Alan Had An Accident This Morning!!!
 

Oh Well, I knew this was too good to be true!!

He goes to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, exercises his brains out, lifts weights up to the kazoo, is on his way to getting a new body!!!!

and then.......


He's about to go on a job interview when he misses a curb and goes flying and lands on his upper back. Said, he couldn't feel the curb!!!

This happened at about 7:45 a.m. this morning. I was still sleeping and this fall happened around the corner from our home.

He came home to clean himself up. Do you think he would wake me up and tell me "I had an accident"!!!!?

God Forbid!!!!. He goes back out and goes into NYC for the job interview. Turns out the Security Guard Firm that he thought was a Security Guard Firm was nothing more than an employment agency that took a $169 processing fee and sent him on wild good chases to different companies only to be told "no, we only take applications online". Give me a break!!!

so he calls me and says "I had an accident'. I said "what!!!!" Then I find out he came home right after the accident and because I was sleeping and I once told him "don't wake me up under penalty of death", he thought he would go back out. After practically killing him for his thinking process, I rubbed him all over with Tiger Balm and he's resting on the recliner.

I bet tomorrow he'll be black and blue like crazy. I checked, no broken anything (he would be screaming, right? He's just sore as hell!!!!

Oh, I have an important question for all you knowledgable people out there.

There is a procedure done by surgeons:

Here's the link to that site...

http://www.spineonline.com/

Alan had gone online and watched the video. I was intrigued so I made the phone call. Seems all the surgeons are in the West coast because the East Coast surgeons are more conservative.

I read the doctor at the other end of the line, Alan's mri report. As soon as I read the line that said: "L3/4 and L4/5 disc bulges causing small ventral impression upon the thecal sac and partially compromising the adjacent neural foramina bilaterally, he stopped me and said the following:

"From what you just read to me, Alan's problem is quite fixable, since we go through the Foramina".

So naturally we got all excited and we said "Do they do this surgery in NYC? and he said "we come to NY to do this on people". This guy, (Darren) was very very nice and informative.

I put Alan on and Alan told him he had insurance and Darren said "You will have to go through something called a Point of Service where you have to go outside your network. They cover this on special ocasions."

Then Alan told him he was on a Medicare HMO. The guy said sadly. "We don't take any medicare HMO's, and I doubt there is a medicare HMO that will approve this surgery because most of the surgeons who do this are on the West coast. I then asked "how much does this surgery cost and he said $25,000.

I asked him "what if I went online and tried to find a surgeon in NY that does this"? He responded (and he was most sincere).

Melody, when you speak to any surgeon make sure you ask them the following: "Does the operation involve taking any of the bone, or Lamina? There should be no lamina to be removed!!! The surgeon should not say to you "oh, perhaps we might take a little of the bone". Darren said "Melody, we don't touch the bone. Not even a little bit. Make sure you get that absolutely straight if you talk to any surgeon"

So, my dear friends on these boards, if any of you can check out this website and tell me if you have heard of this non-invasive surgery, (and if any of you have an extra $25,000 lying around you might want to do this for yourself).

It seems on the website, it tells you if you are a candidate or not!!!

So any comments are welcome.

I am now going to go and kill Alan for not waking me up this morning!!!


MEN!!!!!!!!!


mel

how awful...
 

You know Mel, I can't address the surgery..or other spinal issues. YOu should
post on the Spinal forum here... for other comments.

But I took a terrible spill 2 weekends ago... visiting my son's new townhouse.
There was a step in the middle of a long walkway...sort of hidden. And I was helping carrying bags of groceries...and whammmmooo.. I really fell painfully.
Alot of road rash... but my chest and stomach felt really badly....I thought I broke something for sure. But lots of ice later, and some ibuprofen, and a little Vodka...and I felt able to walk and drive home.(actually my husband drove).

The next five days were agony, esp my left side (opposite where I fell on the right). But you know, I am back to normal. What a gift that was. I did not have any visible bruises. But alot of skin had to heal up(and there was bleeding). . And I pulled alot of muscles and couldn't sit up well etc. Those numb footiedooties...they'll trip you up any old time!

When people work out, and get in shape, alot of injuries can be just temporary.

Any pain that lingers, should be checked out, however. But falls? They come with the PN.

Mrs.D
 

Whooo Mrs.D,
When I was reading your post, I grimaced so bad because I thought OH NO !!! she's hurt herself badly again. I am so glad you are not seriously injured. Please be careful and take care of yourself.

Love,
Billye

self-Chiro fixes...
 

You know Billye... at the time I thought I was sunk...
And I thought I had really hurt myself big time. I thought I had broken a rib, or cracked my breastbone---that is where it hurt so much.

But you know what settled out? The fall I had over a year ago was on the
left side. And I had a nagging lower back thing--inspite of my PT and all..that was really limiting my
mobility. (never had lower back stuff before)... It was getting a bit better
this summer..with my extra gardening etc...BUT...still not good.

Well, when I took this very embarrassing fall (in front of a long time friend
of my son's, and my son and husband).. sheeeesh it was degrading...
and I thought I was doomed...All guys and all rolling their eyes ..etc. It was really degrading.

After the stiffness on the left side of my abdomen loosened up, guess what?
I felt sooooo much better! My back does not bother me at all now. So I have been thinking that the right/sided fall, must have pushed things "back" to some extent? My right knee cap is still tender, but I BioFreeze it every night and it seems okay most of the day. That is the only thing I have left to show for the spill.

But you know, no matter how much "better" we feel, those numb feet still are a major source of potential falls. All folks here should really watch it, and don't become over confident!

Thanks for your concern!
And I am much much better. If Mel hadn't posted this, I would have just
been silent about it...since it was SO DEGRADING. I've asked my son to
paint that strange step that is in the middle of nowhere, orange. I hope he does it before I visit next time! <wink>

Want to have a good laugh?
 

Alan just came up to me and said the following:

"Another reason I didn't wake you up and tell you that I fell was because, since I wasn't in any pain, I just figured the fall knocked my bulging discs back into place and my neuropathy went away".

I just looked at him....and he went to college no less.....


oy vey!!!
Melody

Ouch!
 

Alan and Mrs. D., I'm so sorry you both had such painful and frightening experiences. I hope no serious damage is done and you both heal from your bruises quickly.

Thank you David and everybody who sent us their warm wishes.

Alan will be fine. I take very good care of my Alan. We only have each other and thankfully there's always Tiger Balm.

That stuff is really good!!!

be well

mel

Alan wants to go to Russia for the dischectomy!!!!
 

I know I'm spelling this word wrong but here's the jist of what just happened!!1

A woman from the spine place (where Darren works), well, she's from the New York Office.

She just called Alan and told him to fax Darren the mri report. Alan just did it.

I asked Alan, "why on earth would you fax a report to a person knowing that we don't have $25,000".

Alan's reply???? "well, she told me I could go to Russia for the operation, it would cost much much less, and it would take 3 weeks recovery". I just looked at him. (I couldn't care less if it cost $10,000, we don't have it).

I kept saying "Russia, Russia??? are you serious?" He goes, "and this one, well, I'm going alone". I said to him "you don't have passport". He goes, "I'll get one". "And I'll have a year to save up the money".

So as it stands, Alan is in the other room contemplating going to Russia to have his spine operated on.

I think the fall on his back yesterday loosened a screw in his head!!!!

mel

Heck Melody...
 

Check out THAILAND!!! From all I've seen and heard, well, the recovery is done at 'da beach at luxury resorts....If you are going to 'blow the wad' check out the alternatives...Russia in the winter of Thailand on the beach...no-brainer to me....Just keep a cynical frame of mind in terms of diagnoses and treatments....some folks, well, if it's out of country, or in country and not covered...there are no guarantees that they are even doing appropriate stuff! AND, NO RECOURSE should things really get mucked up!

IF I thought I could get some magic treatment at either...well I'd explore, crunch numbers, check the odds and need for same... but it is like so many other 'black holes'-lots of promise no documentation[research #'s that are VIABLE] and well, no real fuzzies attached.

More to the root, What's changed between yesterday's fall and today going to Russia? Something has to have infected prior thinking? Or was it an invisible 2x4?

Hugs to you both - j

Alan woke up just fine this morning "NO PAIN!!"
 

Well, isn't this interesting?? After telling him "you'll be sore tomorrow when you wake up because you really had a bad fall", I rubbed tiger balm all over him last night.

He woke up and said "what on earth were you talking about, I feel fine".

Maybe a little sore, near his shoulder blades, and the big purple bruise on the back of his leg, is going away also.

Don't know if it's the tiger balm, I do know that I just bought another little jar of it for $3.88 cents.

Maybe it's because Alan has found religion and is a true believer.

I have no idea. I'm just happy that when he fell, he didn't dislocate anything.
He just told me he did a 100 session on the health rider. I said "Are you nuts, you fell yesterday" he went "but I feel fine".

Good God!!!!

Oh, and this is funny. This just happend one hour ago.
I was going to cook a chicken and turned on my oven. My carbon monoxide detector started to do one beep every 30 seconds. I didn't know what to do so I called 311. The person said Turn off your oven immediately".

I replied "But I'm cooking a chicken". She said "That chicken will cook you if you don't turn off the oven". "And don't light any matches". I told her "I'm not planning to light anything". Then she said "I must connect you with the Fire Department. I just stayed on the phone. The fire department person came on the phone and asked what the emergency was. I just said "well, my carbon monoxide thing is beeping one beep every 30 seconds." He goes "we'll be right there". I expected one guy to come in my house and check my oven.

Well, two fire trucks come down my block. Ten firemen (with all gear and axes), come in my house. They were all over 6 feet 5 inches tall and I'm going "but all I want to do is cook my chicken". The guy has some little gadget and he's going around my home, in all my rooms and he goes 'ALL CLEAR". Then he says to me "change the batteries". I said "but I just checked and they say 2010".

He goes "all that means is to use before 2010" They are drawing power all the time.. I kept apologizing and they were so sweet. Then I said "oh my cousin is a fireman, he just went from being a probie to a full fireman over in Staten Island. They went 'oh, that's terrific".
Then my landlord knocked on my door, all white as a ghost, found us laughing and I had to explain (in italian yet), that my batteries were dying.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Then I went around the corner to my friend's house, and we're talking about what just happened and two fire trucks come down her block. I go "oh my god, they followed me here". She said "what".

but the didn't want me, Some house had some gas leak or something.
I just ran home.

Too much excitement!!! and besides.

I had my chicken cooking!!!!!!

mel

Interesting that in this thread--
 

--the discussion of having surgeries/treatments in other countries due to lower cost came up--it's been an issue on the TV show "Boston Legal" for a few weeks.

The issue, of course, plays right into the "why is health care in the US so expensive" question, which leads (at least it leads me) into discussions of marketing/administrative costs of private insureres, health care reform, single payer systems . . .

I had an MRI done of my back.
 

And the cost was $300. I beleive that is is much more expensive overseas from what I have heard. Also Tiger Balm costs almost $10 in Australia. Quite dear huh??

Women from Australia are going to Thailand everyday to get Bust enlargments and other cosmetic surgery because it is much cheaper there than here.

Tiger Balm cost $10!!!!!1
 

Oh my god, it's a little tiny jar and it cost $10.00

Good Lord. doesn't seem right now does it???

mel

That's right Mel
 

That tiny bit of Tiger Balm cost nearly $10.00, a magazine costs about 7-ish dollars.

scoop of icecream $3
kebab $7.50
T-bone $25 dollars a kilo
1 coke $3

Sydney has gotten very expensive the last 3 years,almost unaffordable. Alot of people are leaving and going to country towns. I mean you can earn 100,000 a year in income and still be broke after paying the huge mortgage most people have here with a basic home costing around $500 k.

Hmn.
 

Sounds just like New York, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Paris, Berlin, Toronto, Stockholm, Amsterdam--think it has something to do with the inflationary sprial generated by overheated real estate prices?

In the US, there is fear that the real estate bubble is about to burst, if it hasn't already--too many people being priced out of being able to live in too many places.

Of course, one can always go live in rural Mississippi or rural Montana--if one doesn't mind being very far away from good medical facilities.

One of the reasons I know I can't really leave NYC (beyond the fact that my career is here) is that with my medical concerns, it would not be prudent to be hours away from tertiary medical centers. (I always think of the trouble Billye's had, living in rural Texas.)

But--is the fact that one does not have to pay, in more "civilized" nations, for national health insurance, education, and other subsidies at least a bit of a compensation for the 3-dollar ice cream scoop?

(What does 3 Australian dollars convert to in American currency these days?)

Melody,
You're either from another planet, or are a retired writer from SNL- :)

Mrs D ! Oh No!
I do hope your son paints that step!
I 'wobble' frequently and my right amkle likes to buckle at the most
unexplainable times. I know how you feel.
Please be more careful in the future. All of us PN'ers have to 'watch our step'.
We don't like to hear that you've had a problem - ya gotta keep the 'ship in shape'.

Probably from Mars.
 

Bob:

I always had the sneaking suspicion that I am not from this world.

maybe that's why I never missed an episode of Star Trek and I can do dialogue from each episode from over 30 years ago.

My son once watched me say the lines exactly as the people on the screen were saying them. I said Spock's lines, Kirk's line and when Spock had to marry that lady Tpring, I even said the names of the weapons that were brought out.

My son looked at me and said "how on earth can you do that?" I would say "well, I'm obviously not from earth".

I think I am one of those Vesuvian Moon Maidens. Yeah, that's it. A moon maiden. Now if I could only get the body to match the mind!!!

Live long and prosper,

Melody

First off!
 

Melody, your Gina image has not yet been asorbed into the brain image! Keep looking at yerself in the mirror, or the shop window glass...Who knows? You mite get used to it! Heck appreciate it! Other words in mind are 'savor, enjoy and a sort of:let them ALL eat cake and gain! LOTS'...

Mrs.D and all...I have never, ever seen anyone fall gracefully..always some form of 'splutter, thud, splat'. It cannot be done. Put a positive spin on it tho to get the point across of 'That DRATTED NEUROPATHY!' Maybe, some furry brains can connect cause/effect dots.

I don't know about others, but once you pass a certain age [30-40?] well, you plain old do not bounce and get back up without consequences.

Simply be grateful that there were folks around to pick you up ...and, if needed, those able to tote you to the hospital or ER. You all know what I mean.

When I was a kid, my Mom would occasionally spank me..it was more of a heavy pat one would give to a big dog...Always, the comment: This hurts your pride more than yourself. When I fall and crawl/clamor ever so gracelessly up to the standing-upright position, that comment is very loud in my head. Then, the other part of the brain pipes up a loud 'DONT DO THAT!' . We get by. Hugs and super good thoughts to all! - j

I once put my mother on top of the refrigerator!!!
 

Dahlek:

You wrote:
"When I was a kid, my Mom would occasionally spank me..it was more of a heavy pat one would give to a big dog.".

Oh my, the memories that brought back to me!!! Way back in my youth when I was MUCH BIGGER!!!, my mother and I used to get INTO IT!! big time. See, she couldn't stand fat people. And I was fat. My grandmother was 4 feet 11 inches and my mother was just barely 5 feet tall. She had 9 brothers and sisters, all Liliputians!!!

So I came along, all five feet 7 inches of me (sideways too), and to put it mildly my mom and I did not have the best relationship.

so one day, well, she just got to me, and since I didn't want to get arrested for assault and battery, I simply picked her up and put her on top of our refrigerator. It wasn't a big refrigerator and she didn't weigh much so it was no big deal for me to do this. I left her on top of the fridge yelling her head off for somebody to get her down.

Since I was an only child (I think I was 17 at the time), there was no one home. This happened about 5 minutes before my father came in from work.

Want to know the first thing out of his mouth when he walked into the kitchen and saw my mother on top of the refrigerator????

He said "what on earth did you do to her now?"""" true story.........

thankfully, I then lost weight and she was proud.

Never put her up there again. WANTED TO MANY TIMES!!!!

but never did.

really happened. But don't tell my husband. Wouldn't want him to think he's married to Arnold and not Gina!!!

mel

Hi Glen
 

3 AU dollars equals 2.25 US dollars. Sydney has been listed as one of the top 5 least affordable places to live and buy property, worlwide. I am not sure what free eduction means because government schools are free of cost, but Catholic,Anglican & Private scools are quite dear. So is university education.


Healthcare, our healthcare system is cheaper but not free,and it is now crumbling due to a shortage of hospitals,doctors, & hospital beds. Everyday you turn on the tele you here of someone who died in the waiting room waiting for care. Or you here of someone dieing from hospital negligence due to understaffing. It's very common here. There was a recent story of a pregnant women who was taken away by ambulance. She had gone into labour. She was turned away at 3 hospitals,and she was redirected to a hospital 3 hours away because that was the only bed available.

It costs money to see a doctor, it's about $35-55 dollars. It costs about $180 dollars to see a specialist. Medicare reimburses I think 70% of that back to you, but non the less if you have to go regularly it can be dear.

My dear Aussie:
Have you ever thought of moving?? I hear France has the best medical treatment anywhere!!!!!!

I'd move there in a heartbeat.

mel

It's very hard to move in my case
 

too deeply entrenched proffessionally & financially (mortgage),to move now. But my husband and I always talk about where we would like to go when we retire, for example New Zealand,Tasmania,maybe even Canada? Who knows. But this is very far off as I am just 34 now.

Sometimes I will complain about the cost of things and so forth. Pay me no mind, I am just having what we call a "dummy spit", or a whinge.:D

I've got to say Aussie that if I were in your position, I'd spit the dummy too!

Thank goodness things are a little different on the other side of the continent.
I pay $4 for Tiger balm at the Freo markets and have NEVER paid to see my specialist, EVER. (Thank heavens she works from a major hospital clinic as well as her own rooms)

Then Again I do tend to frighten people with my forthrightedness and inability to suffer fools, so maybe that has worked in my favour?? who knows.

I've lived city and bush and I'll take the bush EVERY time. Especially if it means being able to afford a mortgage and the ability to get tiger balm for $6 less!!

Noong :)

Hi Noong
 

You must be in Perth then? I agree bush living is better. I just get a bit tired of the city now and again, and it's overly competative business. Ethics are fading fast in large organisations.But I am sure that is a consequence of globalisation.

Okay, maybe I'm stupid but what on earth does living in the bush actually mean.

Do you mean you live with the aboriginies???

See how uninformed we are here in the good old USA??

Mel

CHECK OUT TIGER BALM ON EBAY!!
here's the link!!!

http://search.ebay.com/TIGER-BALM_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

Mel your soooo funny!!!
 

Ok you can go live in Aboroginal communities in the "outback" if you want, but this is not advised for most.

Living in the bush would be the equivalent of living far from the city, in a quiet country town. There are many bush towns all over Australia. As a matter of fact Australia has very few cities in general. There is more bush than anything else. And some argue that the real Australia is not the cities such as Sydney,Melbourne,Perth.. But actually the bush.

Okay, now I'm intrigued. I remember when I saw the film Crocodile Dundee, that Paul Hogan had some kind of native friend who wore native costume.

Is this what an aborigine is? Do they still live in the outback?(Not to be confused with my local Outback Steakhouse by the way!!!

I think between Mel Gibson, Paul Hogan and all the other handsome hunks, Australia is alright by me.

Oh, do Aborigiines ever intermarry with the rest of you guys.
I'd love to hear about that!!

mel

Well Melody, where to start?
 

Australia has been frequented by Europeans since the 1600's.
The aboriginals are believed to have been here for over 40,000 years.

There are still many tribal aboriginals as well as many that live in the big cities.
We Europeans are the visitors to their country and as oft happens with colonisation, it was assumed the best thing for the aboriginals was to assimilate to European ways.
Fortunately, alot of the aboriginals were able to live in this incredibly harsh land, simply, whereas the "whites" had more trouble adapting.
To this end it enabled aboriginals to retain their culture, and thank heavens for that!

Australia still has alot of economic and socio-economic issues to deal with in certain areas when it comes to the aboriginals. But hopefully change will come about at some point.

Colonisation of other countries is always difficult for the original inhabitants. Hopefully within Western cultures, the act of colonisation by force, may wane as we wise up.

After all, you Americans should know better than most. You fought for your independence after all!:)

Hope Alan is feeling better
Noong

Mel,
I just had a brainwave!! (they don't happen often ....lol)
Google Australian Aboriginals. It'll all be there.

Promise you won't laugh out loud!!!
 

Hi Noong:

I googled Australian Aboriginals and I knew immediately that I got the whole thing mixed up.

Want to know what I was referring to when I asked about aboriginies?

PYGMIES!!!!

That's right. I thought pygmies came from australia.

Imagine my surprise when I got the education of my life when I googled Australian Aboriginals.

I then googled pygmies and learned about them.

Well, look at me, almost 60 years old and finally learned to distinguish aboriginies from pygmies.

Mom would be proud of me!!!

And to think all those years ago I used to read the encyclopedias!!!!

melody

I Just wanted to....
 

say,God Bless You Mel, and than you for a real good chuckle! :D :D :D :D

Yes there are alot of real WILD PIGMIES running around here,and one has to keep on their guard. Especially if your gonna live out in Bushland. Wild Pygmies all over the place. You may end up as dinner!

Thank heaven's I live in the city!!;)


I am laughing with you Mel, you make me laugh sometimes, thank you for that!!

I lived in Melbourne for most of my life, i moved to a small seaside village about 5 years ago, i love it here and would never go back to city living again.
When i look out my front windows i can see a beautifull peacefull bay with a mountain as a back drop, i can see from Melboune to Geelong [its about a 60 mile spam ] and at night time it all lights up and Melbourne lights up lika big crystal chandelerr accross the bay.

Melody - there has been heaps of mixed & defacto marriages here, probably very simalar to the USA, some aboringals live in the cities and mix with us and some like to live in the outback and keep to themselves and their traditions.
Sounds like Mel Gibson has got himself into a bit of a situation with the money people over there.


Aussie - I don't pay anything to see my nero in his private rooms in Melbourne, he just bulk bills me, we have lots of free [bulk billing] doctors[gp's] in Geelong itself, but our local docs get into us a bit, $10 or $15 bucks above the goverment allowance, still can't complain though, costs that in petrol to get to the free doc's, they have go it worked out well :)
Our Premier or Govenor equillavent in US, has got a cheek boasting of a $ 800 million dollar surflace this year, when our hospitals are in a such bad shape.

Hi Mel,
I must say, you gave me quite a giggle too :D

You're never too old/young to learn something new eh? I have a feeling the ol' google will be getting a bit of a workout...lol :D

I'm constantly learning about new things, that's not to say that I still don't get Mental blanks occasionally! Especially when letter writing. I'll draw a blank on how to spell THE or something as equally ridiculous...lol
Not much fun asking the 11 yr old "how do you spell the?"
Though the look on his face is worth it...:)

Brian,
I'm with you. No city for me. It sounds beautiful where you are.
We also have views, so I shouldn't complain.


Just for the record Mel. You should be more worried about the fact that this thread is being overtaken by AUSSIES!! ;) LOL

Noong

I've been on google!!!
 

Look what I found out about pygmies!!!!

Thank god I'm not brain dead and there actually were pygmies in Australia!!!
================================================== =====
The extinction of the Australian pygmies
Keith Windschuttle and Tim Gillin
Quadrant
June 2002

From the 1940s until the 1960s, it was fairly widely known there were pygmies in Australia. They lived in North Queensland and had come in from the wild of the tropical rainforests to live on missions in the region. This was a fact recorded at the time not only in anthropological textbooks and articles but also in popular books about the Australian Aborigines. There was even an award-winning children's book tracing their origins. The more famous photographs of the Australian pygmies were reproduced in both the academic and the popular literature.

================================================== =====

I always wondered why I was so fascinated by pygmies. Could be it's because I used to date one 30 or so years ago.
I am 5 ft 7 and he was 5 feet 3. My mother took one look at him and rolled her eyes.

Imagine if we married? My kids would have been 3 feet. My mother would have really rolled her eyes then!!!!

Okay,no more stories, back to neuropathy!!!

Alan is going to meet with is primary care physician, ask for an mri and then go to a surgeon he has contacted that is in his insurance plan and this man performs endoscopic dischetomy.

This will be VERY INTERESTING!!!!

will update.

Happy Pygmie hunting!!!!!

mel

Oh My!
 

Mel, I'm still trying to find words about putting yer MOM on the FRIDGE!
Tis truly a med-mind stretch to actually comprehend the whole thing...

To me, the rest of life is Gravy?

Hugs to all, especially Alan, trying not to hurt in any way he can find. We all don't want, didn't ask, or need this in whichever part of life we are in!

Hugs 'n fuzzies - j

You should have sent hugs n fuzzies to my mom!!!
 

Boy could she have used your hugs n fuzzies when she was on top of the fridge yelling her head off.

I dont' know if my father wanted to laugh or kill me. But honestly, he did say to her when he walked in the door "what did you do to her now"?

But really, daughters should never put their moms on top of fridges.
Maybe in my mom's case, I should have given her to the pygmies!!!

Oh wouldn't that have been something?????

be well.

P.S. Alan just came home from his weekly visit with his podiatrist. We now know that the ulcer on his foot will never heal completely because Alan has a pointy thing inside his foot that is preventing his foot from ever healing 100%
The doctor said "Alan, you need a little operation on your foot, I have to file it down. Alan said to him "what should I do first, my back or my foot". and the doctor (a lovely man), said "oh do your back first, then we'll get to your foot"

Healing time when he has the foot surgery (he asked!!!).?
6 weeks. Which means I have to wait on him hand and foot like I did when he had the tailor bunion taken off. That also means if he says one thing bad to me until then, I'll pop him up on the fridge.


mel

Discectomy
 

Hi Mel,

I had this operation on 2 levels L3-4 & L4-5. Recovery is about 3-4 weeks,and the the spot that they went into is very sensetive. It took alot of much needed pressure off of me at the time, for about 2 years. Than it started acting up again. My cousin also had it done on 3 levels,and same thing with her. They don't seem to last forever. I mean I am sure some people find a lifetime of releif,but there are many of us that continue to have episodic flaring and issues.

The orthopedics don't seem to talk about us too often because nobody would have it done if there was an evident risk of re-herniation or continuing pain. Also scar tissue forms up in area, and now I have stiffness,& reduced mobility. I never want to discourage anyone form finding releif,but I thought I would share this with you nevertheless, because my orthopedic told me there was a 98% success ratio. There was never any mention of re-herniation or pressure on subsequent discs.

Hi.
I truly believe the only procedure Alan will want to consider is the endoscopic dischetomy, where you go home the same day.

I saw the video and it looks good. If Alan's ortho guy says he's a candidate, he'll do it. If not, then Alan will have to make up his mind if he wants to consider more invasive surgery. We aren't even sure Alan is a real candidate for surgery yet. Years ago, when we found out it was the bulging and herniated discs that were impinging on some nerve root, Alan was told, nothing could be done, BUT that was years ago. New techniques develop all the time, and we're hoping this time will be the charm.

Just imagine, Alan has a foot surgery, I have to wait on him for 6 weeks, Alan has back surgery and it's not the same day thing and I have to wait on him for 3 to 4 weeks. That's 10 weeks almost of me waiting on him hand and foot.

REALLY??????? He better then get a job and take me to Disneyworld or he WILL NOT BE HAPPY MARRIED TO THIS ITALIAN WOMAN!!!!

He will be sitting on top of the refrigerator for a LONG LONG TIME!!!!!!
Will update.

Melody

If endoscopic surgery is where they use lasers,
 

than that is also the procedure I had done too.

Here's the website
 

Click on the video and you'll see the procedure.
If Alan can get this done, it won't be by these people because they only work out of California and also in Russia. But there are other surgeons who do this.

This is exactly what Alan wants to have done. the recovery is much easier.
Give a look and let me know what you think.
Melody

http://www.spineonline.com/