I'm Getting Back To Boomin...

[oldskool69]

Hello Guys!

I know I have been gone for quite some time. As some of you are aware, I was hurt coming to the Midwest Swing back in April. As it turned out, I had a damaged bursesac along with a dislocation that popped back in in my right shoulder. In the process of x-rays and MRI's, something else popped up.

See… all the time I was thinking it was only my shoulder that was the problem. I had excruciating pain all the way down through my right hand as well. In one of the MRI's at the upper level of my shoulder the docs noticed that something was terribly wrong…

And ordered an MRI on my neck.

By the time this occurred… it had been nearly THREE months. Mid May to be exact. I was fortunate that I have some friends and connections in sports medicine that got me to the front of the line once the main problem was discovered…

My disc at the C6-C7 of my spine (neck area) had completely blown out and had compressed my spinal cord and nerves to the point it was damaged pretty good. The pain was debilitating and I lived off of pain meds trying to manage it until surgery. It was so bad as a matter of fact that the surgeon I met on 5.21.14 was going to move a patient out of the way on 5.22.14 so he could work on me first thing on 5.22.14. I refused, requesting a delay because…

My niece finally realized that she was NOT ready to raise a child. Some of you know the story of me and Tunya dealing with my niece Dorothy and her son Jackson whom we raised for 2.5 years. So…I had to go and get my great nephew, now son as we are adopting him outright per warnings we gave Dorothy. We told her our door is not a turn-style and that it is not fair to Jackson. So we have a six year old now whom we been involved with since he was born.

Not only that, my 20 year old daughter is in a perpetual state of confusion and has moved back home needing time away from college. And guess who had to move her back home… Dad and Mom. Fortunately her now boyfriend, and my son Trey were able to help while I directed traffic. This occurred on May 30…

And to top it all off I am trying to start a project with NASA building test stands…WTF?!?!?

Surgery was on 6.2.14. It went very well. I now have stainless steel and titanium in my neck along wroth cadaver bones holding the C6-C7 fusing them. I have lost range of motion turning my head as a result. I just saw the surgeon and unfortunately, my C5-C6 is on the way. He stated he did not want to operate on them unless I was 65…but if it goes and he has to…a different career choice is in short order. And I also now have a CPAP machine for sleep apnea…YAY! And let me say that narcotics withdrawal is a BIZNITCH!!! Those pain meds I was on had my stomach bleeding and I was horribly sick trying to get off of them.

Through it all, I am blessed… football practice has started…I still will be calling games on the mic, and we have a new field turf (artificial) going down. I was not supposed to go to work until 7.2.14. But I'm going on Monday. I have to as there is just some things I have to do despite the best efforts of others. That is the nature of management, design, and implementation in construction.

I still have pain in my shoulders and arms but I can manage. I have gotten off the narcotics and tens unit for managing pain. My son helps me when I want a particular boomer that weighs more than 10lbs. I'm not supposed to lift more than 5lbs technically but what do I own other than shirts and socks that small that I use regularly with no weight?

I'm getting there… gonna take some time. And I know there some small items I still need to deliver from the meet.

Will get to the PM's and catch up for now. Talk to ya'll soon!

P.S. Can you believe I'm just getting back to putting away the boom stock after the meet?!? Talk about not playing through the pain! I'll post the gross stuff later.


Freddie

 

[hemiguy2006]

Wow Freddie sounds like you got a overflowing plate!!!
I pray for you and your family. In hopes for a speedy recovery process for you.
Welcome back.

 

[oldskool69]

Wow Freddie sounds like you got a overflowing plate!!!
I pray for you and your family. In hopes for a speedy recovery process for you.
Welcome back.

Thanks Frank! Definitely pray for Tunya. She says I'm bull headed and a bad patient. She has been driving me around and literal been my personal assistant at work because I could not type or sit up more than half a day before surgery. She has been awesome and I owe her big... guess I better get the collection ready to sell.

 

[skippy1969]

Holy crap!!!!! I knew you were in bad pain at the Midwest swing but holy cow dude!!!
I'm so glad your doing somewhat better though. Thinking of you and your family my friend!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oldskool69]

Holy crap!!!!! I knew you were in bad pain at the Midwest swing but holy cow dude!!!
I'm so glad your doing somewhat better though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Scott. I know you saw me shuffling around the meet like an old man as it was pretty hard to hide it and the smell of capsazin.

 

[blu_fuz]

Holy moly I had no idea it was that bad! Glad to here you are doing better and moving on with your new family setup. Good luck bud and be well.

 

[Gluecifer]

Geezum crow, Freddie!! I hope you're through the worst of all this and get some much needed healthy peace.

Keep on rockin, Freddie, you're one tough SOB.



Rock On.

 

[-GZ-]

Wow. You can't make stuff like that up! Hope things get better for ya freddie.

 

[baddboybill]

Freddie I'm so glad to hear your doing better. Just as the guys, I really thought maybe you just pulled muscle. But holy cow you really got messed up. If you need anything, even just to talk give me a call bro. Tell Tunya hey from Jeannie and I


Bad Boy Bill

 

[Superduper]

Freddie,

Not everyone knows but last July, I had ACDF surgery to fuse my C4/C5 vertebrae as I had lost strength to my left arm to where I couldn't even lift my arm above my head, forget about trying to change a lightbulb. There was pain, numbness, weird twitching, but the loss of strength was what concerned me the most. Next month, it will have been 1 year. During and after the surgery, believe it or not, I managed to move 1900 miles away. I do have some fine members to thank for helping out though including Reli and Mellymelsr. They helped me pack up at least 1 or more of the 5 tractor trailers involved in the move.

ACDF stands for Anterior Cervical Discetomy and Fusion. Basically, like you, I have titanium plates and screws holding C4/5 together after removing the damaged disc, and cadaver donor bone to keep vertebraes spaced properly, although the hardware is now redundant since those two discs have since fused. But the hardware stays since there's no reason to remove them unless they cause problems. My surgery took place through the front of the neck and they had to move the artery, windpipe and esophagus out of the way to access the spine.

Don't worry, you'll recover like I did. I do have reduced range up/down but my left/right range is not significantly diminished, if at all. Just wanted to let you know you are not alone in your situation.

 

[redbenjoe]

yup --you are still a hero -- but not alone -
i too - have a big chunk of titanium in my back -

worst part -- and they prolly didnt tell you ( yet )
is that these metals are only good for 4 years or so -

then you need re-surgery for the replacements

but it sure beats the constant pounding pain --

for better and for worse - it good to hear from you , freddie

 

[Northerner]

Wow that's such a lot deal with on its own but with everything else you've got going on it must be really tough...hope you're on the road to recovery and all the other issues get sorted.

 

[alfie]

Holy moley!! What a lot to take in in such a short space of time....
Hope your recovery is going well Freddie. It's great to see you back brother! This place ain't the same without ya!

 

[AE_Stereo]

Prayers for you.

 

[Beosystem10]

Freddie, I don't know what to say that hasn't been said already, but the fact that you're keeping your life together and even managing to deal with other stressful, family-related issues during all of the severe pain you've been living with; well that speaks volumes for the man that you are. Lesser mortals would curl up in a corner, swallow loads of Tramadol and pretty much give up.
You must be made from very strong stuff to be able to deal with so much and you truly are one massive source of inspiration to other folk.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Hey Freddie, I was thinking of you the other day, wondering where you were. I just figured you had a boombox overdose since the Midwest Swing and were taking a short break. I'm sorry to hear everything you've go through. Family, work, surgery. Glad to hear the surgery went well. Take it easy and you'll hopeful be as close to 100% as possible.

You know, if the doctor says you shouldn't be lifting more than 5 pounds, you should listen to him. I'll go review some of your past video's and picture posts and try to identify radio's that are clearly over 5 pounds and "Relieve You" of the responsibility of future care taking and eliminate the temptation that goes with seeing them in the boom room. I don't want you re-injuring yourself Fully recovering is what is important right now, not these simple plastic boxes. I wouldn't do this for just anyone, but your a great moderator here at Boomboxery, and I care!

And to Norm, I didn't know you went through all that either AND moved! That move along, for a man in his 20's would have been challenging. Glad to hear you got through it all with flying colors.

 

[Superduper]

Chris, with all that I had going on, I had a really tough & challenging year. I'm still trying to get all sorted out and settled down. My life from here on out will be much changed from what I'd known but its just another turn in the path of this journey called life.

 

[k2j]

Funny timing I was thinking of posting a where's oldskool69 thread just the other day. Sorry to read about your troubles. Sometimes life gets real tuff, just put your chin up and soldier on man.

Glad to see you posting again!!

 

[womble71]

Sorry to hear about the collective stresses you've experienced lately oldskool69, but glad to see you still kickin' around. Just know that you and you're family are in my thoughts and prayer's, cause' you can't keep a good man down(not for long anyway). Stay strong brother.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Chris, with all that I had going on, I had a really tough & challenging year. I'm still trying to get all sorted out and settled down. My life from here on out will be much changed from what I'd known but its just another turn in the path of this journey called life.

I know you had a herculean task to move, just don't know how you did it in that condition!