Wish me luck

[mario_farufyno]

Oh, Peter, hope you figure out what's going on quickly. Wishing you to solve it easily, pal. Hoping for the best.

[StefanieJones]

Have you seen a chiropractor? Regular visits help with my back and extremity problems. But, good luck I hope non surgical solutions work for you.

[StephenR]

Hoping you can get rid of the pain without having to go the surgery route. My brother has been dealing with stenosis in his lower back for a few years now. A combo of steroid injections, exercise and strength training has helped a lot. So far he has gotten better and avoided having any surgery. It takes a lot of work and diligence to deal with it but hopefully you will also end up pain free.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Have you seen a chiropractor? Regular visits help with my back and extremity problems. But, good luck I hope non surgical solutions work for you.

My one try at that* convinced me to never go near one again, and that was decades before I learned there is a condition called "chiropractic paralysis", wherein their habit of jerking you around severs nerves.

*Age 16, early in my life of back pain; 1-hour appointment, of which 45 minutes was explaining to me how the Aries patch on my jeans pocket was evil & sinful, and I needed to immediately accept JC as my personal so forth & so on.  The other 15 minutes were just, agony that left me in far greater pain for a couple weeks after.

Peter

[the_home]

Thanks - and it doesn't help that, after my second back surgery, the surgeon assured I would have "no more trouble with those vertebrae".

"But what about all the others?"

Oh, count on it."

Like Gregory, I've also had the C5 - C7 fusion. A few years later I told my doc I was have trouble with my lower back. He said, "Yes, you had degenerative disk disease in your upper spine, now you have degenerative disk disease in your lower spine. That's not surprising". Never thought of myself as the yoga type before then. Nearly every day now.

[glocke]

So, lately when I pick up a guitar, within a song or 3 my left hand is numb & tingling, and the shoulder & bicep ache (actually, happens anytime I'm using that hand elevated, but the guitar's what's really freaking me).  GP said carpal tunnel, but I've had that, and this feels different; she said to see an ortho, probably my shoulder. Shoulder doc says its not coming from his area, so Thursday I see the spine doc to check the neck; part of me wishes it was today instead (as it's getting worse pretty much daily now), and part doesn't want to go at all (because whatever it is, it ain't gonna be good).
It's hell to be old when the night is young........


Peter

I get issues like that from time to time, shoulder pain, left arm numb and tingling.  Hope you get it sorted out without surgery. 

Just curious...Do you exercise?  Regular exercise including resistance training and lots of stretching helps keep that issue in check for me..I do lots of shoulder work that doesn't include weights also, different types of pushups, stretching, etc...also, "the farmer carry" is good for shoulder health also.  FWIW some of these exercises I learned from a rehab place when I originally went to an ortho doc for my shoulder issue

Naturally don't do anything without checking with a Dr. first.

[StefanieJones]

Have you seen a chiropractor? Regular visits help with my back and extremity problems. But, good luck I hope non surgical solutions work for you.

My one try at that* convinced me to never go near one again, and that was decades before I learned there is a condition called "chiropractic paralysis", wherein their habit of jerking you around severs nerves.

*Age 16, early in my life of back pain; 1-hour appointment, of which 45 minutes was explaining to me how the Aries patch on my jeans pocket was evil & sinful, and I needed to immediately accept JC as my personal so forth & so on.  The other 15 minutes were just, agony that left me in far greater pain for a couple weeks after.

Peter

That's a shame that happened. Like any doctor it has to be someone you trust. I guess with chiropractic paralysis, I'm surprised I have any nerves left after 30+ years of seeing one. -__-; But, I suffer a lot more with the degenerated discs in my lower back when I don't get jerked around regularly

[cozmik_cowboy]

OK, it's been a long time - exacerbated by insurance hassles & miscommunications & such like - but I just got back from the EMG to diagnose this for sure (and if you haven't had the pleasure of an EMG, well....I think I'd rather have a colonoscopy sans anesthesia.....).


"Moderate carpal tunnel syndrome".  I go Weds AM to see if I'm in for PT, injections, or what.


This is, overall, a good thing, as my family has a habit of developing Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is a hereditary form of neuropathy, and that was what I feared; it hit my grandmother, mother, aunt, brother, sister, and I in the feet, and with Mom & bro it's spread to the hands - and there ain't no coming back from that one.  This is at least treatable.


Peter

[edwardofhuncote]

Well that sounds encouraging, Coz. 

I didn't hate the EMG test nearly as much as I dreaded it. It wasn't fun, by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't like grabbing a coil-wire either. I had mine done one morning in August, and loaded up and went to a Fiddlers Convention that afternoon.

The doctor who did mine, a Dr. Elechi, had this absolutely delightful accent, and it finally got the best of me... so I asked where he was from. Nigeria, he said. So I says (you know I couldn't help it)... you're not a wealthy Prince by some chance are you? He gave me an extra ZAP for that one.

Glad you're going to get some treatment. It ain't no fun not being able to play. How well I know.

*I'm on a pretty good run myself... the injections I got in early-January are still holding. I'm playing a little bit every day. The weight loss finally leveled off at 150. They're still trying to figure out the anti-inflammatory meds. I have good days and bad. I feel good enough about things that I have accepted a couple gigs with Harwell-Grice Band this year. There will be another fusion surgery eventually, but we all hope I can wait until at least next Fall. The longer, the better. This next one is going to be t-u-f-f.

[David Houck]

Let us know what you find out on Wednesday.

[cozmik_cowboy]

So, when I got home yesterday (before I posted), I made the follow-up appt for tomorrow with the "sports medicine"* guy who sent me; this AM he had pis people call to cancel it & set me up with a surgical consult.

*That is apparently the current preferred nomenclature for a non-surgical ortho.

Peter

[David Houck]

I'm guessing that the results of the EMG suggested the change.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I'm guessing that the results of the EMG suggested the change.

That is, in fact, the case.

Suboptimal?  Yep.  Better than the C-M-T leaving m hand permanently numb, tingly, and even less dexterous than I am to start with?  You know it!  I've had CT release on the right hand long ago, and, while I am not looking forward to (nor to not being able to play for however the healing takes), I know it works, and that I can get through it.

Peter

[David Houck]

Please keep us apprised.

Oh, and you mentioned in another thread that you will be moving to Denver.  When will that be happening?

[cozmik_cowboy]

Please keep us apprised.

Oh, and you mentioned in another thread that you will be moving to Denver.  When will that be happening?

We weren't crazy about DeKalb when we moved here, and it has[/size] decidedly not gone uphill in the 14 years since (incompetent & corrupt city govt., university - the main employer -  is dying, shots-fired incidents on about a weekly basis, 3 murders in 2 months - in a town of ~43K; that kind of thing).  She hates IL winters, & I hate IL summers.  And we're not not near any grandkids; 3 of them are in Sacramento, which is too hot for me, and too expensive. 1 is in Skagway, AK, which is too cold for Her, and too expensive.  And 2 are in Denver, which is just too expensive - so......
Also, that son is having some health issues, and they could use us, and the CA kids would then be a 2- instead of a 4-day drive.

We have our house up for rent (we're underwater & can't sell it).  Once that happens, the movers will come get our stuff (they offer 30 days free storage) & we'll stay with the kids while we try to find a place to live (which is scaring the crap out of me, as we're retired and living on the proverbial fixed income - though it feels more like it's broken fixed most days - and the cheapest places for rent there are about double our mortgage here).
If all goes according to Her plan, we'll be in CO before the end of April - but none of it is written in stone yet.

Peter