squeezed in that thing and it started to bother me a little bit this time. Glad it was only about 25 minutes but that was about 15 minutes too long. Next time, if there is a next time, it's going to have to be an open MRI or something else.

But I survived it. Hopefully the results are available soon.

[k9krap]

Yeah, if I have to go again, I’m opting for the open one in Lee’s Hill.

[No. 1 son]

I hope everyone is on the upswing here. Don't want to be racked up with spring almost here. Baseball almost here, the shad run about 3 weeks away, redskins will trade all their draft picks to get Hainsworth out of rehab, mow the lawn. Don't want to miss that. Tell me how you really, really feel.