A few days back before the surgery I bought a couple of older guns from someone who needed the money. They are nothing fancy, just solid firearms that have plenty of use left in them.
The 20 gauge shotgun is perfect for Gigi when copperheads and raccoons make an appearance.
I'll get a kick out of the old Remington .22 rifle for target practice.
Over the next few days I'll get them cleaned and oiled.
The diagnosis has been made, confirmation on the MRI, surgery is scheduled, and now I ride out the pain.
My dear wife has dealt with this type of pain for decades. Words can't express my compassion for her.
The best description I can say, and she said it, it is like you have a throbbing toothache in your arm.
I will get fixed. She is fighting the battle of pain on many fronts.
Last night, and again this morning I ate a meal with visiting friends and I was in a fog from pain. Not the drugs because they aren't enough to provide relief. Just my brain dealing with the pain as best I can.
Next week I will have a serious medical buzz as some of the best chemicals known to man will put me to sleep. Then, when I awake, I'll have a morphine pain pump in hand.
I have a tear in my disc, similar but smaller than the last, located in my neck.
The pain will not go away until the chunk is removed. It is pressing on a nerve that make my left arm hurt.
Well I had the MRI yesterday and it turned out to be quite painful. MRIs are not painful but being motionless in a tube with shoulder cramps was almost unbearable.
I got the appointment with the surgeon moved from next Monday to this afternoon at 2. Armed with fresh films I sincerely hope that he can figure out what is wrong.
Enough meds on a regular basis can keep me functioning but who gives out pain relievers these days.
This has come on to me so sudden that I forget when I wake up only to be greeted by clamping pain in my arm and shoulder.
Today, I get an MRI on my neck to see what exactly is going on.
The pain in my arm and shoulder has gotten progressively worse. In addition there is numbness and weakness. Every day there is something different.
My hope is perhaps a bone spur that can be zapped with a laser with minimally invasive surgery. Worst case, a fusion is needed. I'm also afraid of long term steriods and cover up drugs which is a strategy if nothing is clear cut on the MRI.
Either way, this is something that has to be addressed because the pain is significant.
Driftwood beach is artistically beautiful and ever changing.
A dive along the shore is typically southeast shore flat with dunes. Our water here is muddy color from such close contact with marshes and rivers. Tannins and silt give it this color.
For beautiful fresh water a dive to Ginny Springs provides the needed eye candy.
I spent my first day doing what I wanted to do. I walked the dogs, took a nap, cooked a little, and relaxed.
This is my birthday month and I will be 58 on June 20th.
It has been thirteen months since I discovered my lower back is worn down to the point I had surgery just to live a normal life. I am much more careful now and listen to the aches and pains.
Last week I was told by my doctor that my neck, well it too is on the verge of doing what my back did. The aches in my arm and shoulder down to my fingers was not muscular, or overdoing it. The nerves are bring pinched by the two bottom discs, bone spurs abound, and it is all attacking my left side. Medically, my shit is wearing out.
An MRI will pinpoint the problem and then an assessment can be made.
Border Collie guy, Wine guy, Weber grill guy, Manned Space Travel Guy, Believer, Gentleman Farmer, Go Apps! guy, Husband to the best wife. I'm a lucky guy.