Thank you to everybody who left blog comments and sent emails or messages about the return of my back problems. I had a rough night and woke up yesterday morning about 8 AM with the pain back in full force.
I really don’t like to take heavy-duty pain meds, but every medical person I know tells me that in a situation like this I need to take them to keep ahead of things. So I swallowed a codeine tablet, put on my DDS500 inflatable back brace and pumped it up, then went and sat in my recliner, hoping I could fall asleep again. That didn’t happen, but within a couple of hours the combination of the pill and the brace had helped alleviate the pain considerably. Within another hour so I was actually comfortable and took the brace off.
Several people have asked about the cold laser therapy treatments I had a while back. While the results were quick and the improvement was very dramatic, I’m disappointed to say that it did not last long. I got several of the treatments over a two or three week period, but once they stopped I soon started feeling the pain again.
Two nights with little sleep had left my brain feeling fuzzy but I really needed to get some work done, so after lunch I sat down at my computer and started writing. By the end of the day I had knocked out somewhere around 2,600 words in my new John Lee Quarrels book. That puts me well over a quarter of the way into it and closing in on a third.
I also had a ton of e-mail to answer, including one from somebody who was really ticked off because they went to an RV dealership in a different state from the one where they purchased their fifth wheel and wanted to have some warranty work done. They didn’t have an appointment and weren’t happy at all when the service manager told them that he was scheduling work two to three months out.
I tried to explain to them that this is the norm in the RV industry, even from the dealer where you bought your rig. Warranty work has to be approved in advance by the factory, parts have to be ordered, and the work scheduled. There is a huge shortage of skilled RV technicians everywhere in the country and you’re not going to just pull up to a place unannounced and have them drop everything and get to work on your rig because you showed up. It just doesn’t work that way.
They disagreed with that and said that when you buy a new car, you can take it back to any dealership at any time and get anything you need done on it. I’m not sure where they are buying their cars, but that has not been my experience. A few months ago we got a notice of a recall for something on Terry’s Chrysler Pacifica, and when I called the dealership to make an appointment to get it done they were booking service times three weeks out. The minivan currently has two more recalls and I have an appointment for the 16th of this month to get them done. I called to schedule that over two weeks ago. Nothing happens overnight, no matter how many sets of tires and axles your vehicle has under it.
On another note, after reading my comments in yesterday’s blog about my not being very interested in NASA and rockets and such, longtime friend Ron Butler recommended I read the book The Right Stuff by Thomas Wolfe. Ron said it’s a great read about how the first seven astronauts were selected, the test pilots of that era, including Chuck Yeager, and the rivalry between the test pilots and the astronauts. Actually, I have read it. I also had the honor of meeting and having lunch and conversation with General Yeager back in my newspaper days. He is an amazing man with a wicked sense of humor, and long before he won fame as a test pilot and astronaut he was an ace combat pilot, downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission in World War II. By the time the war ended, had had racked up over eleven victories.
It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of my friend Suzie O’Connell’s Starlight Magic, from her popular Northstar romance series. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – If it looks like I give a damn, please tell me. I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Well, I suffered with back problems for 46 years. I knew I had a congenital back defect, but by the time I went to a surgeon for evaluation, I had 2 problems spots right together, the equivalent of 2 breaks in my back. I had started to have trouble walking and my activity was always limited to mornings because by early afternoon it was hard to get up out of a chair. I ended up with surgery, but not before I did acupuncture, shots, physical therapy, braces, creams, pills, etc. My back issues were corrected with 2 rods, 6 screws, three fusions with implants and 2 cages. I am happy to report that I am 100% pain free beginning a month after surgery (surgical pain is the pits) and a year and a half later, I continue to be pain free. I have no limitations as far as bending, etc. I am not limited with lifting, but I try to keep that reasonable and not to overtax myself. I am a firm believer. . . not in those spinal institutes. . . but a good neurosurgeon who successfully moved the nerves and relieved all the nerve impingements I had. He gave me my life back, no doubt about it. I cannot feel any of the hardware in my back. It’s amazing and I am so glad I had it done.
Dealing with old injuries is always a Pain (No pun intended). We don’t realize how bad it is, until years later it tells us in a not so gentle way. When it comes to fixing Back Pain they say it is affected by what we carry on the front of us. (And we worked so hard to get in the shape we’re in.) It takes longer to get rid of it then it took to get it and everywhere we look (Especially with Miss Terry’s cooking) it is harder to knock it off.
That RVer has no clue what they are talking about and should start living in the real world.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It’s about time.