I can understand peoples frustration, I have had knee probs for a long time and after 3 or 4 knee arthroscopys the next step is for a knee replacment , I get the same old story "your too young" and they wont do it till I an 75 , well I have now worked out what I will be telling the half witted dr at the hospital, and I am not joking either , I will go buy a chain saw and cut the bloody thing off if I have to just to stop the pain desprate  times call for desprate measure

That's it.... and having no money to speak of.  Oh, and NOT being a high profile sports star.

I even say: "Hey, my sister had her first hip replacement at 28... a ceramic hip that's still going strong 29 years later."... but I still get the "you're too young" thing.  She's had her second done for over 12 months now [57 when it was done].... in the same system I'm asking to be considered, and basically I was born the wrong sex.  Statistics show that women are considered for joint replacement surgery much earlier than men are here in Australia... and given the refusals/denials I've received over the last few years I have resigned myself to the fact I can't force them to do it and will have to wait.

WG, sorry I missed this before... got called for dinner....

Actually, Steve, while my situation is different to yours, believe me, I understand... I really do.   I too have days on end where I feel totally useless, like living with the constant pain, discomfort, nausea and restricted mobility is way too much, but then I think of the alternative, and that isn't too appealing, either, so I keep plugging away in spite of it, fighting on regardless.

Yeah, a hip replacement would improve matters, but that possibility is the only thing I have to look forward to because I know my spinal condition is inoperable and can only deteriorate. When I awaken some days it can take quite a while before I can get out of bed due to the pain in my lower back, the fact that my legs feel heavy and just don't want to work.  However, I still thank my lucky stars, pain and all.... cos when there is no pain and my legs don't feel heavy anymore... anything at all, well then I'm truly fucked.  

Thing is, I can still get out of bed.... which is a friggin' bonus cos my waterworks are on the blink as well.  Yup, I sometimes have to get up twice three time a night to go pee... which can be a problem.  On those nights when I'm feeling mobility challenged I have to guesstimate when I'll need to pee and set the alarm so I'm getting the legs working BEFORE I have to go.  And no, I haven't slept through the alarm.... as yet.

Another bonus to still being able to get up.... bed pans!!!!  Yes, I know, my reputation precedes me, and you all have this vision of starkers flying around the room on a jet propelled bed pan, but that is NOT the reason I think they're confounded contraptions.... tho I may have to consider it as a mode of transport if things don't go well.  No, when you have a bad hip and suffered serious pelvic injuries in the past, a bed pan is the last thing you want to be riding.  Nope, I'd rather be going to the bog, thank you. Not only that, I had a catastrophe or three with bed pans while I was in hospital up in traction.... with my arse slipping off and the recoil from the inner-spring mattress propelling the bed pan high in the air.

Okay, okay, it wasn't quite that bad, but they're still a confounded contraption I'd rather not use... same with those pee bottles they give you in hospital.  I had a couple overflow on me... well NOT on me, but you know what I mean. Anyhow, I know that I shouldn't have gone down the pub with a nurse pushing me in a wheelchair [yeah,they had to take me out regularly cos I went nuts with the confinement] but it was better than matron catching me in the nurses quarters again.  Did I mention that it was a long abstinen.... er, confinement?

OH, and WG, here's to a doctor pulling a rabbit out of a hat for you... to improve you lot... A LOT.

That top pic looks like someone laying down and half their ass is showing---just say-in. Feel so much better now knowing it's just a knee.

I'm in the same boat as most of you...4 lortab 10 a day and 30mg morphine for break through pain.

Pain sucks but at least it lets you know your alive...besides the alternative sucks worse.

There's one plus though....I get the good parking. 

I also haven't had to pay for parking in years.

He IS!  In fact, you know where DB goes to get his thrills [rocks off]?? 

The waiting room at Ashley & Martin Hair Studios.

While everybody's sitting around waiting for their hair transplant... DB's walking around perving on their chrome domes.

Apparently this smooth orb fascination is a replacement... an alternative to openly perving at boobs and the associated embarrassment at his age.

So yeah, if you're in Ashely & Martin and some bloke's with a lewd look on his face is perving at your naked sconce... it's not one of their hair technicians but Dave Bax, really.

To be honest, Smedley, you saveloy sucker [weiner sucker US]. that really sucks. 

With a mind as devious and twisted as yours, honestly, sunshine, you should be printing your own and cutting out the middle-man.

I dunno, have I gotta learn you lot everything?

When it cones to the devious and the dastardly, Smedley, you should be at the top of the game... but no, there you are , languishing in a pool of suck juice and going "oh woe is me, my dealer's run out of tickets."... and that, sunshine, is totally unacceptable... TOTALLY freakin' unacceptable, you hear me?

Orright, here's what you're gonna do!  First off, you're going to suck it up and grow a set... then you're gonna open up your office suite and create your own.... YOUR OWN free parking tickets... get it... then you're going to fire up your HP 3-in-One and print the bastards.

And if I hear any more of this sniveling from you I'm gonna send in the heavy artillery... and believe me, you don't wanna piss Doc off, not when he's in a 'shopping' mood.

The worst I've had was a broken ankle that they put back together with screws and metal plates; the husband is a different story. He has osteoporosis with fractures, meaning the last five vertebrae of his spine are cracked and any wrong movement, bending over or even sitting down can add another fracture. He's in constant pain and has both hydrocodone along with Lyrica to deal with it but afterwards he's pretty much stoned. He also had two operations before the osteoporosis was discovered, the last one a spinal fusion with two titanium rods on either side of the lower vertebrae, but he keeps going without a whimper. Much.

PO, you suck. I thought the talk we had was privite.

Your comment whether you were Indian has to do with medical coverage and not any ability to heal. My wife is a member of the Cherokee Nation which is located in northeast Oklahoma. She gets her medical care paid for by the Cherokee Nation.

You are in Oklahoma now which was formerly called Indian Territory. You may think that the United States consists of just 50 states, but there are probably as many Indian Nations that are independent entities within the United States. Take some time to learn how our federal and state governments forced the Native Americans from their ancestral homes by the greed of the white man for land. They were then forced to relocate to the Indian Territories on marches that would make the Bataan Death March look like a vacation.

If you happen to be in northeast Oklahoma, take the time to see the Trail Of Tears historical drama in Tahlequah that documents the relocation of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia to Oklahoma in the 1840's where thousands died from mistreatment and the wilderness conditions.

kku, actually Karen was asked because the Orthopod or ER MD viewing her XRay saw significant healing in a short period of time and remarked to her that was the reason he asked if she were a Native American. Apparently that MD thought it might be a sign she was.

She has already stated that no real emphasis was placed on her remunerative capability.

Yes, when you suffer chronic pain, discomfort and immobility that can happen.... it's called depression.

In fact, that's all I wish I was.... an emotional cripple. Yup, I'd book myself into the funny farm, with those nice young men in their clean white coats....

Between basket weaving and twiddling my thumbs they might even be able to cure my manic state....

I could again live in hope of being normal again..... then maybe not... with therapy being left so long n all.

Speaking of asylums......

My first wife had decided I'd gone a bit batty and took me to be admitted.  The doctor asked her what I was doing that made her suspect I was a little crazy...

"Well it's like this doc, he thinks he's a chicken."

"And how long has he thought he's a chicken?"

"Oh, about 5 years." , she replied.

My goodness, woman, why didn't you bring him in sooner?"

"Why not?" she retorted: "Hell, I needed the eggs."

With regard to Kermit, I heard that he took Jim Henson to court once... worker's comp for pain and trauma... suffering the discomfort haemorrhoids from having a hand inserted in his butt several times a week for Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

You are beginning to worry me.