Having a bad back is literally a PAIN...throw in arthritis, that's a double whammy!!!

Whatever you do, don't injure your back. You hurt your back & you ain't worth a flip.

I was "healthy as a horse," had only been in an Emergency Room once in my life. I joined the United States Air Force in 1983, where I was a medic. I hurt my back two months after getting out of basic training. (It wasn't the Air Force's fault!!)

Spent two months in the hospital on what they called "conservative therapy." Basically, it was bed rest alternating with testing & physical torture...I meant, therapy. It was determined that I had suffered a "herniated nuclear pulposis," or, to you that don't speak Medical-ese, a ruptured (slipped) disc. Was finally discharged from the hospital & put on "light duty"--did everything except lifting patients (couldn't lift anything over 10 pounds...most patients weighed more than that...unless they were babies! And I didn't work with the babies...I worked with the grown-ups. Most adults I know weigh over 10 pounds...)

Suddenly, I lost all feeling & movement in my left leg & was flown by Medivac airplane to Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center in San Antonio (the Air Force's biggest & best hospital); further testing warrented immediate surgery. I had the best neurosurgeon the Air Force had...flew through surgery & recovered well enough to be sent home three days later. NO PAIN...whoo-hoooooooo!

Had to rest a month (recuperative leave), then was sent back to work. The Air Force decided that I was too good of a medic, so they put me right back to doing what I had been doing before injuring my back.

WARNING...WARNING...

Did great for a year. One year to the day after having my surgery, I was making a bed with the patient in it (an "occupied bed"). This poor lady had Altzheimers. She was a large lady...208 pounds. I told her to lay on her back in the middle of the bed & DON'T MOVE.

She moved...rolled right outta bed & onto me.

I couldn't do anything...I had had my arms under the mattress, tucking in the sheets so there wouldn't be any wrinkles, which might cause her to develop bedsores. She rolled out & onto my upper arms...down we went, me under her.

OW--PAIN LINES!!!

Needless to say, she had a softer landing than I did...& my back was MOST unhappy with me. I'm not angry with her, because she didn't know what she was doing. I'm NOT thrilled with the Air Force's decision to put me back working as a medic after having back surgery...they could have put me working behind the desk, doing paperwork or something...

Back to Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center.

FOUR MONTHS. That's how long THIS hospitalization lasted.

More physical tor...THERAPY! Lots & LOTS of therapy. Complete bed rest. More testing (including a second EMG & myelogram...no seizures, but the world's worst headache...for NINE DAYS). But, no surgery.

After I got out of the hospital (again) I was put back on light duty, but my back never recovered. I was discharged from the USAF after 2 years, 2 months, 15 days (& 39 seconds, I always say). An honerable discharge under medical conditions.

I was left in pain after the second back injury, it never left. (STILL hasn't.) I have nerve damage; the sciatic nerves (the longest nerves in the body, running from the buttocks down to the feet) down both legs can give me pure T fits; my back hurts 24/7. (Some days it's better than others.) There ain't anything that can be done about it...when the lady fell on me, it damaged all of the nerves, muscles & tendons, & where I'd had the disc removed was now a mass of scar tissue. That can't be removed; it would just grow back in twice as much & cause further complications. Basically: LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT.

Then, to make things more fun, I developed osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis, the most common form) in my back, hips, knees, feet, shoulders & now it's starting in my neck & in some of my fingers.

Some mornings, I'm so stiff & sore I don't wanna get out of bed. But I carry on because I have no choice...can't live on the $199.00 a month the VA sends me, so I have to work. (We're not talking a "Rolls Royce" budget here...my current job is not that good of a paying job, but I love my work as a cashier at a Golden Corral Restaurant, & I am grateful to be working ANYWHERE. I've been there four years & don't plan on leaving any time soon!)

My legs aren't as dependable as they once were, so I use a cane to help take some of the pressure off of my wore-out joints. (On really bad days--when they have to issue a severe pain warning--I'll use a crutch, but I really hate that danged thing with a purple passion...the danged armband gets hungry & bites me! [I don't use a regular, underarm crutch...rubbed my poor boobs raw. I use a "Canadian" or "Loftstrand" forearm crutch.] I really try not to depend on using that unless I absolutely HAVE to.)

My twin sister was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 1998; she was having pain in her knees & hips, but now has it in her shoulders, elbows, hands, fingers & feet. It's MY fault...since we're twins, she says that I just HAD to share it 'cause I share everything with her...THANKS FOR SHARING, KARLA!!, she says.