Been gone awhile so updating

[SemperFi]

Hi all,
You may not remember me or maybe some do as it's been awhile since I last posted. I just referred someone to this forum yesterday and have done so several times in the last year as I found it to be a great forum for support/education/information so want to make sure if anyone is in need of information they are directed here!

Ok so what's new w/me? Nothing spine wise except ongoing stability and feeling spinally better than I have in years. I still use a low dose opioid medication one time/day however I discontinued Neurontin 1800mg/day (after 12 years) one year ago in August! Hooray!!! That made such a difference in my wellbeing it was AMAZING!

I went thru my 89 y.o. father's sudden passing in late December 2010 and was further amazed at my spine as it had been over a year since I had my last lumbar ESI and I was left to take care of completely clearing out my parents home of the last 15 years in which they had very neatly packed away and stored things from when they first met/were married 56 years ago!

Talk about a lot of work! I had to clear things out, box them for Salvation Army, for shipping (walk to get the boxes very close but still had to get them all myself/pack all myself and do it all myself)! I packed more than 400 boxes/bags either to give away and/or to ship back here to CA.

Only towards the end of my 2 month stay in Fla did I start to really feel my back had really been "worked over" so had to rest for about 2 weeks at the end though not by staying in bed just doing less.

Really I've not had much down time physically (mentally was another story as I really mourned my father's passing as Mom passed away 8 years ago in March and I have one sibling that I don't live near and am not super close to).

However I've bounced back emotionally and physically I've been fortunate with this old spine of mine that thankfully had autofused on it's own finally which greatly lessened symptoms I believe. Neuropathies are gone knock on wood after many years of either episodic and then chronic burning lower extremities that can drive one mad.

So I'm a pretty happy camper. Could I be better? Sure... would love to be able to sit longer and do some super vigorous activities however I'm pleased with where I'm at for someone that had 2 discectomies (L5S1 and L4) and the latter one failing miserably leaving me in a world of constant hurt for many years. Things can change, can get better so if anyone ever doubts that .. have hope/faith.

For those of you who've had surgeries with good outcomes I'm very happy to read about them and for those who are struggling with decisions with regard to surgery, insurance probs, failed surgeries or symptoms that were created during the "fixing" of one thing and leading to something else.. I wish you the best and hope you will have less pain/probs somehow/someway.

When at my PCPs recently she asked me if I was still on the same meds.. I said "I'm only on one!" and she said "really? what about the laxatives?? Oh yeah.. forgot about those.. yeah, still on those too! They are more like supplements to me

[trkdoc714]

It's really good to see you here again. I'm sorry about your loss of your father.

That was nice to hear your spinal issues are settling down on their own too. You've been through the wringer with the length of time you've spent in pain.

Bob

[Justin]

Good to "see" you, Maria. I'm sorry to hear of your father's passing. Great news regarding the spine!

[SemperFi]

Bob, Justin,
Good to be back~ thanks for condolences. Was tough few last few years for Dad tho his turn for the worse was sudden. The only consolation I really have is that he was spared any lengthy suffering.

Yesterday went to a wedding in Balboa Park (San Diego) and a reception following this. Felt great to be able to sit pretty much like a normal person (up a few times to keep the old spine limber and even danced. Dh is a great salsa, cumbia, merengue dancer (latin american music/dancing).

We had FUN!!!! This morning I was stiff and the ol' spine was a tad bent out of shape tho nothing keeping me down ... life is good

[Justin]

Bob, Justin,
Good to be back~ thanks for condolences. Was tough few last few years for Dad tho his turn for the worse was sudden. The only consolation I really have is that he was spared any lengthy suffering.

Yesterday went to a wedding in Balboa Park (San Diego) and a reception following this. Felt great to be able to sit pretty much like a normal person (up a few times to keep the old spine limber and even danced. Dh is a great salsa, cumbia, merengue dancer (latin american music/dancing).

We had FUN!!!! This morning I was stiff and the ol' spine was a tad bent out of shape tho nothing keeping me down ... life is good

Yeah!

[Cindylou]

Maria, so good to hear from you and what a wonderful read about your spine. I do send you my deepest condolences at the passing of your Father, along with the others. Losing a parent is a very tough chapter to close in our lives. Probably keeping so busy with the business of closing out his affairs and all that packing and boxing you did, was good for your soul, maybe in a way you were hardly aware of at the time. Sometimes going through those rituals can be healing in itself. The current state of your spine sounds nothing short of miraculous. I love to read stories like this, and thank-you for taking the time to write and tell all of us here at SPS about it. You are helping more people than you might know, and your message gives hope. A world of it, so blessings to you. We need more of the "Maria stories" and I know they are out there. So good to hear from you! Cindylou

[KanRunMo]

It's wonderful to hear your success story. Keep up the dancing. We dance at weddings but our dancing seems to be the same no matter what the music is. San Diego is my favorite city. I miss it.

[SemperFi]

I hope that my message is helpful even if there would be many that would never sit on the fence as long as I have or want to go thru the amount of pain I have to "hope" they get to a point that I really didn't think I was ever going to reach! I just knew I was too afraid to aggravate the existing neuropathies for the longest time and then when starting to feel better didn't want to upset that applecart either!

The day after the wedding/reception/dancing I felt fine. The day after that my thighs had a smattering of a feeling that was faintly familiar to me ~ tiredness of the quads tho not the extreme feeling I used to get w/neuropathies and burning. It was just ever so faint. Like perhaps following a weekend warrior blast of exercise~ so I didn't let it stop me by resting.

Nor could I as dh's house had an ant invasion and he has resisted the idea of pestacide treatment until yesterday when I cleaned, vacumned, mopped (moved light furniture) washed anything near the floor, rolled up rugs and was saying not so nice things under my breath (and over it) all the while! I was one cranky lady and fit to be tied as just earlier that day while out running errands all morning to 3p.m. dh didn't even want me buying a can of Raid Ant and Roach spray!

Ok so my crankiness got on his nerves (I was worse than a nag as I was a b' about all the cleaning over a repetitive prob/ants) so he has agreed to contracting with Pest Control! THANK GOODNESS!!!!

For 2 nights now I've only slept about 2 hours as I don't like insects of any kind and just couldn't sleep and today I feel like I've been run over by a succession of mac trucks altho my back isn't what bothers me most .. just my bod in general is so tired!

So yeah.. good ol' spine.. it's hanging in there!

[RetroVirus]

Crazy how similar our lives are right now. I had some spine problems too with compressed nerves L5-S, and after getting arthroscopic surgery, and am feeling a lot better. I actually had my first big test other than golfing recently, cleaning out my spouse's newly deceased grandmother's home. I was able to comfort her and move boxes around no problem. Gotta see the good in the bad.

[SemperFi]

True that Retro re see the good in the bad...
Amazingly I've been doing quite a bit with little backtalk from my spine. Some pain at night when I get up but I think it's more stiffness and it wears off in the a.m once up and about. Not that I'm entirely medicine free as I do take low dose daily opioid medicine but still it's the same dose I've been on for the last 10 years and I used to need Neurontin and ESIs every 3-6 months to get thru the year and still had loads of pain.

That ol' nasty L5S1 did me a big favor by fusing itself finally.. seems like my prayers were answered after many a year (oh please God please let this pain stoppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!))!!!!!!!!!!! Better late than never like they say!

Yeah... sometimes I have to remind myself that my back isn't "all that" and stop bending over for the 100th time while cleaning or some other things that are natural back aggravators tho the bending at the waist stuff has gotten much better to over the years. When I can't.. I certainly know about it quickly!

Retro glad you were able to help your spouse.. I did it alone and it was really "work" for me tho did try to pace myself and as CindyLou mentioned it was helpful to be that occupied so shortly after my father's passing and also a catharsis of sorts.

Now I just think I'm Wonder Woman