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Post by velodromed on Aug 31, 2023 11:08:10 GMT -5
*WARNING, SEMI GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW* It’s a running joke between me and my stepdaughter. With the screws and hardware in my neck, surgical stainless staples holding my shoulder and knees together, a spinal stimulater installed in my back, plus I like to use athletic kinesis tape on all sore joints. So Belle tells her friends and others that I’m held together with screws, staples and tape. Hilarious that kid is, yup. Getting old sucks, especially for those of us that were a little bit too active, and stupid, when younger. Now that I’ve gone through all the surgeries required to have a spinal stimulator installed (like a pace maker for my central nervous system to control pain) I am paying attention to my right foot. I broke it on October 15, 2021 at 6:51 PM. I know the exact date and time because it was the last time I was taking my step daughter to the park for a while, because her mom had a 12 hour massive cancer surgery scheduled for the following morning at 6 AM. I destroyed my foot that afternoon. I was chasing Belle across a series of jungle jims, miss-calculated swinging from one to the other and fell about 8 feet on my right foot at a bad angle. Within and hour it looked like the picture below. An hour later it was way worse. Early the next morning, I took my wife to the hospital and dropped her off for her surgery, then hobbled downstairs to the emergency room. Four metacarpal bones in my foot were broken figured there was also some tendon/cartilage joint damage. They wanted to put me in a cast for 3 months, but I couldn’t because I had to be able to drive and take care of my wife for the next six months during her recovery. So they put a removable brace on it and it never healed properly. I just got back from my orthopedic, we reviewed the MRI on my foot that I had done last week. I now have severe arthritis in the joint where the first two metacarpals meets my ankle, and minor arthritis in the others. I got some steroid shots and will get a series of them over the next couple months. If it doesn’t work, he’ll have to surgically fuse the joints. Ugh. Next he treated my left shoulder with a few shots. Again. I tore my right shoulder out of joint in a construction accident in Alaska, age 22. It took a year of surgeries and I had to move to California for them, so when they wanted to do my left shoulder I refused. It wasn’t as bad so I rehabbed it and went on with life. Now it can no longer be ignored. My pain doc and Orthapedic have treated it with steroid shots for the last two years. They only give a few weeks relief though, and it’s not healing, so I am getting an MRI in the next few days and find out what’s going on. If it needs surgery I need to do so before years end because my insurance out of pocket max is almost met. Yeah, it sucks getting older. I’d love to hear what others are dealing with and how. Maybe I’ll learn something from you; maybe you’ll learn something from me.
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Post by velodromed on Aug 31, 2023 20:08:50 GMT -5
I freaking hate steroids. I’m so sick. Been curled up for hours in pain and nausea. I hate steroids.
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Post by Pat on Aug 31, 2023 20:27:52 GMT -5
I sure hope things are going to look better for you soon. That’s quite a litany of woe.
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 31, 2023 20:50:18 GMT -5
Ouch! I am so sorry!
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skmcconnell361
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 122
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Post by skmcconnell361 on Aug 31, 2023 21:15:59 GMT -5
What rockjunkie said OUWEEEEE!
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Post by jasoninsd on Aug 31, 2023 21:38:48 GMT -5
The only part of me that hurts on a daily basis starts at the top of my head and goes down to the tip of my big toes! Crashing BMX bikes Gymnastics Jumping out of planes Physical "altercations" Taking any physical risk imaginable...you know the kind that starts with "Hey y'all, watch this!" Yeah...they all add up to constant pain as I get older...
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,766
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Post by khara on Sept 1, 2023 5:36:14 GMT -5
I noticed nobody’s clicked on the thumbs up button. Just some posts it doesn’t seem appropriate.🤓 I had a foot that looked like yours a few years back. Broken toe but half my foot turned black and blue. I don’t recall announcing anything like “hey watch this!” prior to. No, I simply dared to sit down on the couch. I think I had planned to crochet and watch movies. Nice relaxing evening. Instead, upon swinging my legs up onto the couch so I could lounge, I whacked the top of my foot on the under side of the coffee table. Hard. You wouldn’t think you could get enough momentum in about a foot of space to do much damage, but trust me, you can. It hurt so bad I pretty much knew right away I’d broken something. It was a strange injury to the top of the bones in my toe. I couldn’t put a shoe on that foot for about 6 months. Had to wear sandals. So, yep, I actually broke my toe…. sitting down on the couch. Hope you’re starting to feel better soon.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 17:20:02 GMT -5
The only part of me that hurts on a daily basis starts at the top of my head and goes down to the tip of my big toes! Crashing BMX bikes Gymnastics Jumping out of planes Physical "altercations" Taking any physical risk imaginable...you know the kind that starts with "Hey y'all, watch this!" Yeah...they all add up to constant pain as I get older... Yup, we have that screw loose in common. I’m still feeling like crap. My foot feels better…just need to get past the shoulder stuff. One maybe two more days of misery. I’ll get the MRI this week and find out what I’m facing.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 17:31:23 GMT -5
I noticed nobody’s clicked on the thumbs up button. Just some posts it doesn’t seem appropriate.🤓 I had a foot that looked like yours a few years back. Broken toe but half my foot turned black and blue. I don’t recall announcing anything like “hey watch this!” prior to. No, I simply dared to sit down on the couch. I think I had planned to crochet and watch movies. Nice relaxing evening. Instead, upon swinging my legs up onto the couch so I could lounge, I whacked the top of my foot on the under side of the coffee table. Hard. You wouldn’t think you could get enough momentum in about a foot of space to do much damage, but trust me, you can. It hurt so bad I pretty much knew right away I’d broken something. It was a strange injury to the top of the bones in my toe. I couldn’t put a shoe on that foot for about 6 months. Had to wear sandals. So, yep, I actually broke my toe…. sitting down on the couch. Hope you’re starting to feel better soon. It’s all good. I’m not looking for likes or attention. I’m getting off my chest what I’m having trouble handling. It’s only been this last 4 or 5 months that I feel like I’m cracking emotionally. Opening up helps relieve the pressure. Doing so to people I know virtually somehow feels safe. I started crying recently once it sunk in my wife supported me doing so. That helps. But I can’t put it all on her. She’s a cancer survivor and went through 18 months of hell between 2021 and 2022 and is still recovering. We isolated at the onset of the epidemic and still prefer to keep to ourselves, especially after going through Covid 4 times. She’s an introvert and I’ve become one lol. Ive become very TMI, but I think it’s for my own good, if that makes sense.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 17:54:14 GMT -5
I sure hope things are going to look better for you soon. That’s quite a litany of woe. Thank you. Things will get better, then worse then better lol. Pain is living after all. Jack Kerouac said it best, “The more ups and downs, the more joy I feel. The greater the fear, the greater the happiness I feel.” The more pain I felt the more alive I felt. It lasted until age 40, and tumbled down from there. When I talk like this…I feel a release of pressure from built up emotions and fears I can no longer face on my own. It really helps.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 17:55:40 GMT -5
What rockjunkie said OUWEEEEE! Lol yup it sure was!
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 17:56:51 GMT -5
Thank you, I know you understand.
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RockyBeach
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since July 2023
Posts: 240
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Post by RockyBeach on Sept 2, 2023 17:58:26 GMT -5
Hope you feel better SOON because
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Post by velodromed on Sept 2, 2023 18:04:01 GMT -5
Hope you feel better SOON because thank you!
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Post by jasoninsd on Sept 2, 2023 22:50:45 GMT -5
Velo, if you need an ear, or shoulder to get shit off your chest, let me know and I'll give you my phone number. Seriously...
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titaniumkid
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since June 2023
Posts: 235
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Post by titaniumkid on Sept 3, 2023 6:20:46 GMT -5
Ouch! I hope you can get the pain under control without bad side effects from the meds. That foot pic is gnarly and you are so full of metal you must have fun at airports. More seriously though, I hope the medical professionals can help you out. Time alone is not the best healer, it seems.
I don't have any exciting adventures for my metalwork. Half my spine is fused with titanium rods and screws because of scoliosis. It was supposed to be done as a teen but I procrastinated until my 30s. I'll probably need the rest of it fused at some stage. Things to look forward to.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 3, 2023 7:48:51 GMT -5
Velo, if you need an ear, or shoulder to get shit off your chest, let me know and I'll give you my phone number. Seriously... Thank you, I appreciate that. Verbally I don’t talk so much anymore. I stutter after all the head injuries, surgeries, meds…and get confused. But writing is different. I’ve read books most my entire life and I own thousands, all written before the 1950s and back as far as the 1400s. I had to stop a couple years ago because it started to hurt, the non-stop reading. But I can still write. I love to write. So if I need to I’ll blow up your message box lol.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 3, 2023 7:54:55 GMT -5
Ouch! I hope you can get the pain under control without bad side effects from the meds. That foot pic is gnarly and you are so full of metal you must have fun at airports. More seriously though, I hope the medical professionals can help you out. Time alone is not the best healer, it seems. I don't have any exciting adventures for my metalwork. Half my spine is fused with titanium rods and screws because of scoliosis. It was supposed to be done as a teen but I procrastinated until my 30s. I'll probably need the rest of it fused at some stage. Things to look forward to. Good Lord I’m sorry to hear that. I understand your name now better. Your X-rays must be intense. Do you have nerve damage? Is it hard controlling the pain or do you have a lot? They told me 90% of my pain comes from damaged nerves. Which to me means it’s not even a real. Even though it is. Airports are easy, they’re used to it. I always just ask for the big giant box. Court houses are more interesting, when I used to do evictions with my job, I had a little bit more explaining to do until they got used to me. Hang in there! Yours is the story that hurts far more to hear then a dumbass like me not knowing when to stop…
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Time
starting to spend too much on rocks
Making something positive out of COVID restrictions by learning to create jewelry out of stones.
Member since September 2021
Posts: 154
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Post by Time on Sept 3, 2023 21:51:00 GMT -5
I just told my cousin who is getting over spinal surgery that getting older is not for pansies and she wholeheartedly agreed. I am a cancer survivor myself, wife is mending from a broken leg so we can say been there done that. My operating plan is fight to stay positive and find something good to focus my thoughts on.
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Post by velodromed on Sept 4, 2023 7:50:02 GMT -5
I just told my cousin who is getting over spinal surgery that getting older is for pansies and she wholeheartedly agreed. I am a cancer survivor myself, wife is mending from a broken leg so we can say been there done that. My operating plan is fight to stay positive and find something good to focus my thoughts on. Wow. I used to think that way and continued pushing my physical capabilities until I was 40, which was way too long. Even after my spinal fusion I got back on my bike, constantly telling myself ‘getting old is for wimps’, and hurt myself even more, to the point that it’s not an operable. It’s an extremely foolish way of thinking and living, even more so to advise others to do that. Can only stay positive for so long before things start to go sideways in mind. Years of constant never ending pain has been hard to handle. Three surgeries in the last eight months alone, making 17 total now, and continually trying to rehab and fail during that time has been difficult to handle mentally and emotionally. That’s good that you made it through cancer, it was awful when my wife went through it. But she’s cancer free now and recovering. By the end of the year she should be back to her old self. Sorry to hear your wife broke her leg. I’ve been through that a few times and it sucks. But it will heal. My foot would’ve healed if I had allowed them to put a cast on it. But I had to take care of my wife after her 12 hour surgery and I wouldn’t have been able to drive us home with a cast up up over my knee, so it didn’t heal. It was worth it though, to be able to take care of her. I just have to deal with it now. For some, the body does get to a point to where it can’t recover. To not be at that point yet, it may be difficult to understand. A little empathy is highly useful in these situations because for those that are at that point ‘of no return’, to take such advice may cause them to continue to injure themselves in ways that cannot be recovered from. Hopefully your cousin recovers and hopefully she doesn’t take your advice seriously. She needs to slow down and extremely careful. Spinal fusion is no joke. I remember that point in my life when I had high hopes. I recovered well from the 2 neck fusion surgeries, and was almost back to 100%. I actually had a few months of little to no pain. If only I hadn’t continually told myself that ‘getting old is for whimps’ and stopped trying to be a hard headed, stereotypical tough male, I’d be in a far better situation.
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