I'm still here :)

[OlJarhead]

Hi All!

I haven't forgotten about you!  I promise!  I'm still here but haven't been milling much (not at all recently) though I may go out again before the snow sticks (we'll see).

It's been since September since I last milled but I discovered I had 'facet referral pain' in my right shoulder so I've laid off a little and not pursued so much work this fall.  So far it isn't too serious (I hope and think) but they are saying I probably need an MRI as there may be disc issues in my upper back and lower neck.  Basically, back in May or June I did something to cause facets to nearly fuse in my neck around C6 or something like that.

Anyway, I check in often and think about milling ;) 

Sold my camper for a decent profit ;) and anticipate buying a much newer one in the new year (late winter / early spring) and hope to have the pain under control by then (right shoulder pain turned out to be this facet referral thing (whatever, I'm no doc! lol)....

Anyway, just saying hi
Erik

[Kbeitz]

Good to see you back...
Now is the time to buy a camper. In the spring prices go up...
If your looking for a deal look now.

[dgdrls]

Hi Erik.

glad to see your post,  also glad the Camper worked-out.

best
D

[Gearbox]

Get better listen to the Doc's hope time fixes it .

[WV Sawmiller]

Eric,

   Good to hear from you. Hope your ailments get gone real soon. Congrats on the camper sale and good luck on the next one. I hope it does most of what you want and everything Mama requires - gotta keep our priorities straight. :D  Semper Fi and happy holidays.

[DPatton]

Hope you heal up soon. Thanks for the update.

[barbender]

Good to hear from you, I always look forward to reading about your adventures👍🏼

[sawguy21]

Good to see you again Erik. This getting old sure ain't for the timid.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks all

Planning on buying the camper in the new year (don't need a deduction for taxes this year but won't hurt to have it on next years -- and it is for the business or I wouldn't buy it) but hoping to sneak it in while there is still lots of snow on the ground so the salesmen are more inclined to give us the premium deal :D

And yes, gettin' old can have it's pains!  And this old jarhead didn't take good care of his chassis over the years :P  So ya, gotta get it right. 

[Darrel]

Glad to hear from you Erik, from an old nurse that at times needs to listen to his own advice, get that MRI, do what ever it takes during the winter to get the chaises aligned and in great condition. Then when spring comes, you'll be fit as a fiddle and ready to saw.
Darrel

[thecfarm]

Good to hear from ya. 

[samandothers]

Good to hear from you!  MRI is good to see the soft tissue and what is going on. 

[Chuck White]

Welcome back Erik, been wondering where you were!

Too bad about the shoulder, but listen to the Doc and get it taken care of!

[Brucer]

Erik, after a couple of years of sawing (and with a bum left shoulder already) I could see that my right shoulder wasn't going to last too long. So I bought an Auto clutch upgrade. Best upgrade I every invested in  .

[crowhill]

Eric, good deal on the camper! Now to catch the next deal on one!! Sorry about the shoulder, but do listen to the Docs on that. You jarheads and my brother is one, have to learn how to get out of the physical aspect of being a Marine! Keep us posted.
Russel

[Bruno of NH]

Erik
Hope you get better and back sawing soon:)
Bruno

[fishfighter]

Take care of that shoulder and listen to what your body is telling you. As far as I know, jarheads are hard headed. Semper fi brother. ;D

And yes, I too haven't sawed anything in over a month. :( Been under the weather again. Dam ticker trouble. I have to head to New Orleans to Ochsner transplant center Monday. :( Been in and out the ER this past week twice and they wanted me to go down Friday, but nothing ever gets done on weekends down there. They going to do another heart cath. >:( So, I been doing nothing at all the past month. Heck, the wife will not even let me go for a walk by myself.

[Alyeska Pete]

I know the feeling.

When I was younger I spent half my money on alcohol and women. The other half I spent foolishly.

If I knew then that I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

[Percy]

Hope the shoulder thing improves and you are back milling soon. There is a lot of nice timber in your neck of the woods that needs milling.  ;D ;D

on the shoulder thing, I am 11 years older than you and have been milling since I was 43. Not sure what causes it but most small millers eventually seem to get shoulder issues. Probably related to the physical aspect of what we do. While I feel I have the strength I did 10 years ago, I know I dont have the mobility. A few months ago, I could barely scratch the back of my neck. The wife sent me to a physio therapist who has me doing these exercises, mostly stretches that is slowly getting my mobility back or atleast partially. I would recommend all you younger guys to keep stretching and using your limbs in a full range of motion every day. It will help in the long run and make the "golden" years....heh...a bit more tolerable ;D ;D ;D

[woodworker9]

Best of luck to you on your shoulder and heck pain.  I hope you start feeling better.

Please heed my story as a cautionary tale.  I had the same exact problem that started 15 years ago.  Being a hard working guy all my life, I gritted my teeth and tried to work through it.  All it did was progressively get worse until one early morning in 2012 when I woke up in immense pain and the left side of my body wasn't working right.  I'll spare you all the details, but after getting rushed to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack, it ended up being ruptured discs between C-5,C-6, and C-7 (both discs).

I needed spinal fusion surgery to correct, and it's better, pain wise, but I still live in a lot of pain from doing the work I still do (I'm 53, and am hardly going to try and reinvent my professional life......that ship has sailed!).

Don't mess around.  Get an MRI and know for sure what you're dealing with.  Some of the permanent damage that I am dealing with could have been avoided if I wasn't such a brick head in years earlier and got myself checked out properly.

Hope you fare better than I did, and use your noggin' better than I did, too.  If I could go back 15 years and make a better decision........boy Oh boy, would I.

[OlJarhead]

Thanks

I'm working on getting the MRI (have to make sure insurance will cover or decide if I want to pay cash).  I left the last guy I saw because he made it worse and went back to my old Chiropractor who is also the local Minor League teams 'sports med' doc.  He's very good and got my neck sorted out much better though not 100% (the shoulder pain is now down to a dull road at most).

He's suggested some simple therapy stuff and an MRI in the near future to rule out disk problems.

Crossing fingers ;)

[woodworker9]

Therapy should always be the first course of action.  When it comes to cervical injuries especially (neck), the orthopedic surgeon who performed my surgery, who is rated as the very best in this area (by several other Dr.'s), told me that the only time he will perform spinal fusion surgery on the cervical area is when paralysis occurs.  He won't operate to alleviate pain.  Unfortunately, my left side was paralyzed, and 3 rounds of epidural shots directly into the center of the effected vertebrae didn't get the swelling down enough.

If you start to get tingling in your left hand, and your pinky, the finger next to it, and your thumb are going numb, that is caused by pinching between C6 & C7.  That nerve cluster is the worst for pain, and controls the left side of your upper body.  Not trying to get too technical here, but just sharing what I have learned through an agonizing process and recovery.

An MRI will tell your chiropractor whether or not adjustments to that region of your spine are safe to perform.  I am able to control all the problems in my lower back (L3,4, and 5) with chiropractic visits, but my neck injury was beyond help.

Here's hoping for the very best outcome for you.....

[Kbeitz]

I for one don't believe in Therapy or chiropractors.
They have only made things worse for me.
They push to much to early.

[woodworker9]

I for one don't believe in Therapy or chiropractors.
They have only made things worse for me.
They push to much to early.

I believe that is as much a product of the chiropractor that you are seeing as it is anything else.  I have experienced outstanding results with my chiropractor, as he came very highly recommended to me as being the best in the area 20+ years ago.  My best friend, who does not live by me, is having an experience very similar to yours.  He thinks the bone-cracker he is seeing is only making things worse.

There are A students, and C students in every field.

My guy always warmed me up with about 15 minutes of stretching, followed by electrical stimulation pads that were on a timer....15 seconds on, 10 seconds off....for about 15 minutes more.  This always seemed to get everything pretty loosened up and warm, before he starting applying pressure.

BTW, just for the record, my orthopedic surgeon, who has a major, major, MAJOR  "I AM GOD" complex, feels the same as you about chiropractors.  He refused to even consult with my chiropractor about my 20 year history before doing the surgery.  He was so arrogant that I almost didn't use him, but I'm glad I did. 

[Hilltop366]

As the saying goes... What do you call the person who finished last in medical school?.........Doctor.

[Gearbox]

My friend's son started at UND pre med . They told him to even get into med school he is going to need a 4.0 GPA or they won't even look at him . I can't even imagine a 4.0 for 8 years .

[Peter Drouin]

I take 1 Glucosamine Chondroitin every 3 days and all the pain went away for me.
Even my finger nails got softer.

[Chuck White]

As the saying goes... What do you call the person who finished last in medical school?.........Doctor.

After they graduate, they can start saying "I practice medicine"!   :-\

[OlJarhead]

I have a chiropractor that is excellent but he's where we used to live.  I went back to him Monday and he adjusted my neck and the pain is mostly gone now.  My local one I won't see again as he made it worse

[ljmathias]

So I guess you might want to retitle this "aches and pains of getting old and doing hard work," or maybe
"Getting older is a PITA!"

Here's my two cents worth: I slipped while trying a move I could have done when I was 60 but not so much at 69. Almost fell through between two trusses, right arm stretched way back and a "pop" in my chest gave me some kind of crack or break there that can't be splinted or fixed easy. Now the shoulder: modern high res ultrasound showed a partial tear. Pain was incredible at first but gradually decreased over a couple of weeks. Started physical therapy and that has helped enormously. Biggest problem is, we're building a house for my daughter and SIL and work doesn't stop, just slows down. Seems I've re-strained the tear twice now, once through a sudden move I shouldn't have made, most recently through repetitive lifting and driving screws that didn't seem so bad individually but left my shoulder almost back where I'd started.

So, first rule: get diagnosed by a good orthopedic surgeon. Second,: listen to him. Third: don't do what you really want to do (and think you can get away with) by starting back at it too soon. I HATE not doing stuff, but I hate even more not getting better. And as my surgeon said: tendons and ligaments don't heal fast if at all- poor blood supply.

Now I sit in front of the fire place on a beautiful morning I could be putting up live-edge siding and fidgeting and antsy and out of sorts. Oh, well, that's life.

LJ

[paul case]

Maybe we should start a thread ''How to not get injured sawmilling''.

I think many of us could contribute to that.

Glad to see your still kicking Erik.

PC

[Magicman]

Not climbing ladders would eliminate many of our aches and pains.  Matter of fact, I seem to remember that ladder climbing has been deemed as off limits for FF Members. 

[Darrel]

If we really take that to heart MM, we'll meed to also start a threat titled "How to build a multi-story structure while stand on the ground.  :D

[Savannahdan]

MM, you could have told me that before I bought this real long extension ladder from an ex-painter who feel off of it painting one of the historic homes in downtown Savannah.  Guess I'll just use it for CSM levelling cuts.  BTW, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[OlJarhead]

Well I was trying to lay low and heal up over the winter....my shoulder (this same one) was dislocated in Morocco back in 1988 when I was promoted to CPL in the Marine Corps.  After a beating (which wasn't enough) 5 guys jumped me (all in good fun) and I landed on my right shoulder with all 5 of them on top of me.  POP goes the collar bone.

Docs wrapped up my arm and said 'take a couple weeks off PT etc to heal'.....two days later a young marine said "you just want out of PT CPL!"....and I took off the sling and said '5!@#%^&*!' or something more colorful.  Now, so many years later it's not staying put so well and requires a lot of attention to put it back in place....and now this new pain doesn't help but the last adjustment has worked to eliminate 90% of the pain.  Still planning on therapy though and need someone to take a closer look at this old banged up collarbone.

Meanwhile a customer called with 20 10 foot logs all about 24" in diameter that he wants milled up hahahaha....can't really tell him no right?

[Chuck White]

Pace yourself Eric, you don't need to jump in with both feet!

Make sure you get help!

[OlJarhead]

True.  He claims to have lots of help and will get a bobcat to move logs etc.

Started as 20 footers and I convinced him that if he didn't need 20 foot lumber it might be worth cutting down to the size he needs...he wanted 10 foot lumber and cut them all down.

[Kbeitz]

Just tie that arm behind your back. Act like it's not there.

[ljmathias]

Sure could use a couple of those 10' logs- pine? Just ran out of live edge siding for the house we're building for the daughter and SIL. Got 2/3 way up the last wall and didn't even have scraps to piece together. Guess I'll be cutting up some of the barn logs to make up the rest- got to get the outside done before it gets real cold out- we can heat the inside with propane while we do plumbing, electrical and dry wall.

Yeah, it's hard to just sit on your kester and do nothing. May be good for the shoulder, not so good for the rest of the mind and body. Tried the sling to immobilize the arm but every time I needed to reach for something or carry something, out it popped trying to help. Dang thing doesn't know it's own limits.

LJ

[MbfVA]

 Good way to get an argument started: put a chiropractor, a neurosurgeon, and an orthopedic surgeon in the same room.  Although, if as many are, the mds are arrogant, it may be a very short argument.  I don't claim to be a good judge of those professions, but I do know a lot of people 'claim' they are helped by contractors.   Good one on that word Siri.