Happy October

[Hubert Few]

At 12:39 AM 10/1/2005 -0400, William McEver wrote:
>Ya you got it, another bad night. I've only had about 10 hours of sleep in 4
>days. I'm fucking venting! 10 years of this deteriorating cervical
herniation.
>Many med changes, that only work for a short  time , and  they become
>ineffectual. 

Vent on brother.....it DOES help in some ways. Can't speak to your specific
condition of course

>My tolerance to pain medication keeps getting higher and higher. I take
shit that doesn't phase me but 
>knocks other people on their ass.

I guess the obvious dumb question would be, have you tried a "rotation" of
the ones that worked previously to see if your tolerance  has diminished?
Sorry, just trying to be helpful...

Another dumb question I guess, have you looked at anything outside of the
mainstream to address the chronic pain? Acupuncture maybe? Would you
consider smoking marijuana to see if it helps? I ask the question
tentatively because I know some folks have very strong feelings on the
subject.

Maybe once or twice a year I have a bout of back pain that's pretty
dibilitating for a few days, it apparently has something to do with
pressure on the sciatic (sp?) nerve. The pain radiates down into one or
both legs. I count my blessings that it isn't an ongoing thing because it
gets quite intense.


>Yeah I
>know, you people will be willing to exercise Wende, and not even charge
me, if
>I pay for the fuel! 

Sorry Bill. I don't ride other people's bikes unless they absolutely
insist! :-)

>Well it's 12;30 am and I haven't tried a #10 Vicodin for a
>couple of days, maybe I'll get lucky and get a few hours of sleep. Night all.

I hope it worked, sleep deprivation does weird, usually undesirable things
to people.

I had a weird experience earlier this week....a little background. About a
year and half ago I guess it was, I got up early one morning as I usually
do and was messing around in the shop. I wasn't doing anything unusual in
terms of body movement or exertion. I started to get a bit dizzy, then a
LOT dizzy and the next thing I know I am trying to get up off the floor and
my head was spinning horribly, nearly complete loss of balance, getting
very nausiated and throwing up. This went on for about 3 days with the
first day being the worst. I went to a GP and then an ear specialist. They
did a bunch of tests and said the results were "consistent with Meniere's
disease" which of course i had never heard of and they didn't really offer
any treatment options. Two more bouts of a lesser degree over the next
month and then it went away...til the day before yesterday.

This time it came on quite suddenly immediately upon awakening....I'm like,
SHIT not THIS again! I was able to get out and work yesterday with only a
brief spell...some lingering traces of it this morning.

I guess it was about this time last year that a urologist informed me quite
bluntly that the prostate cancer has definitely returned, which I had been
preparing myself for emotionally for quite a few years now and I knew the
gradual rise in my PSA results were not a "good" thing anyways. The one
remaining conventional treatment option is not acceptable to me and there
is no point in starting it sooner than later. Hopefully "later" will be at
least 5 years down the road but I continue to convince myself that it will
be *never* which is the adaptation I am most comfortable with anyway! :-)

All of which has nothing to do with your situation, but being the selfish
bastard that I am I can't seem to talk for very long without bringing up my
own little issues, which of course pale to the issues of others and I
continue to see every day that comes my way as a blessed event....not
because I "have" to, but because it helps, it helps a hell of a lot
actually! All of which I am quite sure you know...."getting there" is oh,
maybe 9/10ths of the battle? "staying there" the other tenth.

Doing routine hard physical labor has helped me in a lot of ways, not
suggesting it would be appropriate for you, hell, it's not even appropriate
for me! Still, the benefits are undeniable....sometimes I feel like I am
about 90 years old because of it but I reckon it helps make my body
stronger and it improves my outlook because the rewards are very simple and
straightforward.

I hope you find some relief Bill. The kind of drugs you are taking for the
pain suck big time. I am hoping something else will work for you.

Warmest regards,
Hubert