It's Been A While- I Had a Fall, & A Lot Has Happened
 

Hi,
I haven't posted here since 12/2012, I think - but used to post regularly since 2006. An interesting occurrence has happened to me lately that may be of interest to others for future reference.

I had been suffering from a bout of pinched sciatic nerve for about 3 mos previous and was having constant leg pain. I was getting PT 2 or 3 x week, to try to strengthen my muscles in the leg affected.

I was taking out the trash about 1am, in late July, and when I returned to my door, my my leg was aching & my feet were numb I lost my balance and I missed the top step of the brick steps leading to the front door. There was no railing and I fell down the brick steps to the cement sidewalk below. I broke my eyeglasses and had scrapes, bruises and abrasions from the fall. I woke up the next am very sore with a bump on the head, and sporting a black eye.

I have had a minor fall or two over the past 12 years because of my PN & balance, but this one was quite different

Over the next 3 days I progressively became weaker.
I was sore all over, and was significantly losing feeling in my feet along with severe pain on the toes & soles, swelling of the first joint of the toes on both feet, and swelling of the feet in general.

By the 4th day I woke up unable to walk at all and in severe pain. A call to 911 had the medics carry me out of the house and to an ambulance & to the ER.
I spent 8 days of testing, & rehab.
X-rays, and and an MRI showed significant arthritis at the base of spine at L3/L4 and in both hips and knees.

Blood testing showed an increase in uric acid (I never have had this before) and was the reason for the first toe joint swelling, but both feet at the same time was unusual- possible Gout ???!
Rx anti-inflammatories, antibiotics and painkillers - finally muscle relaxants
The sciatica flared to about 3x the usual and my PN elevated to a constant 6 with flares to 8.

It seems that a fall or significant trauma can trigger all sorts of problems never Dx'd before and can exacerbate existing ones, many fold.

Since the hospital, I have been undergoing epidural injections in my spine for the sciatica, just having had a second procedure (of a possible 3) less than a week ago, since the first was not effective at all. Hopefully I will not have to have the 3rd - it is quite a painful procedure.

I am continuing with the PT.

As always, a domino effect has to enter into the picture.
-My Neurologist of 10 years passed away form old age and CA. So I had no existing neuro.
-While I was in the hospital - my PCP left the practice to go elsewhere - with no notice.
-I need to see a hip orthopedist about a possible future hip replacement.... and of course
-I needed a spine surgeon for the epidural procedures and ongoing treatment for the spinal arthritis that is pinching my sciatic nerve and a referral for an ortho hip man. The only docs I still retain is my ortho wrist man for Carpal Tunnel & my podiatrist.... she doesn't even know all this has happened.
So be careful with PN and its associated problems. At any time a seemingly unrelated event can run amok and cause havoc with existing and unknown ailments.

Wow, Bob.

That is quite a complicated set is circumstances!

It is nice to hear from you though, but I am sorry you
had to go thru all that!

I hope you will stay with a while this time. I am still on
Vacation with my new iPhone .

Thanks Mrd D.
IPhones are great, aren't they. If a cell phone link exists, you've got a mini 'puter in your hand. I have one as well as my wife has an I pad mini that can wifi or phone link. We can GPS thru that as well as our Garmin and stay in touch on vacation.
We recently visited a friend who retired to Roatan Honduras and spent a week on the island with him. We were never out of touch cause she brought the iPad along and lotsa free wifi areas especially where we were staying.

A lovely island, tropical rainforest nwith deciduous trees and lotsa different palms. Different species of hummingbirds abound. Caymans and monkeys in the canals and interior & delightful friendly people. But it is a third world country, very poor once you get away from the touristas for gringos.

It is the 2nd largest living coral reef in the world and a diver's and snorkelers paradise (I don't / can't do either because of my PN & emphysema)m, but
I don't know how he can stand it there. Nice weather, moderate temps of 82-85 but very high humidity. I was soaking wet anytime we were out of A/C - and very few places had A/C. Our friend built on the breezy side of the island so he constantly had trade wind breeze, but the humidity was still there once you got out of the wind.

This trip is a whole other post as it was exciting (and I did it as a cripple - wheelchairs & walkers thru airports) and lotsa photos. I'll put up a bunch on my page at a later time.
For now...I gotta go.
Stay well,

.....and you have hired a contractor to put in a railing, yes?
be well..

I'm looking forward to your travel
Photos, Bob. Whenever you get them
Up just let us know. Try to keep the sizes
800 px or less for easier viewing.;)

Sorry about you having had to go through all this, Bob--
 

--and I certainly agree with you about the domino effect of a major fall or other trauma exacerbating existing conditions or provoking new ones.

BUT--I am somewhat relieved by your postings, as eloquent as ever--your mind is still working fine.

Don't be a stranger--post when you can--my Jewish grandmother worry tendencies spark up when we don't hear from someone for too long.

Yeah, I can second that. Mine wasn't as bad as Bob's, but a much bigger shock to my whole system than I thought it should have been, and laid me up much longer than it should have. Is it PN, or aging, or both? Prolly both, but it sucketh either way. :mad:

Doc

YES !!
Definitely..... within one week

A fall definately can trigger dormant things in the body.

My MIL was basically healthy beyond normal 60 yr old complaints until she fell off a ladder, which triggered the mesothilioma dormant in her body from aspestos which lead to her death a year later. :(

Pix are Resized & Posted
 

Mrs D,
I resized all of the posted ones to 800x600 pixels
and posted them on my members page
For those new, click my 'nide' monicker and go to
the album titled 'Roatan 2013'
Hover cursor over photos for part of caption,
or double click photo for larger view, and full caption.