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Thursday, June 8, 2017

Pain and the aging modeller

I have tried to keep this blog from turning into the 60+ Modellers Book of Aches and Pains, but no doubt some have noticed that after a very productive April and May, things went radio silent for the month of June so far.

It comes down to some bad back and hip issues. I’ve always had sciatica, but this most recent attack was violent indeed. Fierce constant pain in lower back and right hip, radiating down the right leg, shin and into the big toe. My knees are actually pretty decent, all things considered. It got to the point where I could barely hobble about, and the pain level while walking, sitting, or laying down was at Defcon One. Even some pain meds I had to coax out of my physician weren’t doing much good. The last thing I could manage was bench or paint shop time.

I had x-rays of the hip, which showed lots of arthritis (which I expected). I am scheduled for a CAT scan on the lower back and hip this coming Monday, which hopefully will allow us to diagnose what is really going on and get a plan of treatment together. In the meantime, the pain levels have decreased a bit. I live in fear of a recurrence of a spinal abcess I had 15 years ago, which was one of the most hellacious periods I’ve ever spent in my life. Really, the chances are pretty low that it would be the same thing, but ugh – just the thought of that gets me shaking.

Things had improved enough that I did try for some bench time last night – and immediately made a huge botch on the Beech Starship that about had me beating my head against the wall. Combining native impatience with a desire to move quickly due to residual pain is not a good combination for model making. I’ll be going into damage control and repair on that one.

I have 3 or 4 models just waiting for overall matte coats before they can have their photos taken. I am going to try and revisit the paint booth this afternoon and hopefully can avoid another disaster. So normal service should (I hope!) resume shortly. Until then, I will leave you with this monumentally disturbing image. 

4 comments:

  1. sympathies - know what hip pain is as well.

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  2. Heh heh. That picture doesn't remotely do the pain justice...

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  3. Dang really sorry for your situation. I hope you can figure out a plan that will lead to a more comfortable you in the near future. In the mien time I'll just wait here 'til you get back (see how I worked that in?).

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  4. I'm waiting for results from the CAT scan of the back at this very moment. Hopefully that will lead to a treatment plan somewhere beyond "tough it out". I have been able to resume modelling activities in the last few days, so it isn't as fiercely painful as it was in the beginning.

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