Phonetek
03-23-2020, 06:49 PM
I'm guessing that at least a few have been wondering where I've been, maybe not. Well it's a bit complicated to say the least. I'll start by saying I'm back in Illinois. I have been back since late November and it's permanent for at least a while. Wifey had her back surgery back in August which was only weeks after getting the new job. I came back up for it for a couple weeks until she was able to get back on her feet. The surgery initially went well but it was far more extensive than they anticipated. I was able to go back down and continue working and bowling. I was able to come back up for a week in Sept but the recovery wasn't going well.
Unfortunately instead of her getting better she got worse, much worse. I ended up having to quit my dream job and move back in November. She went completely downhill and is now confined to a wheel chair and spending all her other time in a recliner in our family room. She cannot even sleep on a bed. We don't know went wrong and the doctors haven't really come up with much. She's in a lot of pain all of the time. The only treatment option they feel she has is to insert a spinal stimulator to control pain receptors. It doesn't do anything to help her walk again. The deterioration of her spine is extensive so bottom line the surgery failed.
Since then I have been unemployed because of the constant care she needs. I can't go back to my former job here in IL because since I've left they have had to let others go and cut hours. In addition to all this, since about June of last year I was having issues with my right arm, it would usually hurt when trying to sleep. Being how I am I thought nothing of it. When down south I was bowling a ton and at the top of my game. Suddenly my follow through was very erratic and I couldn't figure out why. Even watching video it was literally different every ball. Furthermore, I'd get to like game 5 in a day and my arm was just fatigued. It made no sense to me.
Finally after I got back I made an appointment to see a doctor. I was told it was simply bursitis. I went to an orthopedic and he gave me a shot of cortisone. I figured "Okay, a couple days I'll be good to go." Well, that wasn't true. It got worse and worse. I went back, got some scans done and it turns out I tore my bicep muscle, and have severe bone inflammation. I have no clue how I did it and bowling wasn't to blame. Doc says I needed some physical therapy. Okay, so I did that and it still got worse. In the meantime one night I got up and got tangled on my wife's wheelchair and fell smack on the wood floor right on my shoulder. That sure didn't help matters any.
Since then I went for an MRI and in addition to the previous issues, now I have a torn rotator cuff and a large pocket of fluid causing restricted range of motion. I was told two days ago that surgery is the only fix. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen because of the Coronavirus because it's not considered essential surgery. I understand that so I just have to deal with it. One of the things with this is my range of motion for my right arm is very low. I can't reach my wallet in my back pocket and I can't raise it enough to wash my hair in the shower. Doc says, soon it's going to freeze in place and won't move which they call frozen shoulder. I'm going to keep stretching it the best I can every day to try to avoid that. Taking care of wifey with one good arm and limited second arm is bad enough. Needless to say even if the centers were open I won't be doing it again for at least a year minimum even after surgery. Biggest problem is, with the restricted movement I keep trying to do tasks like normal forgetting about the restrictions and I end up on my knees grasping my arm for 10 minutes. Well, I've been using it normally for 48 years, it's hard NOT to you know?
So I guess I got to live the good life for a very short time. I was absolutely killing it on the lanes and a great job. Funny how life goes. Now with the pandemic it's ironic how I really don't even care about bowling or the job either. That suddenly became unimportant, now it's about survival. When the stay at home thing gets lifted I will have to figure out a way to work. Likely not going to be at a bowling center. I can't exactly do much at a bowling center one armed, can't tend bar, can't fix a pin spotter. Technically I'll be in the same situation as a huge population of America except I also have to find a way to make sure my wife gets the care she needs while I'm not at home. I'm not giving up though. I'm not giving up on TN or bowling, it WILL happen again and we WILL make it there.
I wish I had a better story to tell. Honestly I've been avoiding coming on here for a while because it's rather depressing to say the least. However, with this virus pandemic going on, the past few months are pretty moot anymore so I have nothing to lose by telling the story. It's good to still see people posting on here, I've read through a few. I needed a break from the rest of the social media and I can only binge watch so many TV shows. LOL
Unfortunately instead of her getting better she got worse, much worse. I ended up having to quit my dream job and move back in November. She went completely downhill and is now confined to a wheel chair and spending all her other time in a recliner in our family room. She cannot even sleep on a bed. We don't know went wrong and the doctors haven't really come up with much. She's in a lot of pain all of the time. The only treatment option they feel she has is to insert a spinal stimulator to control pain receptors. It doesn't do anything to help her walk again. The deterioration of her spine is extensive so bottom line the surgery failed.
Since then I have been unemployed because of the constant care she needs. I can't go back to my former job here in IL because since I've left they have had to let others go and cut hours. In addition to all this, since about June of last year I was having issues with my right arm, it would usually hurt when trying to sleep. Being how I am I thought nothing of it. When down south I was bowling a ton and at the top of my game. Suddenly my follow through was very erratic and I couldn't figure out why. Even watching video it was literally different every ball. Furthermore, I'd get to like game 5 in a day and my arm was just fatigued. It made no sense to me.
Finally after I got back I made an appointment to see a doctor. I was told it was simply bursitis. I went to an orthopedic and he gave me a shot of cortisone. I figured "Okay, a couple days I'll be good to go." Well, that wasn't true. It got worse and worse. I went back, got some scans done and it turns out I tore my bicep muscle, and have severe bone inflammation. I have no clue how I did it and bowling wasn't to blame. Doc says I needed some physical therapy. Okay, so I did that and it still got worse. In the meantime one night I got up and got tangled on my wife's wheelchair and fell smack on the wood floor right on my shoulder. That sure didn't help matters any.
Since then I went for an MRI and in addition to the previous issues, now I have a torn rotator cuff and a large pocket of fluid causing restricted range of motion. I was told two days ago that surgery is the only fix. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen because of the Coronavirus because it's not considered essential surgery. I understand that so I just have to deal with it. One of the things with this is my range of motion for my right arm is very low. I can't reach my wallet in my back pocket and I can't raise it enough to wash my hair in the shower. Doc says, soon it's going to freeze in place and won't move which they call frozen shoulder. I'm going to keep stretching it the best I can every day to try to avoid that. Taking care of wifey with one good arm and limited second arm is bad enough. Needless to say even if the centers were open I won't be doing it again for at least a year minimum even after surgery. Biggest problem is, with the restricted movement I keep trying to do tasks like normal forgetting about the restrictions and I end up on my knees grasping my arm for 10 minutes. Well, I've been using it normally for 48 years, it's hard NOT to you know?
So I guess I got to live the good life for a very short time. I was absolutely killing it on the lanes and a great job. Funny how life goes. Now with the pandemic it's ironic how I really don't even care about bowling or the job either. That suddenly became unimportant, now it's about survival. When the stay at home thing gets lifted I will have to figure out a way to work. Likely not going to be at a bowling center. I can't exactly do much at a bowling center one armed, can't tend bar, can't fix a pin spotter. Technically I'll be in the same situation as a huge population of America except I also have to find a way to make sure my wife gets the care she needs while I'm not at home. I'm not giving up though. I'm not giving up on TN or bowling, it WILL happen again and we WILL make it there.
I wish I had a better story to tell. Honestly I've been avoiding coming on here for a while because it's rather depressing to say the least. However, with this virus pandemic going on, the past few months are pretty moot anymore so I have nothing to lose by telling the story. It's good to still see people posting on here, I've read through a few. I needed a break from the rest of the social media and I can only binge watch so many TV shows. LOL