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  #1  
Old 07-05-2003, 09:45 AM
Frank J Warner Frank J Warner is offline
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Lompoc, California
Posts: 506
Flat on my back - Back on my feet

After walking the kids around Disneyland for two days last weekend I was anxious to get back into my shop and get some work done. I even cleaned the place up real nice so I'd have room to toss stuff when I got back.

Before I could do anything, I needed to make a Monday morning trip to the welding shop to get a full oxygen bottle for my oxy-acetyline rig. I disconnected the gauge and rolled the empty tank out to my truck, then bent down to pick it up and throw it in the back of the truck.

It's a big tank, weighs well over 100 pounds. I got the thing about two inches off the ground when I felt something pop in my back. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life; like a jolt of electricity coursing through my whole body, and it put me on the ground on my knees, shaking, almost in tears, saying words I don't dare repeat here with what little breath I had left.

It took me ten minutes to straighten myself up, get back on my feet and into the house, cursing all the way, where the missus saw me and marched me right back out to the car and down to the urgent care center.

The Doc said I'd just pulled a muscle in my lower back, thank goodness. It wasn't a slipped disk or a compression fracture, although it hurt just as badly.

It's now Saturday and I've been out of commission for about a week, loaded up with Soma, Vicodin and Naproxen, plus all the beer and JD I could handle. Finally got through the worst of the pain and had some time over the Fourth to work on a new fixed blade tactical. My back actually feels better when I move around a bit, and it seems to be healing, although it's still a chore to get out of bed in the morning.

I'll be 52 next month. I'm too young for this cr*p. You can bet your sweet acidophilus I'll be more careful in the future.

-FJW

PS: Oh yeah, I finally got the empty bottle back to the welder. The missus' two teenaged boys helped me wrestle it into the truck on Thursday and they unloaded the full one when we got back.
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  #2  
Old 07-05-2003, 10:25 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada
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Back pain has to be some of the worst. Hurts when you move hurts when you're still. Had a herniated disk about 5 yeras ago and am still occassionally paying the price for that. Only thing I have found that helps consistently is the Robaxacet. Well that and losing some weight. The more I have up front the more the back objects. Hope you feel better. You may just have to make small knives for a while.
Steve


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  #3  
Old 07-05-2003, 12:48 PM
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maclean maclean is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 27
I injured my lower back a few years ago and my doctor told me I had a pulled muscle for three years - turns out I'd herniated two disks, one later ruptured. I went in for a decompressive lumbar laminectomy and fusion of the L4 & L5 verts on 6/21/02 after I'd found a new doctor. Problem is that because it was misdiagnosed for so long I now have permanent nerve damage and all those associated problems.

If you find yourself not getting better and thinking "this doesn't feel like a pulled muscle," listen to your instincts and go for a second opinion or hit the E.R. and get an MRI. Back problems aren't something to screw around with, mine cost me well over $65,000 and another pending surgery this coming November - Thank God for health insurance!

BTW, thanks for posting the FAQ on your website, I'm following your order of equipment purchases now and hope to be ready to start my first knife soon.

Jack
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Old 07-05-2003, 02:39 PM
Frank J Warner Frank J Warner is offline
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Location: Lompoc, California
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Quote:
If you find yourself not getting better and thinking "this doesn't feel like a pulled muscle,"
That's what I told the Doc. I've pulled muscles before and this felt nothing at all like that. There was an audible "pop" when my back went out, and I was positive it was more serious than she said it was. But she did all the tests, reflex, movement, feeling, etc., and proclaimed it was just a muscle. She took no X-rays and ordered no MRIs, even after I asked. She's been my Doc for the last 12 years and I've had no reason to quibble with her before. But, after your tale, I might have to insist.

You younger guys, watch your back. Take your vitamins. Lift right. 'Cause this hurts like nothing else I've ever felt. (Put that in perspective: I was shot twice in Vietnam. One tore out a kidney, the other shattered my left radius. One healed, the other didn't, but neither one hurt quite as much as what I felt last week.)

The irony is that, IRL, I'm the supervisor at my job, and I'm required to teach two safety courses each year. One of them is how to lift heavy objects safely.

Guess I'm gonna have some show & tell for the next lesson

-FJW
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Old 07-05-2003, 05:26 PM
C.M. Arrington C.M. Arrington is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Rome, Georgia
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Mine got so bad that I bought a TENS unit. I use it when I tweak my back doing something that I shouldn't. If you felt a pop, you probably should insist on an MRI or X-ray.
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  #6  
Old 07-05-2003, 05:58 PM
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maclean maclean is offline
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Location: Nashville, TN
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Same as my doctor, he raised my leg and said "See, if it were a disk you'd scream when I did that." Eventually he did take x-rays but said it didn't show anything.

Once I finally got the MRI results I was referred to a neurosurgeon with a 3 week waiting list (and my doctor left town for two weeks). After waiting in his office for three hours I grabbed my films, told the receptionist my thoughts and walked out. I called my doctor's office and told the nurse exactly what I'd just been through. The doctor called me back and said "I don't appreciate that kind of language, you have 30 days to find a new primary care physician." This guy had been my doctor for 17 years!

I considered a lawsuit and even spoke with a lawyer but serious family concerns took priority and I had to let it go.

If you're still having trouble or getting tingling and numbness in your legs and feet then I'd say you should get an MRI and prevent the problem from becoming permanent. I told my doctor my feet were going numb and he said that it was the inflamed muscle pressing on the nerve. BTW, I'll be 36 later this month and my best years are already behind me... get a second opinion or as many as it takes to feel satisfied, don't trust any doctor's opinion over your own.

Jack

Last edited by maclean; 07-05-2003 at 06:05 PM.
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