I think choosing to post this is a 30/70 good idea.
30% the right thing to do…
I may take it down in a couple days.
I’ve written about this ad nauseum….My skydiving accident 20 years ago.
There is absolutely no plausible reason I survived a pile driving..head first into the ground at 30-40mph…without a helmet…burrowing a 15’0 long trench with my head until I was covered in earth.
I heard my back snap and unconsciousness took over.
Every orthopod that I’ve showed the video to got serious whiplash when they saw my impact.
Each one said the same thing: “How the fuck did you survive that??”
I survived it and was able to go back to work 4 years after the accident.
But my spine and structural network are a mess from stem to stern.
Spending 8 hours a day on my feet on the job I quit a month ago was the last straw. My feet, knees, and back have gone back to their normal level of tolerable pain. My neck did not and the intensity in the pain department accelerated out of control.
I saw an orthopod and was diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy.
The spectrum of how bad this syndrome is from A to Z.
I’m Z + Sammy Sosa steroids.
I am never not in extreme pain. I chose to see a doc because I’m becoming psychotic from not sleeping.
I am in limbo right now. Plans are being made for surgery.
I avoided full on surgery the last 20 years because I hate and distrust doctors; especially orthopedic surgeons.
This is a rare condition; especially at my intensity.
Not a lot of information about folks who did what I did. Add to that my age and degeneration over 20 years and it has put me behind the eight ball.
I probably have as much as a month before the docs figure out how to fix an injury this complex…I swear they are rubbing their palms together in glee at having the opportunity to experiment on me.
I should have become paralyzed long ago. A fall or whiplash could easily paralyze me from the neck down. How I avoided this ovver two decades is a baby Jesus miracle or a Holy Moses miracle.
The surgery, at this complexity…and on a 71 year old man, has a lot of risks.
I will try to write some reviews, but if the surgery proceeds, I must stop smoking one month prior. And it will be quite a while before I can smoke again. My biggest concern from of all this…Will this affect my palate?
If I have a good day before the three ring circus begins, I will review. But to be honest, the pain is intense enough to preclude me from being in the right state of mind to put you in shock and awe mode. It’s hard to write with jaw clenched.
I’m bummed. I love writing and reviewing.
I endured this horseshit injury for two decades against the odds. The Cosmic Muffin has been looking out for me.
Maybe the neck surgery will actually improve my palate and I will be able to taste fried ferret kidneys, octopus noodles. and a Der Wienerschnitzel hot dogs.
I’ll be back…but it’s going to be one day at a time.
As Nancy would say, “Just Say No to Head Moshing.”