RFI did not work

Well, the RFA's I had done on my lower back did not work..

I think my issues are a lot deeper than just facet joints.

Nothing that good storng pain drugs can't fix, right?

Neck MRI report... Nice!

• Mild annular bulging and uncinate ridging at the C5-6 level. There is moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis, slightly worse to the left.

• Mild uncinate ridging at the C4-5 level. There is mild to moderate bilateral foraminal stenosis.

• Slight annular bulging at the C6-7 level with mild uncinate ridging. Findings contribute to mild to moderate left and mild right right-sided foraminal stenosis.

• Mild to moderate facet arthropathy at the C7-T1 level. There is mild bilateral foraminal stenosis.
  

Or to put it in a simple term... OUCH!!!!!

Not Medically Necessary... WHAT!

So now it seems I can not have the RFA re-done on my lower back right side because my lovely insurance company says it is "not medically necessary". That's nice!

When the insurance company sends me the monthly bill, I don't deny payment and say its "not financially necessary", I just pay the FUCKING BILL!!

I could understand their denial if I was asking for a penis enlargement.
Were talking PAIN here... and a lot of it!

I would be willing to bet that if the asshole that denied this was in just a fraction of the pain I am in, not only would this procedure be "medically necessary", but it would be 100% covered.. And mandated into law.

Who the hell gave these fucking insurance company's the power or the right to tell us whether we are in pain or not!

I think the RFA worked this time around..

I think I might be feeling better.

Maybe , Just maybe my lower left back pain is now under control... I think for the most part today I was only feeling pain in my upper back and my lower right side...

Can this be the key that I have been looking for all this time?

I know this is not a "fix" to the real problem, but being able to live without pain is a great start.
Going to have my lower right side re-done on the 23rd of next month.

Maybe I should go talk to my pain doctor about doing something for my upper back now...

Why do I get to have all the fun?

Just got back home a little bit ago... You know its not going to be fun when before you have it done the surgeon tells you.. "I hope you understand that were not trying to torture you, its just that we need for you to feel the pain for us to know that we have placed the needles in the correct place. And the higher the pain, the closer we are to the correct spot." I would have to say... this surgeon must have been a Marksman Sniper.. OMFG! ...Nailed them!

Now I have to give them a few days to a week for the pain to calm back down...

Radio Frequency Ablation Again.....

No pain, no Brain!

I am going in Thursday morning to have Radio Frequency Ablation done on my lower back left side.
I hate my life!
I wish they could dope me up for this, but they need my (as they call it) "Participation". In other words... It will hurt like a MOTHERF****R as they jab these needles into the PAIN receptor nerves and pulse them with RF to find the most painful spots. Then once they find these spots, then they can numb them before they burn them... Spike = Stressed out.....

The look I am trying to get maybe

Here is what I am trying to get, or something like it or maybe better... Video within a marker... kind of cool huh!

Working with a new plug-in that is cool

I am asking the makers to add a few more features to make it even more cool. Like video within the marker.

We will see.

Radio Frequency Ablation

Well, the Radio Frequency Ablation on my lower back right side did not work the first time for me...
The Doctor said this might happen in my case but we had to try and see. They did what is called a pulse and although it is done at a lower temperature to try and save the nerves, the success rate is also lower.
So I am going to have it re-done. This time they are going to be more aggressive and fry them suckers!

Hey, whatever it takes to stop this pain!
Just make it go away!

So I have to have my left side fried, then go back and have my right side re-fried.

Re-fried Spike Yum!

Left side Medial branch blocks worked, kind of..

I had the left side Medial branch blocks done on my lower back today...
Well, they did work for about 4 - 5 hours, but now I am back to full pain...
I have no idea what they did different this time, as last time the pain was gone for about 4 days or so...

I guess the good news is that I know it will in fact stop the pain from that area, so I am going to move forward with the Radio frequency Ablation on the lower left side.. Just want this to be over... I am getting so drained from this pain...

That was fun

NOT!

Radio frequency Ablation

Going to have my Radio frequency Ablation done on June 8th

Medial branch blocks worked

The Medial branch blocks worked! They did them at 4 levels on my lower back right side. This stopped my lower back pain on the right side for a few days. It was only a test to see if my pain was in fact coming from these nerves. Yes it is!
Now I need to go back and have the "Radio Frequency Ablation" done at 4 levels on both sides (8 spots) to "shut down" these nerves for a year or so.

Medial branch blocks

Going in next Thursday to have this fun little procedure done on my lower back to see if they can then do another thing called "radiofrequency ablation" on some of the nerves. Fun stuff!

Ingo getting big fast

The boy is getting big very fast...

What can I say...

Bat Boy.

While I still can

I am sure he will be too big for this very soon, but I do love my boy..

Ingos home with us now

Just got Ingo today....

Me thinks he is going to be a handfull, but he is SO cute!

Ingo

Can this be our new baby boy?

Steroid-induced osteoporosis

Been trying to speed up my back pain healing as I have not been able to do anything for a while now.
Had a call into my Doctor asking for a steroid pack to help "kick start" my healing.

I got a call from my Doctors office today. He said this was not a good idea to use Steroids as they thin the bones and as I already have osteoporosis, he did not want to compound the risks. He said it was far better for me to go back to my pain management doctor and deal with my pain. Just let your body heal on its own over time and take pain meds..

Nobody wants to touch my back as it is totally messed up.....

That is totally messed up!

Support

Life has kicked me in the ass pretty hard these days..

Sometimes it just blows me away how people that I don't even know have called or e-mailed with their support and kind words.



I just wanted to thank you all for being there for me..

Waste of my time

So I went to the Dr. yesterday ..
They took a few X-rays of my back (waste of time)...
He said he did not see any fractures.. I already knew that!
I went in there saying that I think I Herniated myL5 S1 disc!

I asked why not just go right to a MRI?
They said... Oh! well, we would have to order that and that would take a few days... Lets just see how you feel is 6 weeks..

6 WEEKS? How about I stick that scalpel up your ass and see how your doing in 6 weeks?

Now they want me to see a shrink to give me the "tools" to deal with my pain.. I GOT YOUR TOOLS RIGHT HERE!

The flu from hell

This has been the flu from hell..

So last week I was coughing and broke a rib.. (Easy to do with osteoporosis)

Yesterday morning I was coughing and SNAP I think I Herniated myL5 S1 disc again. I can hardly walk.. right now.. This was the first back problem I had back in 2003, but has been doing ok for the past few years..

The good news.. I guess I have to slow down some.. The bad news, everyone that is waiting for a Zen has to wait a little longer. I can't stand this part. I need to keep people happy...

Been tuning to some new scales.

Golden Gate Zen

Silverado Zen


And a fake echo test using both drums

New door bell

Just a matter of time before I had to build one of these...

New tuner

Got a new tuner the other day.

This thing allows me to tune to just about anything I want.

Makes the other one look like a toy..

Very cool!

Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Attacks? Perfect!

So I went to my Dr. yesterday for a check up.

As some of you may know I have osteoporosis and have been instructed to take a lot of Calcium...
Now they find out Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Attacks!

Sounds about right!

Humans, were not as smart as we think we are..

Studs and Bitches

So we are thinking we might be ready to get another puppy..
We are looking around anyway...

So they call the Male dog the "Stud"
And the female dog the "Bitch"

This got me thinking.....

So if I were to call some dude a "Stud", he would thank me and say "yes I am"
If I called some woman a "Bitch", I do not think she would thank me...

Slang Dictionary:

Stud: A human male viewed as very successful with women.
Bitch: An unpleasant or irritating female.


Once again, the English language proves to be stupid and make no sense.
No wonder I failed it so badly in school..

An unpleasant or irritating female.


Once again, the English language proves to be stupid and make no sense.
No wonder I failed it so badly in school..

Drum Heads

Another 50 heads

Trying to Zen out a little

Been a crazy few days... trying to take my mind off some stuff and came up with this..

C Pentatonic in Blue and Copper patina

Just finished putting the last of 6 coats of clear on this C Pentatonic Zen.

Me likes this color combo.