UTMC

For those few of us who still able around these quiet corridors of the internet backwater that is the UTMC, we have all shared a lot of bad shit that we've seen in the past few years, whether it be in the Jackbooted Thugs, COVID or wherever else. No sense sticking our head in the sand, I appreciate everyone's frankness when it comes to discussing our troubles.

But tell me something good that happened to you. Did you earn a promotion at work? Maybe your kid got accepted to the college of their dreams? Learn how to use a 3D printer? Finally get that 13th toe removed?

I'll start it off. My daughter just this morning told my wife and I that she is in the beginning of her 2nd trimester of her first pregnancy, meaning that by Halloween I'm going to be a grandfather. Correction, I'm going to be a sexy-as-fuck grandfather. She waited as long as she did because she actually was pregnant in January of last year and let us all know at about 4 weeks but subsequently miscarried, so she wanted to be more certain this time before letting the cat out of the bag. FWIW I am under strict orders not to tell anyone but I highly doubt any of you would know her, nor do many of you follow me on social medias so I think this is a safe space.

The world isn't all bad. What you got?

Good call, BSH, and congratulations, Grandpa!

We've been redoing our front garden. It's not quite as significant as grandkids but it's what I got right now.

--Jaeger

I started a new job in a new field, and while I am quietly trying to exit to a different portion of the field, I am currently doing Residential and Light Commercial HVACR Service.

I just spent the past month replacing all of the ductwork in my house. Originally built in '87 but rats had gotten into the attic and tore up the insulated jackets to get condensation off of it, with the added affect of it leaking like hell everywhere in the house. Oh and the previous homeowner had at some point gone up there and tried to replace some of it but had left the old pieces in place so there was just a mess of ducts laying on top of each other, pinched into truss openings, not to mention he used R-4 mobile home flex duct.

Things are kind of coming up Milhouse for me lately. Accepted a job offer so my 4 months of riding the couch are coming to a close. Gotta go get some miles on a bike before I lash myself to the oar again.

Bigshankhank wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 23, 2021 5:11 am

Gotta go get some miles on a bike before I lash myself to the oar again.

I'm looking forward to photographs of the glorious repair of the brakes, lest those fall to pieces again.
I mean it! If we don't see it, you didn't fix it.

Bigshankhank wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:18 am

I just spent the past month replacing all of the ductwork in my house. Originally built in '87 but rats had gotten into the attic and tore up the insulated jackets to get condensation off of it, with the added affect of it leaking like hell everywhere in the house. Oh and the previous homeowner had at some point gone up there and tried to replace some of it but had left the old pieces in place so there was just a mess of ducts laying on top of each other, pinched into truss openings, not to mention he used R-4 mobile home flex duct.

There's a reason I'm not eager to do residential in the south. That's a small portion of it. My sympathies.

Bringing this one back to life and hopefully can inspire some more input from the scattered. Back on May 23rd 2006 I was struck by an 18 wheeler while riding the Tail of the Dragon on my 883 Sportster. Shattered my left femur something sweet thus earning my spot in the illustrious Gimp Club. However in 2019 the left knee decided that the residual damage was something it could no longer overcome, and called it quits. Multiple ortho specialists and treatments later and I have finally, as of last week undergone a total knee replacement, ending 4 years of continuous pain and limited mobility. I am in recovery, but walking and other than the swelling and stiffness, the pain in my knee joint itself is gone! It took a few days to heal up and get away from the prescribed opioids to be able to attune myself to how my leg felt, but I legit almost teared up I was so happy. And now when my wife calls me a liar for bragging that I have a 10-incher sticking out of the bottom of my shorts, I can point out the elongated scar.

Bigshankhank wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 1:54 pm

... the pain in my knee joint itself is gone!
... but I legit almost teared up I was so happy. And now when my wife calls me a liar for bragging that I have a 10-incher sticking out of the bottom of my shorts, I can point out the elongated scar.

That matches what I've heard from most people who got a new knees up. Good on yer, mate!
I confess. I both dread and long for my hip replacement. BUT. Those things are delayed as long as possible, since a worn out replacement joint can be replaced only once or so, and sometimes not even that much.

Take good care of your new farkle!
Personally, with my busted hip, I found it helpful to wear boots with a rounded heel, so I can roll over my heel when walking, closer to natural walking. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend talking to your physiatrist and/or orthopedist.

Bigshankhank wrote: ↑

Tue May 16, 2023 1:54 pm

It took a few days to heal up and get away from the prescribed opioids to be able to attune myself to how my leg felt,

Your relationship with opioids is yours, but take heed: don't think NSAIDs like Ibuprofen are the safe alternative.
No idea if you're taking any of those, of course, but I feel I should pass on a heads up.
Keeping in mind: untreated pain will become chronic and persist sans trigger. So taking nothing isn't generally great, either.

I had the misfortune of spending some weeks in the last specialist clinic in potato that will treat people with treatment-resistant head pain.
Literally the last. Patients came from all over potato, and would only be accepted to begin with if a committee of doctors had decided they might be able to help at all, and that all other options had been exhausted. My neuropsychiatrist here, who's also my chronic-pain specialist, had to send them a three-ring binder of documentation just to get my case before that committee.

A lot of patients had had migraine or cluster, as 40% of the medical staff did (yes, they really hired for that, it was a point of pride for the chief of medicine). A small number of patients, like me, had head-trauma related headache/head pain.
A HUGE number, at least as many as had cluster headaches, had drug-induced headaches.

They had started taking Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), most popularly ibuprofen (Advil and other trade names), and after a while, they get a new headache. Or the old headache stopped responding like it had.
So they take more of the drug. And more, and more. And eventually, the headache was permanent, and no over-the-counter drug could do anything at all. Nor could prescription drugs.

Neurons that fire together grow together. The way an expert had explained it to me, continuous untreated pain causes the formation of a synaptic chain. That's permanent rewiring, a chain of synapses that keep active, keep firing, without external provocation.

So leaving severe pain untreated is bad, because that can become chronic in the same way, but taking certain drugs to treat that pain for a longer time isn't good, either.

Just a heads up. If you have to keep taking pain killers, talk to your doctor about drug-induced headaches.

My knee issues aren't nearly as cool as BSH's, but I'm curious to hear your results as I suspect I'm heading in that direction eventually. Goddamn left knee hasn't been right since meniscus surgery and it's getting worse.

And yeah, go read "Long Day's Journey Into Night" if you need any more thoughts re opioids.

--Jaeger