Dang, back went out

On vacation, but back went out Wednesday and is showing no sign of abating. Currently in Calif.(Marina del Rey). Still able to get together with daughter.

But sitting and walking not very good.

Heading to Vegas tomorrow. I usually love to drive, but this will be a tough 5 hour trek. Coming home Wednesday. probably will see doctor on Friday.

CRAPS.

But at least the PC picture looks good

Mel

Oh Mel, how I empathize with you. If you can tolerate Advil or, even better, Aleve, pop them. They will cut down on the inflammation until you can get to the doctor.

Be careful driving home, and good luck with the 5 hour car ride.

Mel, sorry about the back but glad you were able to visit with our daughter. Hope the Vegas part of your trip works out.

Jim

Thanks Ms. WW ... spit my morning coffee all over the cat.

Jim

Sorry to hear about your back Mel. We were in to see Dr. Lam back in June (1st visit) and now we have a new onc.

We really like him. We got home and he was soon calling us to see if we had any questions. that's neveer happened before--- a doctor calling us? And Marina Del Rey is not a bad place to see a doc.

Take care

Jim and Marie

And I have a Hang Ups inversion table. That machine is a godsend.

Mel I will miss you on this go. I'll be in LA in September. I hope to see you at PCRI's annual conference. Should be good. Snuffy Myers repeats himself again on SE's. Timothy Wilt gets flogged and beaten again (Finally admits he's with the USPSTF), My doctor does his state of the union advanced disease presentations again, and Bill Catalona yells uncontrollably for a scalpel again while claiming to have completed four prostatectomies in the same minute.

Oh and Duke Bahn will do another live color doppler ultrasound biopsy to a standing ovation.



prostate-cancer.org/pcri-conference-2013/

Tony

Post Edited (TC-LasVegas) : 8/12/2013 11:03:37 PM (GMT-6)

Oh Mel, I do know about back spasms...when they hit, you hold your breath and pray they stop. Do you suffer from back issues, or is this the first time you've experienced something like this? I ask because there is a great book written by an orthopedic surgeon that was recommended to me by a few of my doctors: "No More Aching Back" by Dr. Leon Root. It covers every issue known but, more importantly, has a series of exercises designed to stretch and strengthen the back and joints. I do them twice a day, and they help alot. Of course, that won't help you now.

Take care Mel, and I hope things calm down enough for you to get back home with little difficulty.

Hi Mel,

Sorry to read this thread as I know you have popped over to the CP forum at times about this....As you have read, I have a long history with spine issues with both my neck and lower back and have been trying to avoid surgery for the lumbar area for some years now.

Can you take any steroids with the meds that you are on for the PC? If so, that is usually an easy way to really help with the inflammation by either having a Dr. do an epidural steroid injection (ESI) or doing a Medrol dose pack for 6 days where you start with 6 pills the first day, and then take one less each day.

The main downside to steroids are possible insomnia issues for a few days but the benefits outweigh this.

Do you already have a prescription on hand for a muscle relaxer to take when needed? Obviously this is best done when not driving anywhere. The different ones are Flexeril, Robaxin, Skelaxin, Baclofen or Zanaflex. They are extremely helpful for the awful spasms.

Hope you can get some treatments set up quickly to get you feeling better soon!

How ya feeling Mel, any better ?



Don

Thank you all for the suggestions. Seeing PA tomorrow, as many of the docs are on vacation.

Got home from this vacation yesterday. Hope to get a bit more rest. I would prefer to try PT. We shall see.

I have meetings all day Monday. I then have a Umich doc. appointment for the PC on Thursday. That's a two hour drive each way. They have a new PC thing at Umich, so I want to try it.I'll explain more after I know more.

I am supposed to return to work on the 26th, so hopefully things will be better by then.

mel

Well, back update.

I  guess it helped to come home, relax, and sleep in my own bed, which has a good, firm matress.

Back is much better, and just in time. Today I had meetings all day, from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

My back is not quite normal, but probably 90% better.

Meanwhile, I am supposed to start P/T on Wednesday. I think I still will, as it might give me some good exercises to try and prevent this from happening again.

Mel