Back Pain Blog

I've had a really good evening in tonight finding lots and lots of new friends on Twitter (sorry blog.co.uk) and have numerous emails looking forward to twittering with me with even one saying I was really cool !!!!!!!!!!!!(never been called that).

I've also had my usual surf on the spine-health back forums and keep finding more and more people writing about stem cell surgery so I'm really going to look into this next week and put some links on my blog for others to look into it. I still feel its nearly all in the States but moving into UK at the moment.

Keep twittering - sorry I mean keep blogging. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I can't believe its Friday AGAIN!!! Where do the weeks go? At least its a bit cooler now, I don't know about you or any other back pain sufferers but i've had a really bad week with the extraordinary temperatures this week.

Normally its when the seasons change and in particular in the cold weather that I have more pain than usual, but this week it has been awful and completely thrown me. I've been wanting to go to bed quite soon after I have got up after an awful nights sleep but I'm hoping it was just the heat and nothing further wrong with me.

My hip is playing up a bit but I guess that's because it has so much work to do with my back being in such a mess. I've been trying really really hard with my diet this week as I would love to lose about another stone for my health's sake.

I go to Weight Watchers with my friends and we have a real giggle !! One of my friends has introduced me to Sainsbury's Be Good To Yourself Mini Humous which is only 1.5 points and also Sainsbury's French Toast which is only 1 point for a pack of six !!!! Its delicious and great if you fancy a snack.

Weight watching is such a bore though and it's something i've had to do since childhood as I'm only 5ft so have no room for any excess weight but my biggest problem is that I am a chocoholic and once I start ................................ anyway I got rid of it all from the cupboards last week, and apart from one night when my husband popped out for a bar for me when I was desperate, I have managed to live without it for nearly a week !!!! Amazing or what !!!!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone could make a chocolate that was tasty but not fattening - someone would make an absolute fortune don't you think? I've spent a couple of hours this afternoon scrolling through the internet of fat free chocolate cakes as I thought I might bake one, but I can see I will just want to eat it all so I'm not going to bother.

Not much on tv tonight but i've had a delivery of two Tess Gerritsan books i've been waiting for and also a James Patterson so I've got plenty to read to keep me quiet.

I joined Twitter a while ago but haven't really got into it but it seems to be so popular that I thought I might have another go this weekend. Don't know if it will just be a copy of my blog really ?????????

Well that's all for now, until whenever ....................

What a sad day for all Michael Jackson's fans today - soooo young and sooooo talented.I can still see my son at the tender age of 5 copying his dance to Thriller in front of the tv.

I've also been thinking about his poor children a lot today, and hope someone will take care of them. Its only recently that we have started to see the real faces of his children who have such a likeness to Michael.

I send out all my sympathy's today, to his family, friends and of course his fans.

I don't know if you have read this weeks Good Health section in the Mail but more often than not there is another treatment for back pain, just about every week. Well this weeks was all about a new pain pump which is quite different to the others I have mentioned in my blog.

Its called a Codman pump and the link to the website is www.codman.com and although my computer would not let me into all the site I was able to get the details on this pump. The biggest difference I can see is that it has an inexhaustible power supply which does not need to be changed which means no further surgeries to change the battery are required, associated with battery pumps.

I would have thought this alone will prevent even more infections which I have read are quite common with the pain pumps and without the battery it also makes the pump a lot lighter.

Even the operation to have it put in is only 45 minutes so it certainly is quite a fantastic piece of equipment for people suffering from chronic pain and something I would consider when the need arises.

I went for my last electro acupunture on Tuesday, and explained to nurses that I have felt absolutely no benefit whatsoever this time and that in fact it has made it worse so we decided we would give it one last shot and if nothing altered this last time then I would give it a miss.

Well, two days on and no difference, so I phoned and cancelled next week's.

Its really unfortunate as the first session I had with it was a real help and I was able to cut down on my meds quite a lot but this time it just hasn't helped at all. Whether its the different person doing it every week or whether its because I need all my meds for my lumber pain as well as for my cervical that may have prevented it working this time, I'm not sure. I am sure however that it would just be a waste of my time and the hospitals to have any more.

I will have to wait until I am in London again and go and see my friend Zak the Acupunturist.

I now have to wait until I hear from the Pain Clinic who will then send me back to see my Pain Consultant for a review of my drugs, but that could take up to six months so no change their in the near future, but i've had a couple of good days this week and slept nearly a whole afternoon in bed yesterday and felt sooooo much better when I woke up. Amazing what sleep can do.

Well I'm shattered now after spending the whole evening changing the look to my blog and i've still got loads to add to it but I'm happy with it so far.

Everybody else like it????????????? Hope so, a change is as good as a rest as they say. I shall finish it tomorrow. Cheerio for now.

Hi - well, another nice day today and a nice week to look forward to if the forecasts are right. I've had a really lazy day today after quite a good walk this morning which seemed to exhaust me, but the nerve pain has settled down again now - thank goodness.

I've been surfing the net (just by way of a change )and after leaving a message on the american www.healthboards.com I received a reply from someone who has been through some very similar operations to me so it pays to surf as its much easier moaning to someone in another country instead of boring the family to death!!!of course the other one which I use a lot is the UK one which is www.painsupport.co.uk which I have mentioned before has an excellent discussion forum.

I don't know if your like me but the more you read about your problems the easier it gets to understand and the support from other sufferers stops you from feeling alone. I've also benefitted from pain relief treatments before and came across one that I have not seen before called "Electronic Healing" www.electronichealing.co.uk - The Far-Infrared Mineral Therapy lamp is an FDA approved healing lamp which it says is a highly effective pain relief device, with no harmful side effects. Natural, safe, recommended for the relief of muscular pain, sore muscles, arthritis, bursitis, backache, tennis elbow and joint pain. It's quite expensive at £175 but if it helps its worth every penny and I just wondered if anyone else had tried this for pain relief?

I do find heat pads and hot water bottles very soothing but you feel that heat and I just wondered how a lamp would work? Anyway, maybe I will hear from someone about this. I'll be back again soon and thanks again to all who have sent me lots of different ideas to help with my back pain via this blog, I do appreciate it.