Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Down for the count - injured

I am healing from a severe herniated disc at C6. My right arm was in a pain I can not describe. I was out of work for almost 2 weeks and could not get out of bed. This happened about 1.5 months ago. It's serious. It has the possibility of ending my riding career permanently.

Today was my second round of cortisone. The Sunday before last I reached for Piper, who ducked, and I over extended myself. My neck hurt through Wednesday. but seemed to heal. I could not lay any way other than on my back, but have been back to normal since last Wednesday. Doctor said that is a promising sign, but he also said if this cortisone shot does not bring me to 100% recovery we need to discuss surgery. It should be noted he suspect this will work and I will recover without surgery. The last shot brought me back to 65-70% and peaked out. So I just need another push for the last 30%. Being vigilantly careful.

What I believe happened is . . . around December 20th I bought a new helmet. The shop guy fitted it for me. He grabbed the helmet from the front and told me to keep my head straight. He then applied pressure to turn it. I used a lot of neck strength to keep my head straight. For a solid week I ate Ibprofin like candy because my neck hurt a lot. I could not look over my shoulder. Then I healed, I thought. For about two weeks at night my right arm hurt a lot. Then the bomb dropped and the disc popped. I cried as my wife helped me get dress for work and left work early and reported to urgent care. The pain is unreal. The pain meds suck - clouded my existence - very very strong stuff.

Keep me in your prayers. I have two scooters to restore and one wanting to be ridden now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow,
Sorry to hear about your neck pain. I hope you are feeling better. Take a look at the following book:

7 Steps to a Pain-Free Life: How to Rapidly Relieve Back and Neck Pain

by Robin McKenzie

This book literally cured my lower back pain. I had severe back pain that resulted from a pinched nerve in my lower back. I lost a lot of muscle on my left leg, and could not fully flex my foot. However, after 6 months of constant WALKING (even with severe pain) and doing the basic exercises in this book, I was basically pain-free (just mild stuff now and again), and even able to run a marathon.

I would get a few other consultations, and try to avoid surgery at all cost.

Very important: WALK as much as possible.

I'm a big fan of your blog and hope you get back to scootering and restoring your SS 180 as soon as possible.

Take care,
Matt
1980 Vespa P200, 1979 Vespa Rally 200

Fernando Floripa said...

hello my friend, I'm from Brazil and I have 5 scooters, 4 Vespa and a Lambretta 01. Congratulations for your site, I spent my morning to read the whole story of his SS ... I feel for his health and desire improvements! hugs