and this is what i contend with. this is my 'incidental focal discosteophyte indenting on the thecal sac touching the spinal cord'.

herein it shall be called george, my incidental b@st@rd spinal pinch



and i have a disc dessication at L5 with a posterior annular tear. that's also smarting a bit.

shoot me now

OMG, you could have been taking those words out of my mouth. We moved a couple of years ago to the back woods of NH. We were employees of the prison for 20 plus years, and when we retired we decided that we were tired of bumping into ex inmates everywhere we went, and decided that God was calling us to go and start a new life. One where we could be charitable, and volunteer without having to bump into folks that were incarcerated and relied on us within the prison systems. We picked NH. We dont know a soul here. We have no family or friends here, and we both thought we were crazy! well, we came here, and did house hunting. We found a wonderful house in a private neighborhood. We found a quiet lil private town. We moved here thinking we had found privacy at last. It was awesome for the first year, and then during the 2nd year, we found that we were not really private, we were ISOLATED! There is nothing out here!

We became depressed and starting riding the couch. I had issues of not feeling well, and loads of sx, but it was this lil country bumpkin MD who said "I think you have MS!" I called him a butthead. Said I had been seen by the best of the best at Yale. I had been seen by the best at Duke, if those big boys didnt think so, why should I believe a bumpkin? Guess what? The bumpkin was right. He ordered an MRI WITH contrast and I lit up like a Christmas tree. We found an amazing MS center at Dartmouth, and have been treated like royalty, where at Yale or Duke we were treated like fakers or drug seekers, or mental patients. I was just "whining"

We realized that we were suffering from lack of social interaction, and decided to get off the couch. I didnt feel good, and didnt want to, but we got up. STarted going to a local church. STand up and feed the homeless at the shelter once a month. Got involved with the Ladies society here in town. I warned them that I get sick, and wont be able to attend all meetings, or even hope to keep up, but guess what? some of these old ladies have turned out to be a wonderful influence in our lives.

We were going to sell this place, and move back to where we came from, but God will keep you where he needs you. The market dictates that we cant sell in this market. No one wants to give a fair price for a great house, so stuck we are. Clearly I have been plopped here for a reason, and have been working hard to figure out what that reason is.

my best advice...get involved. Join a church. Join the ladies society, the flower club in town, or the historical society. Volunteer at the library. Read to kids. it will make your spirit soar to do something for others. Please dont forget to ask what services you qualify for at your local town hall. The requirement for income levels has been loosened lately, so you may be entitle to food help, or heating help, or relief from expenses to get to and from work. Mortgage help. You wont know unless you seek.

I hope you feel better quick.

Hey Pud, it could be the Beta. Jim was sitting here one day fine and the next he could cry at the drop of a hat. He felt that doom and gloom and couldn't explain why. We talked to his doc and a phychologist who had to figure out of it was the Beta or something else. She agreed it was the Beta and he's now on Zoloft and doing much better.

Hope you find what you need to feel better too. Talk to the doctor. Jim didn't start feeling down until 6 months into Beta.