Re: Barb's Hip Reply to All

July 28, 2004

In a message dated 7/28/2004 7:08:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,

kdavis@... writes:

Thanks to all the replies on my hip problem

Dear Barb

I was so sorry to hear about your fall. I'm glad that your doggie was there

to help & I'm especially upset that it was supposed to be a " special "

weekend!! I gueess when you feel better, you'll have to REALLY make up for it!

I will actually see your folks down in Fla, next week. They are so nice & are

seeing my parents there. They're such great people. I can't say I'm

surprised, having known you for so long. Your Dad helped me sooooo much. I

only

hope he can help my Mom.

We'll send joint healing wished to you & hope you feel better soon,

Luv Ya.

July 28, 2004

Thanks to all the replies on my hip problem. Here is my combo reply to each

of you.

Cindy H

> What a way to end a beautiful day at the beach. Glad that it's improving

well, and hope it stays that way.

Yeah, and it was our anniversary weekend, so it kinda ruined our other

plans, if you know what I mean. Guess that stuff is out for awhile yet. :

(

> Can't blame you for saying no to surgery!!

There is no reason for surgery. The hip is unstable, but it's not an

everyday occurrence. This is the first time it's done this ever. It

normally goes in and out all the time without any major problems.

> How can a doctor say that one pain med works better when he's not the one

taking them?

He claims to have read a study that proved that codeine is no more effective

than Tylenol by itself. Probably a study funded by a drug company that

sells a competing drug, if you want my opinion. ly, all I wanted was

something to ease the pain, not something to make me totally unaware of the

world around me. I have taken the stronger drugs and they made me sicker

than a dog and so dazed I couldn't function. No thanks! Codeine works fine

for me and I only take it when I really need it. I've lived in this body

for 32 years and have been dealing with pain and taking codeine for it for

21 years. I know what works and I don't need some ER doc to tell me he

knows better.

> What a winner that ER doc was.

Precisely! I wonder what his drug company kick-back is, or the referral fee

the surgeon pays him.

Cristi,

> It's a good thing you didn't take the Percocet. It's such a strong

> opiate that a lot of people get addicted to it.

Had it once for my wisdom teeth. After only one pill I vomited so much that

it ripped the dental stitches out! NOT going to do that again!!

> Perhaps he was just really concerned about keeping you out of pain.

Maybe, but I like my drug-company kick-back theory better. Seriously, he

may have been concerned about the pain level. I was in real agony that

night. He was only going on my word though as I wasn't crying or screaming,

just cursing a little when I had to move. He wasn't really in the room long

enough to make any assessment at all. He just looked at the X-rays.

> Your story about the hospital sounds like every hospital visit I've

> ever had. In general, there's so much sitting and waiting involved

> that I've learned never even to contact a doctor when I've injured

> myself. It just aggravates the injury.

I seriously wanted to go home after the first 30 minutes, but I couldn't get

myself to the car and my husband wasn't getting up from his chair in the

waiting room. He just kept calmly reminding me that I needed to stay and

wait or neither of us would get any sleep.

> Of course, I have codeine,

> ice, heat, NSAIDs, and P-K-5 right here in the house so I have no

> reason to go in. (What else can anyone do for me?)

I used to have the codeine on hand and would normally just go see my regular

MD if necessary, but I have been doing so well that all my codeine expired

years ago. I haven't taken the stuff in over 5 years. I'd really forgotten

all about this kind of pain.

> The one

> problem being, of course, that people never see me in pain--and for

> some reason that's just terribly important to them. ;-)

Very true - same with me. People don't believe I have problems because they

never see it. But it's better that than to have so many problems that I

can't function.

> Hope your healing is swift and complete.

So far, so good. I am at work today and haven't had any pain at all.

> Sorry to hear about your problem with your hip. I know how frustrating

that

> must be to go in and have it checked and have so few options.

Well, this was an unusual case for me because normally the hip goes in, the

hip goes out, it does the hokey pokey and it turns itself about. But it

doesn't usually hurt much and it has NEVER been this bad before.

Fortunately, it seems to be okay now.

> Conair MBTS3 Thermal Spa Bathmat Bubble Massager

Used to have one of these. With Dad having the massage therapy stuff, we

have a spa room with a softub hot tub now. http://www.softub.com/ It's

really helpful for almost any achy joint problem. Not as good as having Dad

around to fix things, but it helps.

> Cheap shoes are the bane of humanity, and a perpetual element of

> foreboding. Where cheap shoes are, can calamity be far behind?

Yeah, these were the $6 shoes I bought in Ecuador after my $70 Birkenstocks

disappeared. They are good for getting the feet wet though. Just not a lot

of traction on seaweed.

> I'm so glad you have Sherlock to rescue you at times like this! Having

> Kerry available as pooper scooper is pretty good, too.

He is SO good about helping me when I need it. Kerry was joking about

letting my leg drop when he was helping me out of my chair and Sherlock

growled at him. How the dog knew that I was being threatened I don't know,

but he just glared at Kerry and let him know there would be NONE of that!

> Did he pay any attention in medical school? Sheesh, he should know better

> than to suggest a surgical fix to an EDS joint that is still mostly

> intact. Maybe if your hip couldn't stay in at all ever anymore....

Well, I don't think he really knew EDS at all. At least he didn't accuse me

of faking the dislocation. My hip goes in and out all the time, but the leg

is normally stable and doesn't give me trouble usually.

> Good for you for holding your ground! I know there is currently an

> anti-codeine wave of the Drug War (aka War on Pain Patients). I can't

help

> but suspect that some of the hysteria invoked against old cheap drugs is

at

> the hands of drug companies that have new expensive drugs they want to

> force people to use. But wanting you on Percocet instead of codeine? I

> don't see how that is supposed to be useful even for lining pockets.

See, this is my thoughts on it exactly. It has worked for me for 21 years,

why on earth would I try something different? I really wonder who funded

the study that claims codeine isn't as effective.

> Yeah, I had just been thinking how well you have been doing, and

> here you go and get yourself all out of whack again.

Well, it happened to get bad when I was on the IM with YOU!!! I didn't

realize how bad it was until I got up from after we got done chatting. I

was fine when I sat down to talk to you. Hmmmmmm....

> Maybe you can find that restaurant with the dangerous ramp and see if you

can serendiptously

> throw everything back exactly as it is supposed to be. That is still one

> of my favorite stories of yours.

Lana,

> Damn, Barb, I had a feeling something wasn't right! I'm sorry to

> hear this! I'll send you prayers and healing energy, as I know

> that's what your Dad would say to do, right?? Get better, and

> take it easy!

Yes, Dad sent his energy my way. I feel good today, so maybe it helped. I

know it is a lot better today than Monday.

> OK, Barb, fess up and share this glorious story with all of us!

Do any of you remember Janice Oliver from the CEDA list? She lived in

Oregon at the time and we had decided to meet up when she came to visit her

daughter in Seattle. Her daughter's husband was in a celtic band called the

Paperboys. We met up at a bar to chat and hear the band play. Her

son-in-law turned out to be a real jerk and has since left the band and his

wife, but I became a huge fan of the band (minus Janice's ex-son-in-law).

The second time I went to see the Paperboys was at a little hole-in-the-wall

bar in Ballard, WA called The Backstage Bar. I ordered tickets in advance

and let them know I was coming in a wheelchair. I had been in the chair off

and on a lot due to serious back pain. I'd been in physical therapy for

about 3 months with very little progress. I was alone that night because

Kerry was working grave-yard shifts back then. Because I was alone, I

didn't drink anything but soda the whole night.

I decided to leave the club at about 1:00 a.m. and headed up the ramp. The

ramp was only a portable hunk of wood that they put over the stairs for me.

It was secure, but it wasn't up to ADA code in terms of how steep the

incline was. I also had a small bag on the back of my wheelchair. I

managed to get half-way up the ramp on the push of the wheels. I cranked

the arms back to make a second shove forward to get the rest of the way up.

Instead of the wheels advancing forward, the chair flipped over backward.

My spine hit the ramp hard, then my legs flew into the air went up over my

head, and then landed on the ground behind me. Just as I hit the ground,

the chair righted itself (without my weight pulling it down) and then began

to roll backward over the top of me. Some bar patrons quickly jumped up to

grab the chair to keep me from being run over. I laid there, stunned, for a

moment trying to figure out how my face had come to be so well acquianted

with the floor this time.

The bar manager walked me out to my car and asked if I needed to see a

doctor or anything. I told him I would let him know. He apologized over

and over and offered to do whatever I needed to be taken care of, but at the

same time let me know the club was on the verge of bankruptcy, so if I sued,

they would just go out of business.

The next day, I went to my PT appointment. I felt pretty good - no pain.

My therapist checked my spine and commented that she couldn't fine anything

out for the first time in months! Somehow, the slamming into the floor

jammed everything in place. Not a treatment I would recommend, but it sure

felt good to be pain-free after months of bad back pain! Naturally, I

didn't see a need to complain to the bar owner since I was actually healed

instead of injured by the experience. Despite my not suing them or sending

them my medical bills, they still went out of business within only a few

months.

So, that's the story referred to. Kerry actually brought it up at the

hospital and suggested tipping me over sideways to see if it would work on

the hip. I decided not to let him try it.

Bernie,

> Barb: I'm getting the sense you're a bit of a chip off the old

> block...so to speak. Doesn't surprise me somehow!

> Gives you an opportunity to practice some of the energy healing tricks

> on yourself huh!

Well, I didn't do anything. Dad sent some long-distance energy my way. I

am ashamed to admit, I have learned very little from him because it's just

so easy to let him do it because he lives so close. This is a reminder to

me to pay more attention. I know all that is possible, but the idea of

doing it myself didn't really occur to me until after he was gone.

-Barb

July 28, 2004