Mama Carol

I totally, completely understand this worry. I'm there, too. No denying that!

If your hubby is like me, he's hurting because he's having to watch someone he loves go through it. It tears me up sometimes to see my hubby suffer. He probably thinks the same thing I told my hubby today "I wish there was something I could do to help you". This has been a chronic pain "household" since 1978. Sometimes I think we could write a book on it.

Those of us who have to deal with chronic pain or family members with chronic pain know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Just make sure that your hubby knows that this is not how you normally are and it's the pain talking, not you. And hug him.

Can't give up, can you? Just learn to deal with it and live with it to the best of your abilities and to live life to the fullest possible. My mom gave up. She didn't learn to live with her pain. She just gave up. Wouldn't take medications, wouldn't do physical therapy, wouldn't even go to the doctor. She never accepted it. In the end it defeated her. Ironically, my husband has the same thing and he isn't giving up. He has accepted.

GD, there is NOTHING that can be done for my husband. Temporary relief is possible though it is not complete, it doesn't last and there quite a few side effects. A FIX is not possible for what he has. He has no other choice but to learn to accept it and to learn a new normal. Acceptance does not mean giving up or giving in. It means just that--accepting something. What he has is our new normal. We have accepted that. We have to or else we'd be nuttier than we already are. I wish it were some other way.

I had planned on doing just that but got sidetracked. Maybe in the coming month or so I can get back on track with it.

Very true. If, like my husband there is no fix for the source of the pain, then you have to learn to deal with and live with the pain and to know that it will be with you every day to some extent EVEN if you take pain medication. If, like Barbed Wire you learn there IS a fix and have surgery to fix what is wrong, you compound the problem by taking the drugs. Pain medications only treat the SYMPTOM of a problem. The symptom being pain.

Nope. It's that stretch of road from I-65 near Evergreen through Brewton into Florida and MILTON!!! That's the one paved with gold. It's the one I love!! I know the roads between Lake Charles, LA and Orange, TX are paved with boulders. Or maybe it's washboards.

Unfortunately, not legal in Georgia. Shall we all move to California?

Staying active is the key. I know what you mean about you just can't keep moving 24/7.

Yes. We liked her. She was highly recommended by our orthopaedist, too. I'll tell my hubby the doc who took her place is very good. He's likely going to be going back to a pain specialist, though not necessarily Pain Solutions. We both REALLY like the first pain specialist he went to but that doctor wasn't on our insurance so he switched to Dr. Rao. I guess I need to see which ones accept Medicare.

Having something that can't be treated and fixed is the pits. Chronic pain sucks, too. Back years ago when my husband had his first bout with chronic pain, he went to the Emory Pain Clinic. Much different than today's pain clinics. He learned biofeedback and mediation both of which actually worked. Even if you didn't go to the pain clinic, there are bound to be websites and books that contain the same information. I know I found a particular type of physical therapy exercise while looking at the library holdings. While these methods don't fix the problem, because there may be NO

That's where my hubby went. We met some really nice people in the waiting room, too. The doctor he saw has left the practice.

If an adjustment isn't appropriate, perhaps a therapeutic massage would offer relief. Interestingly enough, my husband and I were discussed chiropractic vs pain medication management of chronic pain this afternoon. He's to the point he's willing to go back on hydrocodone and morphine BUT he is willing to try a chiropractor and perhaps acupuncture first. He has to do something fast or we'll be ordering the power chair in a month or two. Not suggesting you do anything you're not sure about, but do your research and even if your doctor isn't all for it, you might try it. MDs are

I thought this was as much an annual occurrence as open enrollment was.

Tabby, I know it sounds like a broken record but have you tried or considered trying a chiropractor?

I second Dr. Lowry. I felt better the day of the surgery than I had in 8 years, when I was first advised to have a hysterectomy. I was to the point of needing prescription pain meds, which would have meant that for two weeks out of every month I couldn't have worked. I had quite a bit of endometriosis but I also had fibroids and a 16 week pregnancy size uterus.

Watching your tolerance level and use increase does not necessarily signal addictive behavior. That's just common for pain drug use. It takes more and more to get less and less relief. Glad you found alternatives. Glad there WAS an alternative. Often there isn't.

With prescription pain meds it is sometimes different. Users often don't realize they have become addicted. They're so fogged up from the pills that what would be obvious to someone not on the pills is not even in their realm of thinking. And like you said, take the pills or be in pain. Either clouds your mind. BIG difference between USERS and ABUSERS, too. Users often have chronic pain problems or are fighting the pain from cancer or surgery. Abusers, OTOH, likely don't have an underlying pain problem. FYI, my husband tried everything before giving in to the pills. And now, h

Just goes to show that it's not just southwest Cobb that has the hoods.

My husband did not invent one that went to manufacture but he did build a prototype. It was back in the 1980s. The man who did invent it received a patent.

That sounds like the pain management specialist my hubby went to. Always MORE pills, STRONGER pills. We had to have a dang written schedule about what he was supposed to take when. Sure made traveling a bit...interesting. That binder with the pill schedule and at least four bottles of pills with us. Fortunately, we didn't have to lock them up at home, as it's just the two of us here, but when we traveled, we had them with us in the car. I finally got to the point where I locked them in the trunk so it wouldn't be easy to get one while on the road. Something my husband took, a muscle

I had a similar experience when I told a primary care physician that I did not take diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol drugs because I am not diabetic, hypertensive nor do I have high cholesterol. But they didn't all BUT call me a liar. They did call me that. I'm with you. I don't take narcotics for my knee pain either. Maybe once in a blue moon but that's it. I still have 29 of the 30 Percocet my ortho gave me last October. And also like you, new knees are not "if" but "when". Soon. But I'm closer to 60. Yes, he works closely with orthopaedists in the area, in

If my paid up Bank of America credit card is returned as "invalid" again, they WILL be in serious trouble.

I SERIOUSLY doubt that Suntrust is going anywhere. The credit union at Greystone is stable but I wouldn't be looking there for high interest. We get .40% on our Money Market (with a substantial amount in there) and .25% on our savings.