Jim

Health Interests

Chronic Back Pain,  drop foot ( right ),  2 back surgeries,  new herniations above and below fusion site

Drugs I am Taking

Kadian ( morphine ER ),  Baclofen,  simvastatin,  ranitidine,  diflunisal

About Me

I have been dealing with chronic pain since  January of 2005 ,

before that I had 2 back surgeries but I had recovered from each enough to return to my job of running a lumber mill. I was about 8 months post 2nd back opp /fusion when I slipped on an icy parking lot where I worked ( company too cheap to keep ice clear ) and I re-injured my spine.

I herniated above and below my fusion site. This combined with the effects of scar tissue has left me in pain 24/7. Doctors say they can operate to fuse more spine but only give me a 5-10% chance of being in less pain and more than 60% chance of being in more pain than I am now.

The choice for me was easy , I chose to live with out more surgery and try to deal with the pain. . Unfortunately , this also meant my having to quit working; before this I was somewhat of a work-a-holic, I worked hard during the day and thought I worked hard at my family life and hobbies too. Before this pain lifestyle  started I had never been one to take pain killers and had only used then for a short time after each surgery. I probably hadn't used them either time for more than a week or two until I pulled my last stunt on the ice ;-) 

Now , my life consists mostly of staying homebound ,as I have movement issues. Walking for more than a half mile raises my pain levels greatly , driving for more than 15 or 20 minutes raises them too. I can sit at the computer for about an hour before the pain demons creep into the picture again. To combat them I have my morph ER and anti-inflamitories. I use a TENS unit and have a couple medical grade ice packs always on stand by and they come out multiple times a day. I go to a pain management doctor , she doesn't believe in break thru pain meds of any sort other than the NSAIDs They are slowly eating a hole in my gut. Hopefully after seeing another doc recently , he is going to speak to my PM Doc and suggest she start using opiate break thru pain meds. She told me originally she fears the DEAs harassment of doctors prescribing high quantities of these but if she doesn't start to do this soon ,I will b forced to find a new pain management doctor.  

I'm not one who expects drugs to run my life or to cure my pain. I believe in alternative medicine too , I see a chiropractor weekly and a acupuncturist as often as my workers comp insurance will pay for them . I would prefer to live with out pain meds but unfortunately , that for me probably will never be an option that I am willing to try.

I have tired "medical marijuana" and found it to actually work almost as good as my morphine AT TIMES. but here in New York ,it is against the state laws so that is not an option for me .My pain management contract calls for urine testing and use of the herb will fail me and at this point I have to forsake its use. All though the NORMAL group and others are now starting to push for its use in New York and I have volunteered to testify for them in court on how it does help me. I have had 4 doctors suggest it "off the record" and all state that its too bad my PM doc doesn't agree with that school of thought because they have seen its benefits from their practices.

A little about the non-pain me.

Since pain was a major lifestyle changer ,I have altered my personal world greatly. At one time I was a very physical guy who's life included long ,physical work days doing woodworking, hobby woodworking , hunting , canoeing , karate , being an active father and husband. Slowly my back injuries robbed me of those physical pursuits The last injury finished off them completely , now even the slightest moves in my work shop brings days of added pain . Karate ,hunting and canoeing are movement intensive so those were dropped before the 2nd back surgery.

Now most my human connections are thru the computer , I belong to multiple chronic pain support groups online , even helping to moderate at some. I am starting to work as an advocate for chronic pain sufferers here in the Western New York area but again the movement issues come into play , there by limiting the time I can donate towards that. I am in the process of starting the only face to face chronic pain peer support group here in this area of over 1 million people and I hope to have that up and running by December of 2007. I am currently becoming involved in photography , I find that its a nice creative outlet for me and its something really beginning to enjoy. I'll need to update my photoshop program as its a very old version and extremely limited by todays standards.

So between photography and my computer , thats about my life.

Feel free to check out my website for more on me , lots of info on pain and Gargoyles - you will also find tons of shots of my family- friends- my woodworking days and lots of my newest photography examples.

Visit me , Jim the Broken_Gargoyle @ http://GargoylesDomain.com