Well, my summer is shot.

Last week, I had a short break when a conference call cancelled, so I knew I'd have 2 hours in the middle of the day off. So I figured I'd drop a few of those trees I'd been wanting to get rid of because they shaded the garden too much.

4 trees down, each about 20" in diameter, quick quick cut off the branches...quick quick cut them into logs, quick quick toss all the logs into a pile so I can split them later....

2 Hours later DONE! 4 trees felled, cleaned, cut into firewood log length...back to the desk...

Next day...hmm...back feels funny...hmmm...legs feel funny...

Ah...just sore.

Next day...back HURTS...left leg feels like FIRE at the groin...

Next day....can't walk more then five minutes...leg screaming in pain...back a knot...

Whole holiday weekend spent resting and sitting - did get to see Star Trek tho!

Today...can't take the pain...Dr. visit....poke poke...OW!

Off to the hospital with me...to see the surgeon. All sorts of damage in my left leg, plus a hernia, plus they need to do an MRI on my back.

I've always had a high tolerance for pain...too high apparently. I'll be carved and sewn and then...rest rest rest rest....

So much for my plans to build up a massive firewood cache this year.

Dang man, that sucks!
Hopefully there will be a hot nurse or two in you future.

Heal fast, friend.

-Blast

Martin,

Sorry to hear of your troubles and hope you make a speedy recovery.

For the hernia repair, see if your surgeon can perform a laproscopic repair. I had a laproscopic hernia repair a number of years ago, it is a stronger repair and has a quicker recovery time when compared to the traditional hernia repair method.

Pete

Ouch, that's rough. Hope your injuries aren't too serious.

While you heal, looking out the window at the work to be done will probably be torture. Resist the temptation to push too hard too soon.

Hope things turn out okay.

The same thing or something similar happened to me about 2 years ago. it ended up being several ruptured disks, a pinched nerve and a medical term I don't recall at the moment that in effect resulted a weakened left leg.

As a bonus, after my first trip to the hospital I was walking through the house when a spasm hit. It completely seized my legs and I fell head first into the counter where I split my lip and chipped a tooth. When I tried to get up, the pain was so severe I passed out. Luckily I had my cell phone in my pocket.

I had to replace my bed, my office chair and other things keep my back supported. My leg has still not fully recovered, but there has been great improvement.

I hope that you're facing something less severe.

Take care of your spine everyone. It's connected to everything, and when something like this is wrong with it you can feel it in every move you make.

Wow... I just made this all about me. Sorry.

I hope you feel better soon, Martin.

welcome to club gimpy. Heal fast my friend

ah, the high pain tolerance. both a blessing and a curse. same thing happened a few years ago with my tooth, needed a root canal and wasn't even complaining about pain. they were amazed i could even talk. this January i walked into the doctor' office about a stomach ache and found out my appendix had ruptured. they were amazed i was walking, let alone acting like normal.

Marty, I agree with Blast....Take it easy, heal fast and hope for a few hotties!!!!!

I've always found something especially appealing about nurses. They tend to be smart, caring, gentle, ...

This is about when my wife slaps me upside the head.

Get well real soon Martin. Give yourself time to heal!!

All best wishes to you, Martin.

Get well soon!

Hernia repairs aren't "too bad" as surgeries go. Take care of that back though - others aren't kidding that back injuries just plain suck.

Back from medical officers. mostly good news...

Back injury not as severe as expected, discs are not quite blasted but the entire lower back is massively inflamed...all the rest of the repairs will heal quick enough, have a small rip in a muscle in my groin area, left side. I will need to do a LOT of core strength work once things are back to a point of functioning though. they also tested for heart attacks and other stuff..just checking because when they did a range of motion test I complained that my chest hurt when the moved my arm about 20º further than I would have liked...I can CAREFULLY move firewood in July, but I think I'll trade some computer repair or web site development for that work this time...at least I can drive the tractor without too much trouble soon enough.

and some wear cute glasses.
Nerd Girl Nurses!!! = WIN

Martin,

Good news on the diagnosis. Best wishes.

One of the back specialists, surgical fellow, at a major hospital told me that he doesn't advocate operating on relatively intact people, as opposed to mangled in a crash and missing pieces, without first getting the swelling down and getting them through a course of physical therapy to see how they function when they aren't traumatized. He claimed that it was just too easy to end up operating on people who could have had a better outcome if less extreme treatments were undertaken first.

He said that it used to be if they saw a displaced disk or other flaws they immediately dove in with the hammer and knives. Only recently have they found that most otherwise normal people have misalignment, bulged discs, and all sorts of apparently serious flaws, and most show no serious symptoms.

The study of outcomes comparing physical therapy versus surgery has shown that most people save money, experience less pain, regain mobility and function faster, and are exposed to far less risk if treated with supportive care and physical therapy. If and when it is shown that the conservative course hasn't worked, it may take six months, then surgery may be the way to go. On the other hand if you get into surgery too soon they typically can't undo the surgery after the fact.

The advice I was given was that moving as well as I could, even if I was in pain, but without overdoing it, was the fastest way to heal.

I hope you heal fast AND heal well, Martin!!

Blast: I never got the hottie nurses! I must be just too darned ugly!!

That sucks you get well martin.

Lee

That is EXACTLY the course of treatment that I'm taking. It hurts but I can tell it's the right way to go.

Glad it's not as bad as you first expected it might be.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

I don't know why all these things happen at the beginning of summer instead of late in fall/winter when you can rest up.

It's nice that you have a good doctor that didn't grab for the knife, hammer and tongs.

There should be enough unemployed people around so you can find someone to do the necessary/heavy work for you.

Take it easy.

Sue

Hope you heal fast. I won't tell you to take it easy. I never heed that advice myself so don't offer it.