Went and had an MRI done this morning on my lower back so they can see exactly what is getting pinched off and where.
Hopefully.
I heard lots of stories about people freaking out over the ordeal.
It makes all kinds of noises but being a mechanic and a Heavy Metal fan I actually found them to be almost melodic and like individual pieces of a Heavy Metal/ Industrial Grunge type song.
I almost fell asleep inside the thing.
I swear the thing reminded me of the Vacuum Heat Treat Ovens at the joint I used to work at.
I used to have to climb inside a pipe about the same diameter and drill out broken bolts and shit.
So Claustrophobia ain’t a thing with me in the first place.
I’m just very seriously hoping they can put a finger on the sections of my lower back that are pinching the nerves causing me all the misery I have lived with the last 40 years and either tell me YES they can fix it or NO they can’t so I can make the decision to fucking retire and be done with it.
So very conveniently, my lower back has been out for three days already so maybe that will help them see what’s messed up.
It has gotten more and more unstable here lately so I have to be super careful about the things I do.
I still don’t know what options I have with the blocked arteries in my legs either, there are still appointments, procedures and Consultations with the Cardiologist yet to be done and that, more than my back, is going to be driving whether or not I throw in the towel.
If they can’t fix my legs then I am all done wrenching and pretty much anything else for that matter.
For now I wait.
It will be at least 24 hours before I see anything on the MY CHART thing under TEST RESULTS.
Then another week before I see my Doc so she can dumb down the results into some form of English so that I can figure out what they are seeing.
I like pictures. Then I don’t need the interpretations so much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5n7pGyHWDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwO_SC2ZiBg&t=15s
Use Google to translate the info you get from My Chart, then hopefully you will have some idea of what your doctor will be telling you before you get there.
Hey Phil, I went for hearing aids and the audiologist said my decline could be a tumor in my right ear canal . I countered that I’m right handed so that 1/2 impact that was at the r/s of my head for 45 years is likely the cause. Nope off for the MRI. I thought this was probably an upsell as they just moved to a fancy new building with the attendant increase in overhead. They put me in that tube and I was out like a light, noise was familiar even soothing. I declined purchasing the hearing aids from them and found a place that was 2 k cheaper for the same aid. I explained to him about the MRI thinking it was an up sell cause the insurance would pay for it. He agreed saying that my symptoms didn’t add up to that diagnosis. Anyway I wish you the best and hope your pain can be re!ieved. Allan
What?
Hope they get results they can do something positive with.
I was in one of those about a year and a half ago for an LD scan.
Scored a “1”, so I figured I was good for awhile.
Then, earlier this year they wanted another one:
Me: “I had one a year ago.”
Them: “We want you to do one every year.”
Me: “Bugger that.”
I hadn’t thought about anything HT related for a long time — then you reminded me.
Putting out an deep prayer for you tonight Broheim!
As always, not knowing is worse than knowing – good or bad. Fingers crossed for you! I thought that our local hospital MRI machine was knackered, but apparently they all sound like a bag of spanners!
Oh, please Jannie, please don’t use Brit colloquiums like Johno does with his Aussie gibberish, we have enough to decipher him…
I thought it.
You saved me from having to say it. Every now and then I’m reminded that you’re good for something around here. I only wish I had read your reply first. I shook my head back and forth so hard thinking oh no not another one that I hurt my neck.
You’re all wankers!
At least we don’t have to decipher you… and it takes one to know one…
Phil I am pulling for you brother, but my gut is telling me like the rest of us shit is wore out. It may just be time to ease back on the throttle and get some of those happy pills for when you really need them I do wish you well friend and I’m praying for you
I know you are and I appreciate it very much.
Prayers are powerful things.
I have a bottle of those Happy Pills. They knock me down. Just what I need sometimes.
I installed and serviced MRI machines for over 30 years before I retired in 2019. It is one hell of a piece of technology and they have come a long way since the earliest ones from the 80’s.
had a few and every time i fall asleep…
fine, great. did you file your claim with SSD ? from the sounds of it. you should get it. my lower back went ‘out” back in 2009- big time. drank every bottle of booze I could get to numb the pain. I even drank a 30 year old bottle of scotch that sat on my shelf for 8 years- NO, I do not remember drinking it either. anyway, a buddy drag my ass to a ER that he worked at and they looked at me. took CT scans and the ER doc shot me up with some good shit- lasted for 20 minutes. gave me a scrip
for 60 perks. 10 mg. and told me to get to a spinal Doc fast. got fucked around by 2 different hospitals and costing me over 100 grand- got to love blue cross !
then the VA took a crack at it. fun times there. got sent home the same day
WITHOUT ANY PAIN MEDS. had to wait 4 days to get them- more fun.
but when they did come, boy did they drug my ass up. time release morphine 2 times a day. perks every 4 hours. 10 mg valium 2 times a day.
there are 2 years of my life I do not remember. really, I don’t remember it.
stopped the morphine first- kind of easy. it is a bit like being drunk. pain is still there, but you don’t care or give a shit.
the Valium was next to go. kind of miss that. with it I could sleep for 6-8 hours easy ! now, the best I can do is maybe 4 hours.
and swapped out the perks for 10 mg. hydrocodone with acetaminophen 3 times a day and a half pill for spike pain when it happens.
try to get some lidocaine patches if you can 5% ones. they help out a lot !
life is okay, but I do miss being able to do shit with out pain/burning feeling
used to do MRI for years. work at tunnel and open units
open units paid more as you had to deal with all of the nut jobs that got scared in the tube unit. funny, cops where the biggest babies when it came to that shit.
had one cop, never forgot this clown. had 4 GUNS on him. he even wanted to take them in the room with him? anyway. glad you got a MRI done.
NOW. START YOUR PAPERWORK FOR SSD !
you will be shocked at how fast your 401k will go and how much the fucking IRS will take from it as you try to pay medical bills and keep a roof over your head.
trust me on this. mine was getting fat before I had to dip into it to pay bills
so, now you know why I love blue cross so much-fuckers. and for the assholes
at SSI/D. thanks to the bitch who tossed my paperwork in a trash can as soon as was out of sight. note to self. write down the names of every fucking asshole you
have to deal with at SSI/D. I did but it still had to refile my claim with them.
ended up going to court as the clowns in SSD wanted me to teach high school in either north or west philly- no shit.
the judge looks like she was getting pissed and I thought I was getting fucked again.
but no. she was pissed at them for fucking me around for 3 years.
so, they dumped the money in my account and the IRS came for “their share”
of course. did I say how much I hate those fucks ?
and then people stare at me when I say things like “I wish old Vlad would just nuke DC and get it all over with ” the whole system is rotten to it ‘s core.
might as well if it got nuked and we had to start over.
so, start getting names of SSD lawyers NOW. the most they can get is 6 grand
but your paperwork will not get “lost” in the system. start now.
Phil- Dude! Go ahead and retire while you can still do stuff! My wife and I were both forced by Big Company to retire early. (They get rid of >55) Was weird at first but now all is adjusted and great. My doc said I wore myself out making rich men richer.
My money is on lumbar stenosis.
I’ve had many MRIs for various body parts. None bothered me in the least except for the shoulder. Apparently, that is the most difficult, according to the MRI operator. For that one, they lifted the table as high as it would go, then had me half roll to my side.
Not only did that severely increase the pain but I couldn’t get a full breath. I was near unconcious before he got me out. I lasted maybe 5 minutes into what was to be 20 minutes.
Rooting for ya and praying that the fix is non surgical or minor surgery. Assume you use a compression brace to keep things aligned better.
Mine goes out randomly over the past 20 years, so far doc just says live on advil and don’t act like you are still 30 when it comes to lifting and wrenching. Need to lose weight too, not easy for an old retired fart.
Operations are always a last resort cause the success rate ain’t that high. You can get lucky or screwed. One of my former bosses has had 5 operations, the first 4 did not fix it, fused some vertebrae and did some other shit with synthetic disks. Guy lived on painkillers The fifth fixed things as good as they could, then he retired so no updates.
I just deal with it and try not to be an idiot (tough one that).
28 years ago the DR prescribed an MRI for my back, asked if I was claustrophobic and good give me a valium before the MRI. I declined the drug, I am very claustrophobic !!!
The nurse asked 600 times if I had in metal in my body.
The good news is that being tall, my shoulders to head were out of the machine.
I as I was laying there, I kept thinking that there’s no problem
Just laying in a metal tube
Like a coffin
I almost worked myself into a frenzy !!!
Good news the test only took 20 minutes.
I ended up with a herniated disk that had ruptured (my right calf was numb) and I had an L5 microdiscectomy a week later.
I thank GOD every day that I had literally the best surgeon in my state and that the surgery was done at a time when it was almost outpatient.
Fingers crossed, Phil.
Retire? Damn.I would if I could, but having it forced on you? Shit.
Been dealing with back problems since the 80’s. Best advice I got was “don’t do surgery until you absolutely have to”.
I’ve been going to a chiropractor since then. Amazing what happens with an adjustment. And as reference; I don’t have any cushion left in my L5-S1 or my L4-L5. Now my thoracic area is starting to crap put.
But a visit to the chiropractor every 2 weeks , makes me golden.
I’m a big fan of chiropractic. Like anything, some are better than others, some are little better than quacks. Find one that does something to you that fixes you.
I fell off a ladder into auditorium seats and broke a vertebrae, some 29 years ago. Chiro, stretching, and lately, the foam yoga roll under my back while I stretch my hips and lower back have all worked for me. I do take an anti-inflammatory every day. Vitamin B12 seems to help with the pain and tingling in the leg and foot that comes with the nerve pinching… just like for neuropathy.
I will sometimes still get myself in a state that only a couple of intense chiro visits and some tylenol 3 will fix, but I’ve learned how to work my hips over that foam roll to get 90% of the issues myself.
Chronic pain poisons every part of your life. Do what needs to be done to fix it, but PLEASE do every freaking thing possible to try before letting them cut, and I mean everything- accupunture, massage, chiro, witchcraft and voodoo if needed. Once they cut, you will never be the same, and very few people that I know have been better afterward.
Good luck,
nick
Back problems are no joke, Phil. With your age and work experience, chances are you’ve got a minimum of soft tissue damage in your spinal area! I’m not a doctor, but I’ve seen so many people crippled by continuing working when they need to call it quits before they get laid up permanently.
Keep good records of EVERYthing, copy those records, electronic and paper. Be prepared to fight for your rights because you darn well EARNED it!
We’re pulling for ya!
Saw this and WTF? I wonder if any of the medicos at your treatment had stories like this…. https://www.iflscience.com/this-is-why-you-should-never-wear-a-metal-butt-plug-in-an-mri-machine-68886
Saw that at work Friday.
WTF indeed!
“Anal Rail Gun”.
I used to do MRI. you would not believe what shit people have in them. and you would never believe how fucking stupid office managers are that run said sites.
honest to god, had one who told me I could scan a patient with a pacemaker in them, if I just pushed the patient in real slow like. I told her if one comes in with one, I am walking out the door after warning the patient not to go it there.
if you want to see weird shit, work X-ray for the ER 3 shift.
that is when all of the nuts come it. some of the “people” who came into HUP ER after 11pm where not the best folks
to say the least of them.
one place I worked had a Garrett wand to scan people before they even got close to the MRI room.
there is a reason why they ask you so many times.
we have found that people lie about things like that.
My prayers are with you, brother.
Hope you cruise through this Phil, and it’s probably just a sign you should be taking it easy and start acting like a retired old fart.
And I fell asleep during my MRI too.
Best wishes on a most positive solution. I took an prone to sleeping in the MRI. I thought it a rarity until reading a few if the replies here. I’ll be back in the tube myself soon… Damn neck. Feel better and persevere!
I’m also with trying a Chiropractor. I’ve found over the years that ones trained at Palmer College have the best knowledge. It takes 8 years to graduate. Had one that diagnosed a hip problem after 20+ years. Said it would take a while. Went twice a week for 5 months and one movement there was a crack like a gunshot went off. Some relief immediately and he said it’ll get better and within 2/3 weeks most of the pain was gone. And please only do surgery as Very Last Resort. Prayers for you.
I didn’t think you could bring your camera in there…