Hello everyone. I have just found this forum and think I may make some friends here. I live alone except for my little Shi Tzu "Miss Angel" She is now 7 years old and she is all I have. No words could ever dscribe how much I love and care about
my little "Miss Angel" If it is pssible to do so I will post a photo of her and myself so you can see what we look like. "Miss Angel" will be the best looking of course.
Okay, I would like to give you a little back Ground concernining my health issues, and it may get a bit lenghty. I will do my best to keep it as brief as I can and also relay the facts.
When I was around 20 years of age, Iam now 60, (I just turned 60 last October), I welcomed back home one of my ole time buddies whom had gone to Viet Nam and was finally coming home. He was in the thick of the fighting, and he saw quite a bit of action and so much he never needed to see. When his tour was over and before he even went home to his family he called me when he got back and wanted me to go with him to celebrate his home coming. After discussing what we wanted to do that night, he just wanted to saty at his house and drink some beer and talk.
We played cards for awhile and we noticed that our beer supply was getting low. Back then the Beer store in our county closed at 12:00am. It was about 11:30 pm then. So we went to the beer store and he purchased a second case of beer. Now please keep in mind this happend back when I was 20 years old, and Iam 60 now. I have long since stopped my teenage type ways and do not drink, smoke, or any other kind of vices.
My buddY had a vary fast and powerful car. I think it was a nova he had customized and that thing would burn some rubber. On the way back from going to get that second case of beer, Something just flipped in his mind, and he was in a stare stright out the windshield. All of a sudden he pressed the accellerator all the way to the floor and would not let off. I sobered up real quick let me tell you. I diddn't realize what to do as it was happenning all so fast. I found out later his mind had flipped back to Viet Nam, and in his mind he really believed he was seeing the enemy in front of us. Thats when he pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor.
In a matter of seconds we were streaking down the road like an indy 500 car. I shouted at him with all I could muster, but he didn't even realize he had anyone else in the car with him. I shouted and shouted and screamed for him to stop, but no reaction at all. All of a sudden our car left the road. I glanced down at the speedomiter and it showed a speed of 90 mph. All I knew was to get ready for the impact I knew was coming. Then after all the screaming and shouting, there was this humongous crash noise, and then nothing but the calm of the night. We had crashed into this man's house at a speed of more than 90 mph.
My friend had catupalted into the steering wheel breaking his Jaw bone, and then fell over into my lap. When he did I let out a blood curdling scream. Little was i aware of it yet, but I had broken both of my legs. Upon inpact, I was thrown forward even though I did have a sfatey belt on, and my right knee slammed into the dask breaking my right femur in 3 places. After That happend somehow my left leg had gotten up under the seat, and when we were thrown backwards my left foot was caught up under the front seat, and I had turned my crushed ankle was trapped under the seat and I was thrown backwards and my foot was turned all the way around turning turning toward the back.
My friend was still consciense and he kept rising and falling back onto my lap and with each time he did I was in excruciating pain. After he tried and kept falling back down on my broken femur I layed my hand on his head, and said pkease be still, the paramedics will be here soon.Although it all seemed like slow motion Iam sure it happened very quickly. They took the Jaws of life and extricaded us from the car, and put him in an ambulance, and took him to the nearest VA hospital, and took me to a trauma Hospital in the next town. I was in such pain I finally passed out and the next time I woke up I was in a room and my olwft crushed ankle was put in a cast temporairly, and on the other right side they had the right leg where I had broken my femur in 3 places in traction.
I stayed they that first time 172 days. Finally when I got to come home, I was taken out of traction and placed in a body cast from my shoulders all the way down/ had plaster from just under my arms all the way down on both sides with a split at tjhe knee on the left side, and sent me home in that body cast.
Since that night I have had to have multiple surgeries to try and repair my breaks, and try also to save my left leg. The thigh Breaks finally healed up on my right side, but I had 30 plus surgeries from that point on trying to save my left leg. I had surgery after surgery. Finally he gave me the option telling me to take 6 months and talk to people who had gone through a left leg amputation just below the knee. And after much sould searching my left leg was amputated on March 9th 1995.
What a long time it took to get adapted to the prosthesis and learn how to use it. I was over 6 months or so trynig to get to the place I could only shuffle around just a little bit.
Well the years past, Surgery after Surgeryeven after the amputation because I had developed what they call Nueromas. Those were soooo very very painful. Meanwhile through all this with my legs, And from the point of 60 going back to that time. I have gone through many surgeries on many things. The omnly way I can remember them all now is to start at the top of my head and go down. I have forgotten all of the dates, b ut starting from the top of my head going down, I had to have Eye syrgery, I had to have 3 titanium Plates put in my back of my neck because of the deterioration of 3 disk. I had to have bothe the right as well as the left Rotator Cuffs repaired where I had torn the ligiments on both sides, Going on down, I had to have my Gall Bladder taken out, I had to have bone material harvested from both of my hips to be fused into my left leg trying to save it before they decided to amputate it. I had 3 seperate hernia surgeies in the very same side and spot, Somehow because I smoked for awhile I developed COPD. I was plaved on Oxygen Therapy 24 hours a day. Thats when they put me on that Advair for several years, and when the dr saw I was on advair for so long he decided I needed a Bone Scan. Yes I had developed Very Severe Osteoperosis. They determine you are are severe at - 2.5. My reading was -4.7 in my hip araea, and a lesser extent in my wrist area and Spine araea. Thats when he decide to put me on the Forteo. In this comimng June I will complete my 2 years of therapy with that. Although I had to have multiple surgeries before as well as after amputation, I still had to have an offending vien taken out of my risidual limb. A few years ago I had to have a Cyoxxectomy. They had to eemove 2 inches from myh tail bone. Wouldn't you know it, and although it was outpatient surgery, Somehow I contracted both a Staph Infection, as well as a Strep infection in the surgical wound. I had to have a second surgery on my tail bome to crape all that nucrotic tissue out.I had to wear a wound Vac Machine for nearly a year vacumimh out the infection. And last but not least last march I had to have a torn miniscus Tendon surgically repaired as well. I have gone through my 6th prosthesis for my leg, and I take a bout 14 different mediactions a day. Now here we are at the present. The Primary I had always gone to, knows everything. Now all the surgeries I have had are now with my age getting older coming back to haunt me. My joints and muscels are so painful I just sit down in the floor and start crying at times when I cannot handle everything anymore. He last time put me on Something called Mobic 15 mg. and it is so hard on the stomach he had to prescribe Prilosec as well to keep my stomack from being harmed.
Has anyone here used that stuff? When I read up on it I was scared to death to take it. It can cause heart attacks, strokes, and a huge array of things happening. I went and got them today, but Iam scared to start them. If anyone has had experience in them let me know. Living all by myself with my Little Shi Tzu is sooo hard. I will never leave my Miss Angel as she is all I have. I do have one of thise life alert things. I wish I could get on meals on Wheels but you gave to be 65 to qualify. I am getting to the point my pain level is increasing soooo much I can hardly do anything.
Again the main reason I came to ask you was about the Mobic 15 mg and the Prilosec he prescribed because of the stomach issues Mobic can cause. ASfter eading all the info about how it can cause strokes and heart attacks and things like that Iam scared to begin.
The following is a list of the meds I currently take each day.
1. Methadone 20mg 3 times a day for chronic pain.
2. Hydrocodone 7.5 once in the Am and once in the PM for breakthrough Pain.
3. Alprazolam 1mg once in the Am and once in the PM for anxiety.
4. Ambien 10mg for sleep each night as needed
5. Spiriva Handihaler 2 inhalations each day for COPD.
6. Albuterol 2 puffs every 4 to 6 hours as needed for tight chest.
7. Simvistatin 80mg for high Colesterol
8. Soma 350 mg one each night for muscel spasms
9. Oxtygen 2Lpm for shortness of breath once a day.
10. Over the counter stool softner for constipation as needed.
11. Mobic 15 mg once daily for Osteoarthritis
12. Prilosec omnce a day while taking Mobic.
13. Forteo imjections daily for Severe Osteoperosis.
I believe thats it for the time being unless they add again, and I believe he wants me to start a low dose asprin a day as well. I know this has been very long. But I wanted you to know it all if you are going to be my friends. I get so lonesome sometimes, I wouldn't be able to handle it if it were not for my little dog. Iam currentlu on Disability after working as a a Mechanical Engineer at Southwestern Wire Cloth. I had gonre back to school in my mid forties to better my eduacation and actually won the Most outstanding Engineering Student fot 1996. Okay my hopefully friends, If I haven't scared you all off. Thats me and my life. I ive alone just me and my little Dog. With everything going on in the government these days, I have been soooo fearful that they might write those on Medicare and say they can't treat them any longer. Surely they couldn't do that could they? Iam on medicines they would have to get me off of before they decided they couldn't see me anymore because of Medicare. Surely there are laws that they could not cut you loose if they had you on medications that would cause harm to you if you could not get access to them anymore. I worry sooo much about that. Okay my hopefuly friends. Thats my life story as far as health issues. I wanted you to know it all so you would understand when I post various things.
I hope today has been a good day for you all. Iam glad to meet anyone who would consider beig my friend. Living alone I could use some.
Again let me know if any of you have had experience with the Mobic and the Prilosec. Thanks soooo much for reading about me. Now you at least know who you are talking too. May the Lord Bless each and every one of you.
Lonesome Dove 