January 18, 2014
My Journeymidlife, retirement, RVing, transition
Click here to visit our new blog!
As many of you know, Ive stopped posting new content here. The old stuff is relevant and I get a lot of traffic still so the blog will remain up for new retirees to discover. But, as Ive said in the past, Ive kind of moved on. Im retired, Ive transitioned and I ran out of things to say. I actually work quite hard writing but I do that for me. It has, for now, become my retirement while my wife works and my boys grow up. But in a few years, theyll be adults, my wife will quite her job and well make another transition.
This time, it will be to an RV. Yep, were planning on full-timing in an RV for a period of time. Could be a couple of years, could be until the DMV wont renew our licenses or were just to damned old to do it. Who knows? In any case, I invite you to check out my new blog, Midlife on Wheels. Its bit slow in the making right now since its mostly planning and such but in a couple of years, it will be our travel journal. Jen and I would love to see you over there.
March 22, 2013
General Retirement, Rambling Monologuesadvice, fishing, Fly Fish Nevada, goodbye, moving on, retirement, RVing, thanks, update
Im moving on. Ive had a good time blogging about retirement over the last few years. I like to think Ive helped a few people making the decision to retire and offered some good advice, even if I dont always follow it myself. As Ive said, retirement isnt the end, its the beginning. Ive transitioned completely into a comfortable groove and I was running out of sage advice. So, Im no longer going to update this blog. I will however be consolidating all my blogging activity on my main blog, Fly Fish Nevada.
This blog will remain up until WordPress pries it from my cold, dead haOK, maybe thats a little dramatic but you get the idea. I will likely begin a blog to detail our transition from a stick house to an RV but thats a few years off. In the meantime, I will be blogging over at Fly Fish Nevada. Not just about fishing either. Ill probably throw out the occasional retirement post, posts about life in general, whatever. I hope you join me over there. If youve found this blog for the first time, feel free to browse and read whats here. Its still applicable.
Thanks for reading.
December 4, 2012
General Retirement, My Journeyattitude, back pain, back surgery, exercise, mountain bike, physical therapy
The new bike that allows me to get a lot more exercise than I can walking and with no pain.
I saw my surgeon last week, well his assistant anyway, and it was good. She was happy to see Ive been improving. In her words, I beat the odds. She said most people move towards surgery, not away from it. Im moving away. Its funny. Pretty much everyone, my surgeon, his assistant, my two physical therapists, everyone, says back surgery is not a good thing, especially spinal fusion. I agree. You do it because you have to.
I educated myself and decided against it. I think many doctors in our litigation happy society play it safe. If the patient wants it, they do it. More
November 12, 2012
General Retirement, My Journeyacceptance, back pain, core strength, Disneyland, pain management, physical therapy, posture
Enjoying Disneyland with Jen. No we didnt just get off Splash Mountain, it was raining.
As I detailed last time, I have decided to forgo surgery on my back. I wanted to wait to do some physical therapy before posting again. I also planned a trip to Disneyland since I wasnt having surgery and wanted to contrast that trip with the one I took last year. It was a memorable experience and I could easily compare the trips to see if things have improved or not.
Physical therapy first. Im doing water therapy, basically exercises done in a warm pool to strengthen my back and abdominal muscles. The water helps stabilize your body and lessen the impact. Im doing well and I can tell its working because it leaves me tired and sore, but only for a few hours. Mostly its stretches and basic core building exercises. More
October 21, 2012
General Retirement, My Journeyattitude, back surgery, good attitude, manage pain, physical therapy, weight loss
I was finally able to speak with my surgeon last week. It was very productive and I got some bad news and some good news. Im not having surgery in the near future. Thats part of the good news, but the bad news first. I wanted to take care of the herniated disk and try some non-surgical methods to attack my slipped vertebrae. Unfortunately, the surgeon showed me that I have bones spurs that are also pinching the L5 nerve and hes afraid removing those will destabilize my back requiring the fusion. Wonderful.
The good news is those bone spurs are helping to hold my back stable and preventing further slippage. I dont have to worry about the problem getting worse. The surgeon also agrees that physical therapy is likely a good approach and might even further stabilize or even reverse the slippage. Thats good to hear. So, this week Im beginning water therapy. Not totally sure what that is, but is obviously involves water and therapy. Im also continuing my exercise regimen, losing weight and taking further steps to either avoid the pain or help improve it.
Until last week, I was coming at this from the standpoint that surgery was the answer. A simple removal of part of my herniated disk is relatively straight forward and Id done all I could do otherwise to fix it. But now, that surgery has become much more complicated and I dont want it. That has changed my attitude. Now I am determined to do everything I can to avoid or at least postpone surgery for as along as I can. That means changing the way I sleep, sit, eat, you name it.
I suppose now this blog will change with me. Instead of documenting my surgery and recovery, it will document my efforts to avoid those. Ive got a lot of ideas and theories. I honestly already feel better and part of that is surely my attitude. I walked two miles today. No stopping to squat down and relieve the pain and when I got home, it hurt but it was manageable. Im hoping with the help of the therapist, I can find other ways to improve. Ill talk about some of my ideas next time. Hopefully all this will help someone decided for themselves and maybe help them avoid a serious surgery.
October 12, 2012
General Retirement, My Journeyback surgery, cortisone shot, herniated disk, l4 l5, l5 s1, leg pain, physical therapy, slipped disk, spinal fusion, surgery, weight loss
Ive spent the last week or so contemplating my back surgery. I scheduled surgery for November 5th, 2012 and I was scheduled to have a partial diskectomy (shaving off the bulge on my L5-S1 disk) and a have my L4-L5 joint fused. Well, spinal fusion is a big deal. Ive read so many negative things about it and the pain and recovery are intense. I read one study that said the average recovery 15 months! Additionally, fusing one joint puts more strain on the surrounding joints and many people have additional fusions to fix the problems the first fusion causes.
I have leg pain consistent with a pinched L5 nerve, the nerve that exits the spine between vertebrae L-5 and S-1. Just so happens I also have a herniated disk right there and on the same side the pain is on. The evidence seems to point to that herniated disk. I also have that slipped disk and my spine is offset slightly just above that, but I have no pain I can associate with that. The L4 nerve, the one that exits between L-4 and L-5, runs down your leg also, but in different areas. I have no pain in those areas and no significant back pain.
Back surgery is usually a last resort. Ive tried exercise, chiropractic care, anti-inflammatories, physical therapy and a cortisone shot to help that leg pain and none worked. Surgery makes sense, especially because the surgery for the herniated disk is fairly straight forward. Spinal fusion is not so straight forward and Ive never tried to fix the problem, a problem I wasnt even aware of before the surgeon took an x-ray to help him with my herniated disk surgery, with non-surgical methods. I havent done specific exercises, lost weight or done any physical therapy, decompression, etc.
I should though. Without specific pain and without any non-surgical treatment for the slipped disk and offset vertebrae, I cant see doing something so invasive and recovery intensive. If I had debilitating pain from that problem, even then Id try non-surgical techniques first. Spinal fusion is serious business and can cause other problems. The failure rate is relatively high. Im 46 and I have a lot of time left to live and do damage the surrounding joints that would have to work harder to make up for the fused joint. I dont want to spend the rest of my life climbing up my spine with fusions or cause a new problem to fix something that really isnt a problem.
Ive contacted my surgeon and Im waiting hear back. Im hoping they will go along with my wishes and see my logic. If not, Ill find another surgeon. I would have to hear a lot to change my mind. People, maybe even you, live with slipped disks, compressed disks, herniated disks, etc. without any symptoms or with manageable symptoms. Id rather lose weight (4.6 lbs so far), do physical therapy, even take mild painkillers than spend 12 months in pain and recovery. Im young and Id rather be out doing stuff.
So, thats the latest update. Ill post again after I discuss this with my surgeon, hopefully today or Monday, and see whats what. Oh, by the way, if my medical terminology is off, please excuse me.
October 4, 2012
General Retirement, My Journeyback surgery, degenerative disk disease, health care, herniated disk, slipped disk, surgery
As many of you know, retirement isnt all fun and games. Ive blogged several times about the fact that while retirement is great, its still real life with real problems and real obstacles. One of those obstacles is often health. We all have degenerative life disease (youll see where that comes from in a minute). We are all breaking down, some faster than others, on an inevitable path to the grave. Fun, right? But we live in an amazing time when medical care can extend not only our life, but our active, productive life.
Thats where this post, and likely most of my posts for the next few months, comes in. As I alluded to in my last post and Ive been discussing over on my other blog, Fly Fish Nevada, I have back issues and will be having surgery next month. I know surgery is one of the more popular activities in retirement. My mom had her knee replaced last year. A blogger I follow had both of his done earlier this year. Lots of retired folks, and therefore usually older too, have health issues that require surgery.
My intent is to write about mine, both prior and after, as a resource for others. My condition is very common. In fact, degenerative disk disease (DDD) affects just about every human on earth. The term is a bit of a misnomer. Degenerative refers to the fact that disks in the spinal cord degenerate over time naturally. Disease makes it sound like it is both acquired some how and curable. DDD is just the natural aging of your disks, which have no blood supply. They thin, compress, herniate, whatever. Its called getting old.
Thats where I came up with degenerative life disease. We all break down over time and will eventually die. Its natural and not a disease, though a disease might be what finally gets you. Most people have DDD but not all are symptomatic. Some peoples disks just break down in a way that doesnt pinch nerves or cause vertebrae to become damaged. I am not one of those people.
I have two problems. One, I have a herniated disk between L-5 and S-1 (look it up) that is putting pressure on my sciatic nerve and sending pain down my leg, causing it to burn and tingle and sometimes makes my leg feel weak. Two, I have a slipped disk between L-4 and L-5 causing L-4 to nearly slide of the top of my L-5 vertebra. Thats doesnt cause me painyet. But it does cause my spinal cord to compress and my spine might collapse. OK, not really, but it is highly unstable and could become much worse.
Next time, Ill describe the procedures to fix all this and what Im doing to prepare. They are pretty cool, but the recovery, full recovery, can take six months. However, if that means I can get out fishing, hiking and generally attempting to do further damage to my body (just kiddingsort of) it will all be worth it. Stay tuned.
Travelling is my life
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