Wonderful things: Steroids and Helpers!

If you have a diagnosis, it might help if you do some of your own research. Many people probably do not know about the Index Medicus which is available in the Biomendical Libraries in universities. If you access it, you can read about the latest research into your illness in the medical journals. Some doctors might rely on drug sales-people to keep up-to-date.

Fast Eddie said:

It happens here as much as anywhere else on t’internet…

A very verbal minority of henpecking, nitpicking, argumentative, individuals spoil threads for the (mainly silent but) interested majority.

Don’t succumb Greg, keep using that wonderful ‘ignore’ button instead !!

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Here we go again! Steroid shot yesterday; Superman mode fully engaged the morning. Guy picking up his bike. He has the easiest loading carrier I've ever seen - his truck has a carrier that plugs into the hitch, so the carrier is nice and low. OK, push the bike up the "U" shaped ramp to the "U" shaped carrier and into the front wheel chock - a thing he does all the time by himself but we were at a weird angle. I'm at the back just to assist and can't do much because my right arm/shoulder are torn up from my last shop accident.

The rear wheel missed the ramp. OK, Superman will just lift it into place acting like I was in charge. The owner had a better plan - back it up and try again. Superman, not being careful had his foot behind the bike. Lost all the skin on the little toe top and the toe next to it and a little on the rest - that's my bionic foot that needs surgery already! Yes, I had shoes on.

OK, that sucked. Next try. Not sure what happened but next thing I know the bike fell over and knocked me to the ground on my knees and elbows. Fortunately, the truck stopped it from falling all the way on me and very fortunately, I didn't put my torn up right arm down to try to stop the fall. The concrete took the skin from both elbows, both knees and something took meat from both forearms.

OK, now while he held the back of the bike, I had to pick up the front and put in back on the ramp - I guess my left arm is stronger than I thought and the bionics in it held up.

Now, what. I did not want to go the ER so I started calling my various doctors and the wound care center for help. Doctors on vacation, wound care had no room, urgent care not interested. So, I called my cleaning ladies who came buy, scolded a LOT, and helped me get bandaged up and clean up the "murder scene". They have ordered to stay out of the shop and retire. Won't retire buy probably will listen to them for today.

Fortunately, I have a very high pain tolerance so this will pass, and I'll be back at it.

My continuing saga of getting hurt...

While having home wound care for my last incident, I got over hydrated which led to a bump on my right leg turning into a big blister. The wound care nurse insisted on wrapping it - caused it to grow and cover the front of my shin and part of the side of my leg - large amount of skin gone. This in itself not a big deal. However, MRSA set in. MRSA is the "hospital infection" that is very hard to handle. So, went to the ER on Sunday and just got home. Had IV anti-biotics and now taking pills. MRSA is not gone but hopefully will be soon.

marshg246 said:

My continuing saga of getting hurt...

While having home wound care for my last incident, I got over hydrated which led to a bump on my right leg turning into a big blister. The wound care nurse insisted on wrapping it - caused it to grow and cover the front of my shin and part of the side of my leg - large amount of skin gone. This in itself not a big deal. However, MRSA set in. MRSA is the "hospital infection" that is very hard to handle. So, went to the ER on Sunday and just got home. Had IV anti-biotics and now taking pills. MRSA is not gone but hopefully will be soon.

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Hope you have better luck and health in the future Greg .
Growing old is not for the feint of heart …

While we are discussing steroids:

I hit a car at high speed on my 750 when young (19 years old). It broke my back. I have been in pain for 40 years now until last week, mainly arthritic. I went to see the same back doctor Jim C recommended in Denver. They did MRI and decided that I have osteoarthritis in sacroiliac joint. They wanted to give me a steroid shot there to see if it helps with the pain. BUT primarily its a diagnostic shot to be 100% sure its the sacroiliac. In other words if pain stops then that's the cause. Now they will do an RF ablation on the nerve so I wont feel any pain again.


This week is the first week in 40 years I have not had back pain. I cant believe the difference. I feel young again. Should have done this years ago.

Jerry

Greg- get well mate

Jerry Doe said:

While we are discussing steroids:

I hit a car at high speed on my 750 when young (19 years old). It broke my back. I have been in pain for 40 years now until last week, mainly arthritic. I went to see the same back doctor Jim C recommended in Denver. They did MRI and decided that I have osteoarthritis in sacroiliac joint. They wanted to give me a steroid shot there to see if it helps with the pain. BUT primarily its a diagnostic shot to be 100% sure its the sacroiliac. In other words if pain stops then that's the cause. Now they will do an RF ablation on the nerve so I wont feel any pain again.

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/radiofrequency-ablation-pain-relief

This week is the first week in 40 years I have not had back pain. I cant believe the difference. I feel young again. Should have done this years ago.

Jerry

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Hi Jerry - I went through RF ablation for my Trigeminal Neuralgia
a couple of weeks ago . Made a big difference . Good luck with your procedure and I hope you will keep us posted on the results.
Rick

Richard Tool said:

Hi Jerry - I went through RF ablation for my Trigeminal Neuralgia
a couple of weeks ago . Made a big difference . Good luck with your procedure and I hope you will keep us posted on the results.
Rick

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Hi Richard, glad it helped. I will keep you all posted. Before after kicking my 750 over and going for a ride I was in pain all night. I could hardly ride my thruxton. This is a game changer for me.

I think the steroid will probably wear off in a week or so. I had to go see a pain specialist for the injection. Yet to go and see the back specialist since injection, but next step is to discuss the ablation, which he does. I have been doing physical therapy as well, but that does not help much in my case. I tried everything else.

btw, insurance covered most of this. It cost me $230 so far.

I’ll keep you posted.

Our wonderful US medical system!

Oct 9, Wound Care took a sample of my wound, and it came back Oct 11 as MRSA and the visible infection symptoms had not yet appeared.

Oct 13, I went to ER and before doing anything, they took a sample. My leg was clearly infected (swollen, red, hot, pus) and they had the Oct 9 result so I was in isolation due to MRSA.

Oct 15, the Oct 13 sample came back negative for infection! In this particular case, that incorrect lab result didn't hurt anything, but it could well have meant death!

The saying "Trust but Verify" for me is "Listen, do not Trust, and Verify". I try hard to be a good patient, but if something doesn't sound right, I question. Today, almost anything can be looked up online and you should not think you know it all by looking but you should use the info to ask informed questions until you understand/are satisfied.

Oh my! Hope everyone recovers! After my recent hospital stay, I learnt two things, you can have MRSA colonies in your nose and not know it. The precaution medication for this to shove a christmas tree soaked in iodine up your nose prior to surgery. Second if the guy who invented crack would not have bothered if he knew about steroids.

marshg246 said:

Our wonderful US medical system!

Oct 9, Wound Care took a sample of my wound, and it came back Oct 11 as MRSA and the visible infection symptoms had not yet appeared.

Oct 13, I went to ER and before doing anything, they took a sample. My leg was clearly infected (swollen, red, hot, pus) and they had the Oct 9 result so I was in isolation due to MRSA.

Oct 15, the Oct 13 sample came back negative for infection! In this particular case, that incorrect lab result didn't hurt anything, but it could well have meant death!

The saying "Trust but Verify" for me is "Listen, do not Trust, and Verify". I try hard to be a good patient, but if something doesn't sound right, I question. Today, almost anything can be looked up online and you should not think you know it all by looking but you should use the info to ask informed questions until you understand/are satisfied.

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The older I get the more I realize you need to be your own advocate.

Goodness you guys are making me feel a bit embarrassed about the complaining I do about my knee. Little cartilage left but I'm a totally wimp and not brave enough to face surgery.

My problem is if I work on a bike on the ground and kneel on concrete. I have a bike lift but sometimes if another bike is on it I'll do an oil and filter change on the ground. Did the Commando last week and am now regretting it.

I talked about the Manx trip with the Velos and AJS back in August and then did a lot of kneeling on concrete. Big mistake. Was limping so much I could hardly push a bike. Definitely not bump start. Which was easy 10 years back.

This growing old business is not for the faint hearted. But with a CNW electric start installed I hope I'm good for another 10 years anyway.

Get better soon guys. All the best from a bright sunny spring day in NZ. The flowers are coming out.

johnm said:

Goodness you guys are making me feel a bit embarrassed about the complaining I do about my knee. Little cartilage left but I'm a totally wimp and not brave enough to face surgery.

My problem is if I work on a bike on the ground and kneel on concrete. I have a bike lift but sometimes if another bike is on it I'll do an oil and filter change on the ground. Did the Commando last week and am now regretting it.

I talked about the Manx trip with the Velos and AJS back in August and then did a lot of kneeling on concrete. Big mistake. Was limping so much I could hardly push a bike. Definitely not bump start. Which was easy 10 years back.

This growing old business is not for the faint hearted. But with a CNW electric start installed I hope I'm good for another 10 years anyway.

Get better soon guys. All the best from a bright sunny spring day in NZ. The flowers are coming out.

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Just be glad you have a little left. It's even less fun when the bones are wearing each other down.

There is a new treatment I'm going to have before replacement. They inject a gel in the knee joint. I was supposed to see the doctor on Tuesday for the final evaluation, but I was in the hospital so had to reschedule.

I'm told that it's a really good solution for normal sized to smaller people but that I should not expect much as I'm too heavy and my arthritis is too advanced. If it doesn't work, you can still have the replacement. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/knee-gel-injections-viscosupplementation

marshg246 said:

Just be glad you have a little left. It's even less fun when the bones are wearing each other down.

There is a new treatment I'm going to have before replacement. They inject a gel in the knee joint. I was supposed to see the doctor on Tuesday for the final evaluation, but I was in the hospital so had to reschedule.

I'm told that it's a really good solution for normal sized to smaller people but that I should not expect much as I'm too heavy and my arthritis is too advanced. If it doesn't work, you can still have the replacement. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/procedures/knee-gel-injections-viscosupplementation

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Mmmm. Unfortunately I'm about 110 kg. So a bit above average.

built in knee pads in work trousers have been great for me , as still doing house repair work professionally at 68!

jan nelder said:

built in knee pads in work trousers have been great for me , as still doing house repair work professionally at 68!

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Absolutely !

For the paddock I wear plumbers trousers (mine are Snickers, but there are Dickies and others). They have big pockets in the knee area for knee pads.

They don’t solve everything, and they don’t replace having a bike lift! But when forced to work on a bike in the paddock they are a definite boon. You’re basically kneeling on a cushion everywhere.

Snickers are great I used them for years in work, great quality but expensive that said they last and last !!
Still buy and use them despite being retired.

One delight from Snickers is the Elasticated Belt they sell for their work clothes ... blooming awesome ... It keeps your clothes tucked in the trousers despite wriggling crawling and bending which is a boon in colder weather and is infinitely adjustable - no more picking holes where the belt is too tight or too loose. Actually I use the Snickers elastic belt day in and day out on all clothes types as it also looks good too.

Another delight of Snickers is they dry really quickly when wet unlike with jeans which stay wet and cold for ever it seems.

Snickers have knee pads that insert into knee pockets so can be removed or inserted as required.

Grandad said:

Snickers are great I used them for years in work, great quality but expensive that said they last and last !!
Still buy and use them despite being retired.

One delight from Snickers is the Elasticated Belt they sell for their work clothes ... blooming awesome ... It keeps your clothes tucked in the trousers despite wriggling crawling and bending which is a boon in colder weather and is infinitely adjustable - no more picking holes where the belt is too tight or too loose. Actually I use the Snickers elastic belt day in and day out on all clothes types as it also looks good too.

Another delight of Snickers is they dry really quickly when wet unlike with jeans which stay wet and cold for ever it seems.

Snickers have knee pads that insert into knee pockets so can be removed or inserted as required.

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with some of the better brands there are slightly elasticated materials used in the main panels, which helps when moving/kneeling. Blaklader are a vg and expensive brand I have used a lot .

jan nelder said:

with some of the better brands there are slightly elasticated materials used in the main panels, which helps when moving/kneeling. Blaklader are a vg and expensive brand I have used a lot .

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Maybe I should look at some of these things. Must be Nz brands

I’ve had my share of ups and downs with steroids too. A while back, I needed them for some chronic pain and noticed how they did wonders for my energy. I felt like I could conquer the world—at least until the side effects kicked in. It’s so tempting to lean on them when they alleviate pain and boost your performance. I remember once, after a shot, I went out biking and overdid it because I felt invincible. Ended up with a nasty injury! It’s a fine balance, isn’t it? I’ve also heard good things about sources like Steroids Canada for finding the best anabolic steroids in Canada, but I always wonder about the long-term effects. It’s great that you found a helper, marshg246!