Impending Doom(surgery)

[catfishjoe_1]

First - I have never had surgery, except for wisdom tooth removal,(local). Not all fired up about anesthesia.

Second - The surgery itself is kinda scary. Disk removal and spine fusion. I am a machinist and all I do all day is use my hands and arms. Left arm is messed up (goes numb, tingles, throbs, cramps. Painful) This has been going on for about four months. Finally figured out that I have disks pushing on the nerves and that I need to have them fixed. Starting to affect my right arm too.

Surgery - Go in through the front of the neck and remove the disks between c5 and c6 and c7, fuse with bone graft and put on a steel plate to hold it all together.

Employment - My job is guaranteed after I get this done, 6 - 8 weeks recovery. Problem is, no one has decided if this is work related and I can't believe I would need this if I had a desk job for a career.

Bummed.

I am forty years old this year, feel like twenty, body says sixty. Happily married (finally). I have known her for the last 3 1/2 years and we finally tied the knot June 25.

Plans - I already know what I will do if I can't return to the same type of work. Get away from factory type work. Probably go back to school and try to learn something PC oriented. Or maybe electronics.

This is why I have not been contributing regularly as of late although I have tried to occasionally browse through. It is hard to sit and type for an extended period of time. I miss being active in the group conscience.

cat

[Tin]

sounds exactly like what happened to a friend of mine...who was a master machinist at 30 years old. he messed up his back really bad lifting a piece of stock onto the CNC. after his injury, his employer fired him and cancelled his health benefits so he had to pay for his surgery and whatnot out of pocket. he ended up getting a lawsuit against his old company and won $300k from them. he used that money to buy a house, a car, and get an education in the computer field. just hope for the best man...and have faith, then everything will be A-OK.

[Panama Red]

My bother, 46, had the same surgery many years ago after a car wreck. He does fine and surgery then was riskier than today. Another Mech friend, Pounder, had neck surgery a couple years ago and he's doing better than ever. He suffered with neck and headache pain for 20+ years. Now he feels great. Good luck to ya Catman. I'll say a prayer not only for you but for the doc's working on ya too.

[jamesrpm]

I had c4 fusion in 1989 , I too was losing use of my left arm. In my case it is degenerative disk disease. Basically they are dissolving slowly. Anyway I was a comptroller/part owner at a auto dealer at the time. So it wasn't job related.Sold out in 92 and became a electrician . I still have my bad days but all in all it's been OK since surgery. Doc says I'll be back for more someday. But until then I do pretty much what ever I want within reason.I'm going to get my supervisors Lic. and then look into inspector classes next in case it gets to where I can't do the work. BTW I'm 52 with a back going on 75. Good luck , with a good surgeon you'll be glad you got it done.

[Propain]

My father and bro in law both had that exact stuff done and if you keep up with physiotherapy, you have nothing to worry about. Like PR said its not like the olden days . Good luck eh :)

[MulderMan]

my grandad had that same opperation this year, 10 years after he broke his back - to ease the pain so he could walk better. they went through the front of his neck and he came out with nerve damage and brachial plexus injury, but the good thing is he can walk again. I didnt mean to make you more nervous, sorry. but i presume the reason your having it done wont be worse than my grandad. and your condidtion in life would be better.

[Force Flow]

Wondered where you disappeared to.

I wish you the very best. :)

[Joeberg]

I hope everything goes well. Have Faith...
-Joe

[catfishjoe_1]

Well, looks more and more like I am gonna have to talk to a lawyer. So far none of the doctors will say it is related to my work. There was no accident to pinpoint when the "injury" occured. The surgeon I have talked to says I need to talk to the "HR" person at work. I don't even think we have an "HR" and I have a good idea what they(the bosses, two of them) are gonna say, But then again I might be surprised cause they have offered to loan me money to pay for this. Payroll deduction. Once again I feel like I am being bent over and rammed.

I heard over the weekend that there was a survey taken somewhere with the question being something like "Do you feel there are two Americas, one for the rich and one for the poor?"
The overwhelming response was yes. I agree and unfortunately I know which group I am in. The one that gets used by the rich and discarded when there is nothing left to give.

Frustrated and depressed
cat

PS - At least poorman's prozac tastes good. Think I'll have another.