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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;KennyMac, post: 1743119, member: 23222&quot;]I was fast rapelling between two columns in the HydroCracker Unit at work in a refinery when i ran back first into a piece of angle iron that wasn&#039;t on any of the engineering or isometric drawings.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I originally thought I had just got a &#039;deep bruise&#039;, (and didn&#039;t report it), but I severely cracked two vertebrae....in essence, I simply broke my back.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#039;m &quot;Old School&quot; in that what doesn&#039;t kill you only makes you stronger...or so I thought.</p><p>Since I didn&#039;t report the &#039;injury&#039;, there was no claim for workmans comp...stupid mistake....REALLY stupid.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>4 days after being laid off, (not from job performance), I went in for my first back surgery...then my second....then my third....then my fourth....then my fifth....then my sixth.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>You are probably thinking..&quot;Who&#039;s this guy kidding?&quot;....Well, it&#039;s not you, or me.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><b>Here&#039;s the surgery count as it stands right now....</b></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#039;ve had 6 back surgeries in the last 3 years, (3 in the last year), with two of those in the last 2 months...the last one was 2 weeks ago.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Total count:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>1. Laminectomy/Fusion: Hardware installed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>2. Laminectomy/Fusion: Failed...hardware removed.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>3. Neurostimulator installed: working at 50%.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>4. Wires in Nuerostimulator broke/ Surgically replaced: now working at 30%.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>5. Morphine Pump Installed: Works perfect, problem solved?!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Morphine Pump Removed: Massive Infection at the incision</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As of today, April 15th, I&#039;ve been getting Antibiotic I.V.&#039;s every day as an out-patient at the hospital...i&#039;ve got a PICC line installed in my left arm and i&#039;m at 40 straight days and counting....</p><p>(hopefully it comes out next week).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I have what is basically a team of Orthopaedic surgeons that have tried to fix my back.</p><p>I was told at the beginning that the procedure(s) don&#039;t work for every one...(in my case thats a true statement).</p><p>You learn to live with what you&#039;ve got...or don&#039;t have...your health.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#039;ve been fortunate in that I&#039;ve been able to keep my health benefits so far, and all of these specialist have been covered.</p><p>Thats about to change, and not in a good way..</p><p>(I won&#039;t get into that, and going to a V.A. hospital puts an itch in the roof of my mouth that only the barrel of a gun can scratch).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So...after years of doing a job that I really like to do, and that I&#039;m really good at, the only thing that will work is another pump implant...and I don&#039;t know how likely that will be...time will tell.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Some people heal after the first surgery, some don&#039;t....take care of your back.</p><p>It&#039;s the only thing that supports you.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This is a picture of me right before it happened at 47 years of age...now I&#039;m 50 years old and about 30 pounds lighter with more scars than a biker gang...it looks like I was on the losing end of a knife fight.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I&#039;ve also had more than 60 spinal injections, but it got to the point where the injections would only be effective for about 4 days.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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