On Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:52:39 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> wrote:

> I can attest to the back surgery conundrum. I had lumbar fusion surgery (3, 4, 5 and S1) about three years ago, and
> arthritis plus scar tissue has created severe chronic pain and further degeneration. There is no plus
> in my case, and seniors who abuse narcotics like hydrocodone have made it extremely difficult, if not
> Impossible, to get effective painkillers prescribed by over-conscientious scaredy-cat physicians.
> They should be scared. Most mornings when I wake up, the tenor of my day is, I hate my life.

That's because those drugs don't work in the long run. It works for a
while, then your body gets used to the dose, so the Dr. gives you a
stronger one. Pretty soon you're dependent and then you're an addict
in a permanent fog. Pain control is a lose lose situation. My son in
law has had a lifetime of pain control since age 12. He was
prescribed narcotics in recent years, then a synthetic to get off the
narcotic. The synthetic turned out to be the worse of the two, so he
decided to detox (not easy). He sees a shrink, an MD who will help
him with pain management, but won't prescribe narcotics, a physical
therapist, goes to the gym, does acupuncture - there's probably more
I'm not remembering. I know he was considering Qi (pronounced: chi)
Gong at one point, but I don't think he's doing it. What used to be
an 8 or 9 on the pain scale is now a 2-4, totally manageable and he's
his old self. I almost jumped for joy the last time he was over
because the first thing he did was go to the refrigerator looking for
something to eat. His appetite is back big time and that's a good
thing, IMO.


--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.