I read your thread way back.... I guess about a year or so ago and just today decided to come back to this forum to check and see what's going on. Lot's have gone on in the time past. I am glad to hear you got your SSDI. I am at the hearing point on mine, I have a lawyer but not sure he's any good.... he has not called and talked to me once and when I've called the office I never get to talk to him it's always his assistance. she tell me it takes about three months once the appeal has been turned in. It's been over three months...I called the SS office to check and make sure it was at the hearing office and it checked out. The wait is awful. I'm so thankful for this forum it is so helpful, One of the members stated to write everything down how life was before and how life is now and that is something I must do for the impending hearing. There is no medication I can take other then pain medication and my doctor will not proscribe anything for more then a month at a time. I don't agree with the doctor that I was being seen for my back so I did not go back to him. The 4th and 5 th lower lumbar is fused together and I have scoilosis curving of the spine. I've had problems with my back off and on but in my younger years it never was that bad. It wasn't until it seem all of a sudden it hit me, Well I guess not really all of a sudden but the worst part is. I now cannot sit for long drives after an hour of sitting in the car I may or I may not be able to get up out of the car seat and at times when I do get up and put my foot down to get up my back may not be able to support me, I have a pain that will run through me as I put my foot down on the ground. Now that the scoilosis has started giving me problems it is hindering the use of arms and moving my neck, when it acts up I can't turn my head to look around when driving I have to use the mirrors. I've also started having problems with my hands and arms. So off I went to the doctor and after some test found corporal tunnel to be the problem but the nerve is don't damaged to the point of being able to do surgery weather that is good or not I don't know but it has changed my life 100% where I use to be very active do what I wanted when I wanted. It's only been 5 years ago that I was working and come home to clean house, cook dinner, do a load of laundry all in a days time now I'm lucky to get through doing a couple of loads of laundry in a day, I can't lift the clothes basket I have to push it with my foot from the bedroom to the laundry room, if I had to go out and do laundry I guess I'd be in a world of hurt. I clean house one room at a time one day at a time just when ever I'm able to. I started to oil the cabinets down but hands and arms can't take it so I stopped. I have started carrying the cell phone with me outside just in case I fall and can't get up. I can't do the thing's I use to do with the grandkids any longer if it's not something simple then forget it. I can no longer walk around the mall. I haven't gotten to the point of asking for a wheel chair ... not wanting to go there. Although I have told my family that I cannot walk around much. I know long find my bed a comfort anymore, for me it is hard cause of pain or discomfort laying down. At times I give up trying to get comfortable and get back up. It is not visible to ones eye of my problems. Just to look at me you would not know I had anything wrong. Wishing you well with your surgery and happy gardening come spring time.

OTG- thank you for your input- I already told the DR that I won't have cortisone shots- but I'm looking into Prolotherapy or sclerotherapy. It is an inflammatory therapy which involves the injection of a known irritant, usually glucose or sodium morrhuate, into a ligament, tendon or joint. This will cause irritation of that joint for the purpose of improving the tensile strength of ligaments. Inflammation is produced in order to stimulate the formation of fibrous connective tissue which will bring about healing of that ligament or deficient structure. Prolotherapy was originally evolved by Dr. George Hackett, M.D., in Kenton, Ohio, back in the 1940s and 50s, although you can trace its origins back to the ancient Greeks. You will find references to it in medical literature under various names including sclerotherapy, prolotherapy, or proliferant therapy. More recently, it has been called non-surgical joint reconstruction, coined by Dr. William Faber, D.O., from the Milwaukee Pain Clinic, Milwaukee, Ohio. These terms are used interchangeably. It has been around for a long time and have tested it, and know the results are reliable. I explained this treatment to my Dr who has never heard of it before!

Happy Sunday afternoon! How did it get to be 5:00 Sunday so fast??? We had an absolutely beautiful weekend here in NJ and I was outside enjoying it. We had a fast but heavy shower yesterday afternoon then it cleared and was gorgeous again. Zig- a good reason to throw those sneaks out. Glad you got some new ones :-) I still need to get rid of some shoes but that is for another weekend. I know what you mean about the tapes - that is one thing I like about them also. We are not all 20 and skinny. Debi, I like green tea and will have to try and drink more. When I do drink soda I drink caffeine free diet versions but I know many think soda is a no-no. I actually have nothing against water but still struggle with it. It can take me all day to drink one average sized bottle. QOD - did stuff around the house and yard along with the usual laundry. Ordered in last night, no dishes. Tikanas - keeping Joe in my prayers. Did you and your daughter go to the movies? What did you see? Gotta run - time to think about dinner and fold laundry but not necessarily in that order. My WW at work ended this past week. In a way I am glad because the leader was so-so and we did not get all of our booklets and materials. On Tuesday I am going to a meeting 5 minutes drive from my house. When the weather stays nice I can walk to and from my meeting. I understand the leader there is new - the one that was there before was fantastic but I think she burned out. She was running 2 huge back to back meetings there on Tuesdays. I don't know if I mentioned but my sister bought me an early birthday gift a few weeks ago - the WW calculator. She was tired of hearing me complain about journaling and did not want me to drop off track. I love that thing! It is simple to work and costs about $25 at WW meetings. My sister's leader said they can't keep them in stock - they go out as soon as they come in. Hugs to all who need them - will check in during the week. Donna

Oh, so many injuries have been recounted here, and then there are those who are blessed with none! The first significant injuries I recall were horseback riding accidents as a child - a concussion despite wearing a helmet, a cracked vertebrae, and a crushed right foot. While pregnant with DD2, I suffered cracked ribs in a car accident. I broke my left elbow falling down steps after rushing from work to home to look after kids, while en route to an evening master's class. I was in a bit of shock and went into the small class anyway not realizing how bedraggled I was (ripped stockings, bruised knees, broken glasses, etc.). The professor looked at me and said perhaps I should leave. I stuck it out, but by the end knew I couldn't drive and called my husband to pick me up. That pain took a good year to settle down. Last year I broke my left foot. Again too much rushing and a trip down a last step. We had just returned from a month in Spain and were dashing through jet lag to help DD2 who had given birth prematurely with lots of complications while we were away. Throw in the occasional broken toe and foot stress fractures. We get a lot of snow and ice here but that hasn't so far caused me problems, dare I say it. On really bad days I wear ice grips if I have to go out. One day this winter, DH, DD1 and DD3 each had falls on the ice. DD3 broke her wrist as a result. The others were a little sore but okay.