Nerve damage, spinal cord injuries

Man that's crazy, you just never know when something like that will happen even if you prepare or protect yourself fully. I just learned what spasms are, for the longest time I thought it was when your muscles flex on and off kind of like a seizure. My abdomen and back have been having spasms ever since I had the surgery but I just thought my muscles were tight from the injury, lately it's been really bad but I know it's from using the muscles more and more.
 
Fart sniffer said:
I've wrecked my fair share of cars with no injuries (or so I thought), plus when I was a kid I tried ice skating and fell backwards with my head breaking my fall. Over the years there have been minor things here and there but those events stand out, I had plenty of time to think about what caused it when I was in the ICU and couldn't move the majority of my body.

Wrong movement at the wrong time with my body being stressed out from other things is what I think happened, a freak accident really. Just like in high school a girl I knew broke her back, she was in the passenger seat of a car that had only a lap belt (older import car) and they stopped suddenly from about 5mph.

At 16-years old you would figure your body is as resilient as it can be yet this simple movement broke her spine, thankfully she was not paralyzed at all. I don't know all of the details as I was not that close to her but I do know there were no lasting effects and she was able to play basketball for the school the next year.

You just never know when or where something debilitating might happen, that doesn't mean you should live life in fear of it but we should appreciate what we have.

Edit: Here is a picture of my rolling walker with a slight "addition", who says I drink too much?

Nice mod to the walker!

Motion Neon should be next :D

Maybe wheelie bars? :confused:
 
Fart sniffer said:
Edit: Here is a picture of my rolling walker with a slight "addition", who says I drink too much?


What?! Man we need to upgrade you! This is much more ergonomic....


walker.jpg
 
Fart sniffer said:
I just learned what spasms are

Spasms can be very painful and very IRRITATING and sometimes both at the same time. I've had spasms so bad that a Flexeril and Percocet couldnt stop the pain (it was near freezing outside, which I have to really bundle up or I pay the price).

Anything that happens to you that hurts you should tell your doc. You never know, something that feels small pain wise could be something major health wise.
 
powerlineman80 said:
Spasms can be very painful and very IRRITATING and sometimes both at the same time. I've had spasms so bad that a Flexeril and Percocet couldnt stop the pain (it was near freezing outside, which I have to really bundle up or I pay the price).

Anything that happens to you that hurts you should tell your doc. You never know, something that feels small pain wise could be something major health wise.

I'll definitely call him tomorrow to see what they can do or at least let them know what's going on. And as for my walker, I didn't want to do too much because my goal was to not use it for very long. The progress is good and I'm walking more and more without it, as long as there are nice/soft things to land on if I decide to fall face-first.
 
powerlineman80 said:
Yea I generally shoot 2-3 times a week. I cant go no more than 4 hours and thats hurting like hell and taking pills at the same time. I have to sit down for awhile to re-coop from that. A night of league would put me in bed all day on Mondays. But like you said earlier, I'd rather be active and pop pills than die in a bed (I've watched too much family go that way).

Hope you're able to hit a few yourself.

BTW-Here are my MRI's, I pointed out the cysts. The dark stuff is your spinal cord and the white stuff inside it is the cysts.
Now just remember there are healthy 18 year olds out there that couldn't shoot pool for half that time without crashing...We are doing better than we think....I can remember before i got on my pills that i could not WALK the length of a football field 3oo ft without getting a migrain headache....Then i just said i'd rather get a headache from doing something than get one from doing nothing..I would get them just sitting in a Lazyboy...........That's another topic i highly recommend you get a Lazyboy chair one that is ergonomically correct for you...It really helps...Take care...:)
 
Be careful around kids

A warning to you folks with neck problems> A few days after my surgery years ago a nurse told me a story to make me realize just how much MY life had changed so i would get real serious about my injury...She had a male patient about 50 yoa that was recuperating from the same type of neck injury as i...He had been doing fine with his therapy for a year up until this second incident...He was sitting uprite in a chair in his living room when his 3 year old granson came over...A typical kid seeing grandpa he ran to grandpa and grandpa leaned forward in his chair with arms wide open.. The kid grabbed grandpa's head with his hands and with the weight of his body pulled grandpa's head down...To shorten the story grandpa is now in a wheelchair the rest of his life paralyzed by this incident...The moral of this story always be carefull whatever you do now as your life has changed since your accident.........:)
 
cuejoey said:
Now just remember there are healthy 18 year olds out there that couldn't shoot pool for half that time without crashing...We are doing better than we think....I can remember before i got on my pills that i could not WALK the length of a football field 3oo ft without getting a migrain headache....Then i just said i'd rather get a headache from doing something than get one from doing nothing..I would get them just sitting in a Lazyboy...........That's another topic i highly recommend you get a Lazyboy chair one that is ergonomically correct for you...It really helps...Take care...:)

Oh yea its more than most can do these days, but when I was 18 I've put up marathons like they had on "The Hustler". That would never happen again. But some pool is better than no pool IMO:D I can show you a good support board if you need one (this offers goes to anyone with neck/spinal injuries.
 
One good thing that came about tonight from my injury, they let me play in the ring game that they normally don't let me play in. Sure it's a cheap game but I feel like Rudloph the red-nosed reindeer sometimes, they don't let me play in their games.

Ended up winning just a little bit which was great but it came at a price, my back was sore the entire time and I am sure tomorrow is going to be a fiasco from the energy spent tonight. But it was so worth it, playing with the guys and actually coming out ahead was great and I have to enjoy it while I can since they won't let me play in it for long.

Making progress day by day, the therapist said I was making "surprising" advances and I was happy with that but am now going to aim for "amazing". Yes yes I know not to strain myself otherwise I might go backwards, but it's so hard to keep things at a slow pace when you want to get better as fast as you can.

Sorry for the long post, I was just so happy about playing again without falling down, losing money or having to use the walker very much. Take care everyone.
 
what a hustle!

How long do you think you can milk the walker deal? :D :D :D

Hu


Fart sniffer said:
One good thing that came about tonight from my injury, they let me play in the ring game that they normally don't let me play in. Sure it's a cheap game but I feel like Rudloph the red-nosed reindeer sometimes, they don't let me play in their games.

Ended up winning just a little bit which was great but it came at a price, my back was sore the entire time and I am sure tomorrow is going to be a fiasco from the energy spent tonight. But it was so worth it, playing with the guys and actually coming out ahead was great and I have to enjoy it while I can since they won't let me play in it for long.

Making progress day by day, the therapist said I was making "surprising" advances and I was happy with that but am now going to aim for "amazing". Yes yes I know not to strain myself otherwise I might go backwards, but it's so hard to keep things at a slow pace when you want to get better as fast as you can.

Sorry for the long post, I was just so happy about playing again without falling down, losing money or having to use the walker very much. Take care everyone.
 
Not for long, I just won our weekly tournament. Got back muscle feeling in my legs halfway through the tournament which is awesome, what was not awesome was the fact that I can now feel that my legs were screaming for mercy.

It's my first tournament since the injury and I still can't believe I won it. It's about 11 hours of tournament so it's a long day for anyone, my eyes have big black bags under them and I still don't know how I lasted the whole thing.

And I also had my first setback, I was getting off a bed and didn't know how far the floor was since it wasn't my bed and my legs gave way. My left leg bent under me as I ended up in a pile on the floor, now if I put pressure on it at any sideways angle it feels like icepicks stabbing through both sides.

Anyways, going to see the neurologist on Tuesday and taking it very easy tomorrow and the rest of the week. I hope to get clearance to work and drive from the doctor, can't wait since I am getting very restless and tired of people having to do things and chauffer me around. Either way progress is coming quickly and it's so awesome, even the pain in my legs was nice because before that I didn't feel it at all, if they were tired I just walked slower or my legs shook a lot when pressed.

Man I am so stoked, so damn stoked. Just got done eating a hamburger patty on rice with spam and kimchee on the side, what a great night. Good night everyone.
 
Fart sniffer said:
Has anyone had any type of injuries where they lost sensation/motor control over parts of their body and recovered to the point where they could be competitive again? They told me I should be able to recover 100% in about 6 months of hard work and rehab but wanted hopefully to hear some stories of overcoming adversity pertaining to this lovely game we play.

I just had surgery about 10 days ago that fused c6 and c7 in my neck and am slowly learning how to walk again, they just released me from the hospital on Tuesday so everything is still fresh and new to me. Before the surgery I was paralyzed from the chest down having compressed my spinal cord while doing some stretching exercises on a machine at home. They told me that I probably had a long term injury that didn't manifest itself fully until I aggravated it recently, I am very lucky no permanent (knock on wood) damage was done.

Many people came by to see me while I was in the ICU, Thorsten even brought by a steak to jump start my stomach the day after surgery and of course the nurses all had inspirational stories but I was looking for something from our little community here. Please share your stories as you see fit, I am looking forward to reading about them all. Thank you.

i had some nerve damage after a fight. lost the feeling in about half of my face. took about 3 months for it to come back. don't worry about it man if the nerves weren't severed you'll more than likely be 100% again in a matter of months
 
Fart sniffer said:
Not for long, I just won our weekly tournament. Got back muscle feeling in my legs halfway through the tournament which is awesome, what was not awesome was the fact that I can now feel that my legs were screaming for mercy.

It's my first tournament since the injury and I still can't believe I won it. It's about 11 hours of tournament so it's a long day for anyone, my eyes have big black bags under them and I still don't know how I lasted the whole thing.

And I also had my first setback, I was getting off a bed and didn't know how far the floor was since it wasn't my bed and my legs gave way. My left leg bent under me as I ended up in a pile on the floor, now if I put pressure on it at any sideways angle it feels like icepicks stabbing through both sides.

Anyways, going to see the neurologist on Tuesday and taking it very easy tomorrow and the rest of the week. I hope to get clearance to work and drive from the doctor, can't wait since I am getting very restless and tired of people having to do things and chauffer me around. Either way progress is coming quickly and it's so awesome, even the pain in my legs was nice because before that I didn't feel it at all, if they were tired I just walked slower or my legs shook a lot when pressed.

Man I am so stoked, so damn stoked. Just got done eating a hamburger patty on rice with spam and kimchee on the side, what a great night. Good night everyone.
Congrats on your win..Just remember to take it easy,plan your movements well..IF your driving remember to set the head rest properly just in case u were to be in an accident..Good luck and health to you...Keep us posted...:)
 
Can't believe you won the Bankshots tourney! I missed it this week, but hope to be there next week. I know winning normally would not be a surprise for you but under the circumstances that's awesome! Just remember to take it a little easy, ok?

Hope to see you out there next week, continued good luck on your recovery.
Scott
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on your win!

Congratulations on your win!

Glad to hear you are doing well even with a little set-back. Little "oopses" do happen, just consider it a warning to be more careful. Nothing like physical problems to make you focus. I won a pistol match and set a record that stood for years in my first competition after a major surgery. Damn that felt good! Nothing like a victory to make you both confident and hungry for more at the same time. I was a sore puppy after that match too. Like you, I was glad some things hurt later. The pain let me know they had worked enough to get sore.

Keep us updated, always great to hear things are going good.

Hu
 
Thank you very much, I am super happy to win this weekend and I am sure I made plenty of people mad along the way.

It just dawned on me that I have been giving positive rep to everyone that has been posting, but not everyone checks their rep. So I just wanted to mention that I have thanked everybody personally for their input here and to make sure that they are able to read what I have written to them.
 
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