Comments on: A very Trump Christmas

By: ER

ER — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 04:01:58 +0000

All that remains now is an occasional twinge, and I’m sure I will be able to exercise normally in just a few more days. I must have just pulled a muscle without even realizing it.

Still, sooner or later, I’m going to have to deal with the real thing, or something like it. I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

By: RL

RL — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 02:33:46 +0000

But I have known many people that needed knee replacements and it made a huge difference in their lives with minimal complications- obviously you have to weigh the risk vs benefit for yourself, but its a common procedure with fairly low risk…

I do hope it passes naturally, ER, take care of yourself!

By: ER

ER — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 00:51:57 +0000

You know me, I’ve always leaned a bit to the left.

I often over-extend my left leg when I dismount my bicycle, maybe I just stretched it a bit too far the last time I went biking. But I don’t recall doing so, and it didn’t bother me until the next day.

Still, that injury will eventually heal. The ball-and-socket joint joining the leg to the pelvis is something else again. A hip replacement at my age would be a pain in the ass, no pun intended, and I know doctors love to do them because its a big payday for them.

Dem Bones

the long version is definitely worth sitting through…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVU0F19IEjk

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 21:43:33 +0000

My sympathies, ER. I had bursitis in one shoulder for several years after foolishly jumping up to grab a beam, and I know it hurts like hell (and it was my right shoulder, and at the time I drove a stick). I’m still limping a bit today from mashing my left kneecap during a fall, and I think I may have induced a touch of bursitis in it. That’s the thing about bursitis, in my experience: It took a trauma to mash the bursa to cause the inflammation. Do you recall doing anything to your hip? Coming down hard on that leg, maybe?

I got pragmatic about the shoulder pain, and went to a sports doctor, on the theory that he’d patch me up and get me back in the game with no fuss. Sure enough, after an x-ray, they injected a mix of novocaine and cortisone into my shoulder, and I felt great right away.

But I don’t think just numbing the pain will deal with your clutch problem. There’ll come a time when you have to give up driving entirely, so you might want to look at just shifting (ha ha) to an automatic to be not so bad a deal after all.

Hang in there, ER, and have the Merriest Christmas you can.

By: ER

ER — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 16:14:52 +0000

Now that the financial issues I describe above finally appear to be on the way to resolution, something else has arisen to trouble my golden years. My left leg gave out. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly, two days ago, a full day after I rode effortlessly on my bicycle around the neighborhood. I get plenty of exercise on my bike, I don’t think that is the cause of the problem. Every time I put any weight on my left leg, or move it in any slight angle from the vertical, I get a stabbing pain in my hip that makes it impossible to stand without support. Even getting in or out of bed has to be carefully choreographed ahead of time. Of course, its Christmas, so seeing my doctor (who will invariably just send me to a specialist) is not an option until next year. You don’t get treated when you go to a doctor, you just have to make another appointment and get a referral. I probably won’t get this leg checked out until spring.

The problem is not severe enough to go to the emergency room, but I’m finding it difficult to get around the house, even with a cane, and any outside business is impossible. I can still drive, (although just getting in or out of a bucket seat is a slow and painful process) but if it gets any worse I may not be able to do so (both my cars are standard shift, and my clutch leg is affected. My wife hasn’t driven in years for health reasons, and her license is about to expire.

Hopefully, this is just the same kind of arthritis or bursitis that has troubled me before (both my left and right arms were immobilized for days in the past, requiring physical therapy, though not at the same time). I only need one hand to steer, but I need my right arm to shift gears. On the other hand, I am aware that this clutch leg casualty might be a hip joint socket issue, and that may require surgery. People die from opportunistic, antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals these days. They are to be avoided at all costs.

I have two perfectly good automobiles I’m quite fond of, the thought I might have to trade them in for one with an automatic transmission does not cheer me up. I always used to disdain automatics as ‘driving for crips’, now I may have to eat my words.