Notice

[harry strasil]

FWIW, The Saw Bench Tutoral as well as the Apprentice Journal will have to be put on hold for awhile as the back injury I got in January has flared up and I am afraid to attempt the basement stairs at this time with partially numb legs and setting at the puter for any length of time is painful.

I have another appointment for tomorrow Friday the 11th at the Pain Center in Kansas City, Mo. to see what can be done for the 5 bulging discs in my lower back.

I haven't been able to work since January and its driving me nuts. I have read about 40 or 50 books and the tutoral and the Journal have been my way of keeping my sanity.

I apologize for the interuption of the two threads.

Respectfully

Jr. Strasil

[Roy Wall]

Hang in there Harry!! Our best wishes for a long term solution to your back pain.....may there be relief in sight!

Be careful!!

[Chris Barton]

Hi Harry,

First of all, I want to say how much we all will miss your tutorial but, your health comes first. You are one of the most talented and articulate woodworkers I have ever met. I have so enjoyed your posts and will continue to enjoy them once you are feeling better. Take care of your back and think of great stories to tell us and we will all be anxiously waiting.

Chris

[Pam Niedermayer]

I got a slipped disk in December from moving piles of construction materials for a day. It happened because I'd been sitting in a car on a long roadtrip, not walking so much, my back had become very weak but I didn't know it. I truly suffered for a couple of months, when the back specialist recommended the MacKenzie exercises. I did them and within a week I was mobile again, within a couple of months I was lifting again. They're like magic, much better than back surgery and the like.

Pam

[Doug Littlejohn]

Harry, I can really sympathize with your pain. I have fallen twice and compressed everything in the L and T series and broken T1 and L1 each in half, first time in my teens and then in my twenties.

After 25 years of increasing pain, I had to enter the area of 'pain management'. OVer the next 10 years, my need for medication increased until I was on Oxycontin and Morphine in very high doses all day (and night) to the point I was becomming a zombie and close to losing my job.

Then I got an implanted 'morphine pump' (Intrathecal Pain Pump) that has restored a good life to me. The pump dispenses much smaller doses (about 1/50th as much) straight into my spinal column. Boy what a difference. My pain has gone from normally being in the 6-9 range all day to the 1-3 range for most days for 3 years now.

I pray you find relief that will give you some quality of life back and the most useful piece of advice I can give is to not accept anything less than what is needed to relieve your pain. You may have to work your way through several doctors, but keep the faith, there can be a pleasant end to the road you are on.

I must say again how much I have enjoyed and admired your stories, teachings and common sense approach to WW'ing and I look forward to building the the saw bench and I have the 'portable' bench in process.

Thank you.
Sherwood

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Hope you heal quickly and get back to the things you miss.

[Ian Gillis]

Harry

Sorry to hear that you're laid up and not able to do the things you love. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery.


IG

[Gary Herrmann]

Rest your back Harry, its nothing to mess around with. I was in a car accident when I was 19 and broke a couple vertebrae. Pain and numbness is your body's way of telling you to take a break.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Mike Henderson]

I hope you're better soon, Harry. We've all enjoyed your postings and am looking forward to you resuming soon.

Good luck.

Mike

[jonathan snyder]

Harry,

I hope you back gets better soon. I always enjoy reading your posts.

Jonathan

[Mark Rios]

Just take care Harry, ol' buddy. We'll all be waiting for you to come back in your own time.

[tod evans]

heal quickly jr! lots of us are waiting on the edge of our chairs:) tod

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I very much enjoy your posts, the the teaching threads are so great.

I'll be waiting for you to get better, but, I know it will be worth the wait.

Get well soon!

Cheers!

[Jim Becker]

'Hope you feel better soon, Harry!

[Maurice Metzger]

Jr, I hope you feel better soon. I'll try and think up some good books for you to read in the meantime.

Maurice

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

Sorry to hear you're in pain, Harry, and I hope you heal up quickly. I live with pain (though not as bad) and it can be very debilitating. (Somehow, my reply last night got eaten).

[Bernhard Kühnen]

Harry,

I know what you are talking about. I broke my vertebral collumn about 11 years ago.
I have to do every morning my exercises in order to be pain free.

Wish you all the best and hope you can consult skilful doctors who are able to help you.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Get better Harry!

Haven't had much time but for the occassional post, but have enjoyed the heck out of the story...

Take care, Mike

[Geoff Harris]

Harry, I 've very much enjoyed your story and the tutorials you have been posting here. Your common sense approach to woodworking has given me a lot to think about. Take care of yourself and take the time to heal.

Geoff.

[harry strasil]

Well, I survived the second Epidural shot and in a month they going to try a stimulator on me, if it works it will get implanted. I hope its not the same frequency as the neighbors garage door opener. :eek:

Be kinda strange if my wife has to go ask the young neighbor lady to quit turning me off and on.:) :D

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Sounds like your funny bone is still in one piece :D

[Clinton Findlay]

Too bad Jnr. I have the same problem, and it took 2 & 1/2 years before I became pain free.
Pilates (which I initially thought was another exercise-fashion 'con') and exercise worked for me - hope you can find an answer as well.

Beware the pain medication - almost everything I tried made me stupid while I was on it. :(

[Deirdre Saoirse Moen]

Iyengar yoga has been helping me (and reducing my pain level and increasing my stamina). Many yoga and pilates exercises share a common root.

[Ken Werner]

Be kinda strange if my wife has to go ask the young neighbor lady to quit turning me off and on.:) :D[/quote]

yup yup, hey bud, get well soon, we're all with you.

PS pass me that opener.

Ken

[Jerry White]

Hope you are pain free soon, Harry. Looking forward to seeing you back regularly. And don't lose that sense of humor!

[James Mittlefehldt]

Looks like we are all pulling for you Harry, I know I am, write when you can and don't overdo it.

[Jerry Olexa]

Harry, take care. I understand as I occassionally get "flareups" with my knee/back. What has helped me for those times is an inexpensive wireless router etc (well under $100) and firing up my old laptop (6-7 yrs old)using a wireless card. Gets me through those tough times. Hope you get well soon..

[Curt Harms]

My wife has compression fractures in her lower back due to osteoporosis. The pain was bad enough that she had a couple ambulance rides because she couldn't sit up or move. After being hospitalized and on industrial-strength (zombie-state inducing) pain meds, she's now using a fentanyl patch, 25 mcg. strength. She has had Physical Therapy which may also be helping. The fentanyl patch seems not cause mental clarity problems.

HTH

Curt

[Doug Littlejohn]

Do the epedurals help any? The first they tried on me helped but after that, nada (3 more). Also, I had a real wierd side effect in that 2-3 days after, I got real bad aches, pains and chills all along my spine and most joints. Kinda like a bad case of the flu.

Glad to hear about the stimulator. They have helped many people. This is the other main treatment these days along with the implanted pump. In fact, the stimulator is preferred because it does not use drugs, just electrical stimulation of the nerves.

Anyway, I hope it goes well for you, there is nothing more debilliatating that being in high levels of pain all of the time.

Please let us know how it goes.

Sherwood

[harry strasil]

Most people are lucky that pain killers work on them, I am one of the ones that they have little if any effect on unfortunately. I guess I would make a poor drug addict. LOL

Past expieriences;
In the military, they gave me 5 of the morphine sterets (SP) when I was shot, No effect. When they got me down off the mountain in a private vehicle, they stopped at a civilian hospital, they explained the situation and I was given 300 mg of demoral, well it made it somewhat managable.
10 tylenol 3 ( half grain of codine) had no effect on me another time.
Hydrocodone are like M&M's as far as pain is concerned.
After surgery for a ruptured disc and 5.5 hours on the table I was in pain, they gave me 2 percodan or percocet every 2 hours for 6 hours, oops no effect on the pain.
When I had hernia surgery, I was in a lot of pain afterward, they they had given me a total of 40 mg of morphine, didn't work so next was 50 mg of toradol, oops nothing.

Doctors have a tendency to laugh at me when I tell them the stuff won't work. But if I have a sympathetic nurse who will wheel me outside after an injection of about 150 mg of demoral and I light up a cigarette, I will be in LaLa land for a couple of hours after about 3 or 4 puffs.

I am just happy I have a high pain tolerance. LOL

I have found there are some other people like me that pain killers don't work on.

If you are one of the fortunate ones that they do work on. Be THANKFUL.

I'm not complaining, just stating some facts about my weird body.

And I have lived with back pain since the age of 13 when a horse went down with me on a brick street and rolled over me.

I am not a complainer, I just live with things the best I can. I don't ask for sympathy because if people start feeling sorry for you, then you start feeling sorry for yourself, and its all down hill from there.

And I did have the aches after this second shot, but the pain was managable after the shot this time.

[harry strasil]

I must be getting old, and have forgotten my manners.

I have neglected to Thank all of you for the concern you have shown for my health.

It is really appreciated and has improved my Moral tremendously.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN AND PRAYERS.

JR.