USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Ringel05]

Getting older and having your body parts start wearing out sure does suck.

About six weeks ago I'm sitting at my computer on a Saturday morning enjoying my coffee and reading the news. Suddenly I cough and HOLYSONOFGUN, that hurt. I threw my back out. 600mg ibuprofen did almost nothing to ease the pain. Lower back was in constant pain, standing or walking further aggravated the pain in my back and walking in particular felt like somebody was ramming a red hod poker down the back of my left leg from the hip to the knee. I suffered through the weekend and visited my primary care physician first thing Monday morning. He prescribed flexeril (muscle relaxant), hydrocodone for pain and 600mg ibuprofen for anti-inflammatory. It got better fairly quickly and within 2 weeks and I stopped taking meds, having only used about half the flexeril and hydrocone.

About 3 weeks ago I started getting some intermittent pain in my left hip, mostly just when changing position from sitting to standing or from standing to sitting. Once vertical or seated there wasn't any pain. I self-medicated 600mg ibuprofen a day and that seemed to help. some days it was better, some days it was worse. Thanksgiving day I was pain free until about 9:00 that night. Friday, after work, the hip pain gradually returned and by 7:00 it was a constant dull ache but with sharp stabbing pain when going from sitting to standing. By 9:00, no position was comfortable, it wasn't unbearable though. That night, I barely slept as i could not get comfortable and the pain got worse and worse throughout the night. Saturday morning I attempted to get out bed at about 7:30 and every movement caused excruciating pain in my left hip. Also, I had some numbness on the skin of my upper left leg. I laid in bed for another hour. By 8:30 the call of nature forced me to attempt to get out of bed. The pain in my hip was unbearable and I was unable to put any weight on my left leg. I hobbled to the bathroom using my arms to support my weight by leaning on the dresser, clutching doorjambs and using doorknobs for support. I then struggled to my living room, the leftover hydrocodone was at my computer desk. Fortunately my house is fairly small and no stairs. On a scale of 1 - 10, the pain was a good solid 9. Dang it, I didn't have any liquid to swallow the pill with. It hurt so bad I didn't think there was anyway I could make it to the kitchen to get water. I swallowed the hydrocodone dry.

Even just sitting, the pain was intense. After about 30 minutes I took a flexeril. My plan was to knock back the pain and visit my doctor first thing Monday morning when the office opened. By 9:30 the pain had been reduced from a 9 to a 7.5. I didn't think there was any way I could suffer like this through the entire weekend. Since the doctors office is closed for the weekend, I decided to go to the hospital emergency room. This would be my first ever visit to an ER for treatment for myself. It took me a half an hour to get dressed. I could barely put any weight on my left leg, so walking consisted of 3 to 6 inch steps at a time and using whatever stable piece of furniture within grasp to lean on. It was 10:00 by the time I made it to my car. Fortunately, there was parking close to the ER entrance. I hobbled in using 3 to 6 inch steps. At the front door was a man appearing to be in his late 60's being removed from his car and put into a wheelchair, he looked bad. The lady at the front desk asked me what was wrong and I told her I was in extreme pain, but maybe they should work on the guy in the wheelchair first. I'm glad I did that. The quick analysis done on the other man indicated that he'd had a stroke, a real emergency unlike me, and they rushed him to examination.

Good fortune smiles upon me, the ER isn't busy and I'm in an exam room within 15 minutes, a doctor and nurse arrived in the room the same time I did. The nurse takes my vitals and the doctor asks me some questions to asses my condition. I feel a bit foolish being in an ER, it's not like I'm having a heart attack, stroke, bleeding profusely or an obvious broken bone or some other trauma. They tell me to disrobe and to put on a hospital gown, then leave so I can do that in private. Undressing takes me almost as long as it took me to get dressed, I'm barely finished and the doctor is back in the room. More questions from the doctor, and I make sure that I inform her that I had already taken some hydrocodone and flexeril or I wouldn't have been able to make it to the hospital under my own power. I tell it was left over drugs from a back injury 6 weeks ago. She performs her physical exam and is bothered by the numbness and horrible reflexes in my left leg. She doesn't think it is a hip problem. And off to x-rays I go.

The x-rays show my hip to fine. My lower back is another story. Significant degeneration of some of the disks in my lower back are obvious in the x-ray. Nerves in my spinal cord are being aggravated with the pain being manifested in my hip. She prescribes oxycodone (stronger than hydrocodone) for pain relief, a higher dosage of flexeril and prednisone (a steroid) to round out my drug cocktail. She can tell I can't walk worth a damn, so crutches are issued to me for mobility. A referral to an orthopedic is also given but according to my insurance, that really needs to come from my primary care physician. My primary care physician can just pass on her referral without examining me, so I will be visiting them come Monday morning.

By 4:00pm yesterday I'd become a lot more mobile, still not pain free, but a lot less pain. I got a good nights sleep. First thing this morning was a little rough, I had to wait for the medical cocktail to kick in before I could abandon the crutches long enough take a shower. Yesterday I was in such bad shape that I couldn't even make coffee before leaving the house. Probably the first time in over 25 years that I didn't have a morning cup of coffee.

But as always, there is good news. Many of you know that I collect fossils, skulls and tribal artifacts. On Friday I received the latest addition to my collection. An intersection of tribal artifact and skull. I acquired a Borneo Dayak tribe headhunted skull. Head hunted trophy skulls from the Dayak typically run $3-6k depending upon age, preservation and adornments. I paid less than half the lower figure for a Dayak trophy skull originally collected by an anthropologist doing field study of the Dayak's in the 60's. It was likely taken as a trophy during the early 1900's, possibly late 1800's.

I feel your pain, literally. Had that happen in my 30s and have dealt with it intermittently since. Haven't had any feeling in my left thigh since and every year or two the low back goes out, I'm used to it now and yup, it's disc degeneration. Pretty much I'm on ibuprofen constantly now.

 

[Ringel05]

Seriously, if you were offered a seat on the maiden voyage on that private space flight, would you do it?

Space travel isn't on my bucket list, I think I'd pass.

I did enough "space travel" in my younger days.........

 

[Foxfyre]

I was browsing the aisles at the dollar store, waiting on the Mrs. to finish shopping. Thirsty, but all they had were sugar-added juices and pop. Then I spotted a 20 oz bottle of 100%.... prune juice. I haven't had that in years and like I said, I was thirsty. Took a few swigs (reminds me of Dr. Pepper) then stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Ended up drinking most all of it today when my innards started percolating. You can figure the rest of the story LOL.

OMG. 20 ounces of prune juice all at once?

 

[Ringel05]

I was browsing the aisles at the dollar store, waiting on the Mrs. to finish shopping. Thirsty, but all they had were sugar-added juices and pop. Then I spotted a 20 oz bottle of 100%.... prune juice. I haven't had that in years and like I said, I was thirsty. Took a few swigs (reminds me of Dr. Pepper) then stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Ended up drinking most all of it today when my innards started percolating. You can figure the rest of the story LOL.

OMG. 20 ounces of prune juice all at once?

I'd hate to be his toilet right now.........

 

[Foxfyre]

I had the worst day of college pick-ems EVER yesterday. And I'm having the worst day of pro pick-ems today. Just not my weekend.

 

[Ringel05]

What a pretty day we're having...blue skies and 75. The perfect weather for getting the lanai hosed down. I am going to miss the great temps we're expecting this week...I'll be traveling to DC, and the weather forecast looks miserable. I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday.

Just stay out of Sauffeast if you can........
(That's how the pronounce southeast in DC.)

 

[Foxfyre]

I was browsing the aisles at the dollar store, waiting on the Mrs. to finish shopping. Thirsty, but all they had were sugar-added juices and pop. Then I spotted a 20 oz bottle of 100%.... prune juice. I haven't had that in years and like I said, I was thirsty. Took a few swigs (reminds me of Dr. Pepper) then stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Ended up drinking most all of it today when my innards started percolating. You can figure the rest of the story LOL.

OMG. 20 ounces of prune juice all at once?

I'd hate to be his toilet right now.........

Well sometimes it does a body good. But it's a good idea to keep the pathway there clear.

 

[Ringel05]

I was browsing the aisles at the dollar store, waiting on the Mrs. to finish shopping. Thirsty, but all they had were sugar-added juices and pop. Then I spotted a 20 oz bottle of 100%.... prune juice. I haven't had that in years and like I said, I was thirsty. Took a few swigs (reminds me of Dr. Pepper) then stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Ended up drinking most all of it today when my innards started percolating. You can figure the rest of the story LOL.

OMG. 20 ounces of prune juice all at once?

I'd hate to be his toilet right now.........

Well sometimes it does a body good. But it's a good idea to keep the pathway there clear.

Psyllium husk and raw Chia seed works quite well with out adding the need to run.........

 

[Ringel05]

Went up to Pueblo, sunshine and low 62s, went into an antique shop and came out a half hour later to a dust storm and the temps had dropped 15 degrees. Eventually stopped at Cracker Barrel for an early supper and by the time we left Pueblo temps were in the low 30s.......

 

[Lumpy 1]

 

[Lumpy 1]

 

[Lumpy 1]

 

[Mr. H.]

I was browsing the aisles at the dollar store, waiting on the Mrs. to finish shopping. Thirsty, but all they had were sugar-added juices and pop. Then I spotted a 20 oz bottle of 100%.... prune juice. I haven't had that in years and like I said, I was thirsty. Took a few swigs (reminds me of Dr. Pepper) then stuck it in the fridge to cool down. Ended up drinking most all of it today when my innards started percolating. You can figure the rest of the story LOL.

OMG. 20 ounces of prune juice all at once?

I paced it throughout the day. Still... reminded me of prepping for a colonoscopy.

 

[Sherry]

What a pretty day we're having...blue skies and 75. The perfect weather for getting the lanai hosed down. I am going to miss the great temps we're expecting this week...I'll be traveling to DC, and the weather forecast looks miserable. I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday.

Just stay out of Sauffeast if you can........
(That's how the pronounce southeast in DC.)

I'll be staying downtown and will be attending conferences all day...may have time at night to check out some stuff on the mall, but I'll only travel in a group. I'm not going out though if it's in the mid 30's and raining. I can hold off on that stuff until my DC trip next fall which will be strictly for pleasure.

 

[Ringel05]

What a pretty day we're having...blue skies and 75. The perfect weather for getting the lanai hosed down. I am going to miss the great temps we're expecting this week...I'll be traveling to DC, and the weather forecast looks miserable. I hope you all are enjoying your Sunday.

Just stay out of Sauffeast if you can........
(That's how the pronounce southeast in DC.)

I'll be staying downtown and will be attending conferences all day...may have time at night to check out some stuff on the mall, but I'll only travel in a group. I'm not going out though if it's in the mid 30's and raining. I can hold off on that stuff until my DC trip next fall which will be strictly for pleasure.

The Mall is definitely a day trip at minimum if you want to see everything and go through all the museums, monuments and other buildings, it's huge not to mention the surrounding government buildings and other museums. The Mall itself is just over 2 miles from the Jefferson Memorial to the Capital Building, on the outside are the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Supreme Court, etc, a lot to take in. If it's rainy and cold pick a couple of buildings that are relatively close together like the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History. The East and West buildings that comprise the National Gallery of Art are connected by an underground complex that includes a large cafeteria and gift store.
Here's a pdf map of the museum section of the Mall;

http://www.si.edu/content/ovs/mallmap.pdf

 

[Ringel05]

Okay, I'll have to eat a little crow. Watched The Buccaneer with Charlston Heston and Yul Brenner, mostly a story on Jean Lefitte's participation before during and after the Battle of New Orleans. Haven't seen it in decades and afterwards did some historical research. Other than a few Hollywood adaptations and embellishments the story was mostly historically accurate as was the setting, most of the events and amazingly the costumes.
I guess even Hollywood can get it mostly right on rare occasions.

 

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks. I love you guys.

And we're still keeping vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Sunshine,
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
TK, and TK's grandma,
Sheila’s friend Shirley,
Spoonie, Ringel, 007, and Sheila's sore backs,
Sherry’s Mom,
Hombre,
Pix,
Becki and Becki’s hubby,
Sheila and son Andrew,
Noomi’s Auntie Marj and Nana,
Sheila's sore foot post surgery healing,
Complete healing for Mrs. Ringel and the Ringels in difficult transition,
Ollie and Mrs. O for a complete recovery,
Tresha and hubby,
Mr. H and his friend,
strollingbones & hubby,
GW's daughter's friend Sachenda,
Peach174,
All of us and those we care about who are looking for work,
Safe travels for those traveling,
All who are dealing with colds and flu,
And all others we love and hold in concern.

And the light is on awaiting the return of Oddball, Sunshine, Jughead, Sheila, and Becki and all the others who have been MIA lately. We hope everyone is okay.

P.S. Sometimes in the editing of the vigil list or when I have switched computers, somebody gets dropped that is supposed to be on it. This will always be inadvertent and if ya'll would call it to my attention, it would be much appreciated.

 

[SixFoot]

Morning everyone. Its a crisp 22 degrees with a light dusting of sleet. If I get around to it, I'll post a pic of the two new barn kittens.

 

[mdk]

Good morning folks! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We have our Christmas party coming up this Saturday and I have much to procure in the meantime. It is one of my favorite days of the year.

 

[ChrisL]

Seriously, if you were offered a seat on the maiden voyage on that private space flight, would you do it?

Damned straight!

I added a ROLL TIDE last night but must explain for those of you not familiar with real football.
Alabama is all about football. While there are some folk here that grew up in Mississippi who will root for Mississippi State or Ole Miss, a few from Louisiana who remain loyal to LSU and even some who favor the Florida Seminoles, Most everyone is either an Alabama or Auburn fan.
Last night was Iron Bowl; the yearly game between the two rivals. Alabama came in ranked #1 (as they should have been) and Auburn as #14.
Doc Holliday's was decorated in Crimson and white and orange and blue and by kick-off at 6:45 central, the bar was full of fans talking smack.
Alabama jumped out to an early lead despite blowing the opening kickoff. Auburn fumbled on their first play and 'Bama had 7 points a minute and a half later.
Bama built on their lead for a while until they seemed to take a vacation. Auburn was able to take a healthy lead that any real football fan knew wasn't going to last. It didn't.
The Tide rolled all over the War Beagles in the 4th quarter and hung on to win 55-44. Half the folks at Doc's were elated and half deflated, but everyone stood up for the National Anthem of the State of Alabama when it was done.

I prefer NFL. The best of the best.

Only because your state has crap college football teams

Yes, but we have the Patriots.

Like I said, "crap" The Dolphins beat them.

So? Nobody is undefeated this year, you know. You win some, you lose some.