Where have I been?

Busy... so busy with work - the kind that pays the bills. I've also developed a pesky neuroma. A neuroma is the result of cutting the sciatic nerve. The nerve cells start growing into a little ball, sending out all sorts of crazed messages that spell PAIN. I was in serious denial for a long time - maybe a year. We blamed the socket and no doubt there were some serious issues with the socket materials, but once we ironed these out, the pain remained. Gnawing, crushing pain that invaded my thoughts and every moment of my day and night. Every step, even something as simple as rolling over in bed brought it on. Vibrations from the car would send my leg into spasms and phantom pain.

The MRI revealed the neuroma and I still denied that something that small could cause so much pain. I saw a pain specialist that listened to all my drivel about bone spurs, etc., and he calmly said, "It's the neuroma (stoo-pid)." One injection of anesthetic and steroid shut it down. Dang. It was a miracle. Four weeks later it reared it's ugly head and like resistant bacteria, nothing could calm it. It was back with a vengeance. I was certain that surgery would be the answer so I visited my surgeon. She described what it would take to find, cut out and calm the nerve with no guarantee that it would not come back and could possibly come back even worse. It was gruesome and left me reconsidering my pain options. So, back to the pain specialist.

Now I'm on 1800 mg of Gabapentin and 25 mg of Amitryptyline a day. This dulled the constant, gnawing pain and allowed me to at least walk about 25 yards without seizing up. Two weeks ago I had a lumbar block which basically consists of having 5 inch needles stuck in your back and blocking the sympathetic nerve that sends the message from the sciatic to your brain; the message that says, "OH MY GOD! OW!" Brilliant. I can walk. I can roll over in my sleep. Now, when walking away from a group, instead of acting like I'm doing something "busy" while I ever so slowly get used to the pain, I stand up and walk away. It's not perfect or permanent, but right now, this moment, it's damned good!

And, speaking of good, I figured out how to modify the old 3R80 knee for riding. That floppy, useless hydraulic knee is perfectly suited for riding. Just turn the foot in 45 degrees and let the knee hang. It only has two useful positions locked upright - which allows me to stand in the stirrups - and hanging there passively, all booted up and in the stirrup. Very useful for riding and I don't scare small children like I did riding with no lower leg.

And now, about that parity issue. It's about as stale as an old Cheez-it found with the loose change under the couch cushions. Alright already. The elections are over. Let's get this show on the road!