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Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Back surgery cancelled

Man, what a let down. I've been abandoned....I ain't got nuttin to eat.

Howdy ya all, how ya do'n?

Ok, let's just jump into yesterdays doctor appointment an' let the chips fall. I WILL NOT be hav'n no back surgery at this point an' time. Not because of my MRI results. Not because of my tests results. Ha, the doc hasn't even received any reports from all them other doctors yet.

Bout them MRI reports, I read them an' I looked at all the pretty pics. My god, I should be in a freak'n wheelchair. There are 4 ruptured discs. There are 3 arthritis spurs. All pressing on my nerve roots....or what ever ya call that big ass nerve. Two disks are sit'n on top of each other. I'm messed up, that as clear as I can put it. And, the surgeon agrees with me. More than one surgery would be required to fix all that stuff. That what he said anyhows.

But, all that stuff is not the reason for not hav'n surgery. Ya see, me an' that nice doc sit down an' have us a man to man talk. We also have us a doctor patient talk too. My age is a risk factor. My COPD is a risk factor. My heart attacks an' bypass surgery is a risk factor. He thinks my risk factors are too high to have the surgery. But he said he would do it if'n I tole him to. I'm think'n it might be better to be in this constant pain than to be dead. He DID mention dead on more than one occasion. With just the COPD, my risk is 90/10 in start'n my lungs back up breath'n on their own. My heart is the second risk of "you could have a stroke". With my age an' not be'n a active feller....no exercise (a big factor), don't eat right, smoke, an' cuss a lot, the doc thinks my risks are too high. This is when my heart fell slap out. What do I do now?

Well let me tell ya. Yup, you guessed it, I'm gonna have some big ass needles stuck in my back. But this is only as a test to locate the correct nerves that are causing the pain. Then....they gonna go in there with a laser thingy an' murder them dad gum nerves. Once the correct ones are found. He says I will be pain free for the rest my life after they kill them suckers....or something like that. Hmmmmmmm.....Google is your best friend. Nerve block. Doc had a different name for the procedure, but I don't know what he called it. I'm hard of hear'n an' he mumbles.

Now why wasn't I offered this option to begin with? I WAS offered the shots that only last a short time, but I don't want something temporary. Traveling, it is too hard to get injections every 4 to 6 months or yearly....with no guarantee they would work on me. This is the docs own words, not mine.

Now, go'n back to 1980, my doctor at that time wanted to kill (murder) my sciatic nerve so I would no longer have sciatica. But, he tole me I would lose feeling in my right leg. I refused. I healed an' went on with my life until the next injury. Many questions need to be asked of my new back doctor when an appointment is set up.

Now here's the way I look at it. Today I am 73 year old...."Happy birthday Billy Bob". I ain't gonna live another 20 or 30 years. How much worser can my back issues get an' how much damage can it cause in the short time I have left? I'm think'n not much. It cain't slow me down any more than I am today, so what the hell??? Why not just kill the nerves an' be pain free?......the doc said that.

Holy crap, I pulled one yesterday. I says to Robert, lets go grocery shop'n. I ain't got nuttin to eat at "da house". A hour later, I got me a Walmart cart half full of yum yum's groceries. My back is kill'n me....I got to get out of Walmart, I cain't walk no further. I left that cart sit'n right there an' went out the front door. I only did that one other time in my life an' said I would never do it again. But I did. So please don't go beat'n up on me.

Then it come supper time. "What we gonna eat Billy Bob"??? Well shoot, we ain't got nuttin. I fount a old can of biscuits in the frige.....hmmmmm, biscuits an' white sausage gravy, that sounds good. In the oven they go. Yup, I burn 'em. I chop up some sausage paddies. Toss in some flour.....holy crap, I ain't got no milk. Water was used. An' you talk bout some nasty tast'n stuff, this was it. "Seasoning Billy Bob, add some seasoning.....seasoning fix anything". I got a choice, chicken or beef. Choose beef. It still tastes nasty, so I add way way toooo much course grind pepper. My god, that shit was hot. Sadie Mae like it just fine.

Damn, I need to go to Walmart. Buy me up some groceries.  

20 comments:

  1. It sounds like there is hope then for relief of pain. Are you excited?

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  2. Some hard choices to make. But you can make them,

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  3. At least now you have answers and can make informed choices.

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  4. It's the "don't eat right", the "smokin;" and the damn "cussin" that's doing you in! I think you are one helluva smart guy. Happy birthday, by the way. I'm almost a year older than you are and I'm thinking the same thing - why not just live the way I want to live for whatever time I have left. I hope things turn out well after they murder those nerves that are causing you all the trouble.

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  5. I think you made the right decision, for what it's worth. Happy Birthday, ya ol' fart! ( I mean that in a good way, of course!)

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  7. You gotta start driven one of them carts at Walmart. I just tell myself it's like a a carnival ride and go for it.

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  8. I hate to hear about all your problems and hope the doctors can help you some, at least get rid of the pain. Happy 73rd Birthday and now that makes me feel like a young fellow at only 71.

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  9. Replies
    1. Oh! You came back. Pleases me no end, Louie.

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  10. Zapping the nerves just might be the answer, so long as you didn't have your heart set on walking significant distances, like on the golf course, by way of example. Pleas ask the back doc, but I suspect that'll be out of the question. Besides, you always wanted to turbocharge an LP gas powered golf cart, didn't you?

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  11. Happy Birthday, Billy Bob, I hope they get you fixed up pain free!

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  12. Happy Birthday. And, better the Devil you know, as in now you can make informed choices rather than chase shadows of maybe and what if.

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  13. Pain free sounds like it would be the way to go, good luck with that procedure.

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  14. Happy Birthday, and happy choices, Billy Bob. You really were dreading the surgery, and now that choice has more or less been removed from the equation, so on to killing that dadgum nerve! Just consider this, you won't be seeing that needle go in, cause it's on your "other" side, and they will probably use a freeze spray to deaden the spot where the big ole needle goes in. I've had several of those sprays, and it does sting, but better that than the needle pain, belive me!
    As for 73, Hubby is almost 74, and still going strong with me and life, even with diabetes, so you still got some living to do. Look forward to the future, and getting back to Texas where you belong! We'll be waiting!

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  15. How much feeling will you lose, deadening the nerves? Better than the pain, tho.
    BTW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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  16. What a birthday present! I have some internet now at Lowes in Marshall Texas.
    My suggestion is to look carefully into what type of trouble you will have if the nerves are killed. Hoorst Kelly of http://texasreflectionsphotography.blogspot.com/ has bad leg numbness and has hiked some places with me. You might email him for info on his experiences. Tell him the OFM sent you. He is wandering New Mexico the last I heard from him.

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  17. First, I wish you a belated Happy Birthday!

    Second, if killing the nerves does not slow you down any more than you already are then not having the pain is a good thing.

    Third, the big ass needle and killing nerves does not require you to stop smoking, eating junk food, cussing and living your 'normal' life. If those things kill you but you are pain free that seems like a good thing.

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  18. Happy Belated Birthday Billy Bob :)

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  19. Getting rid of the pain was the goal right from the start, who cares how they do it? Happy Birthday BB. You have two things to celebrate!

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