Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Wonderful Invalid

When Leonard Trask fell from his horse and injured his spine ankylosing spondylitis had not been discovered. The injury worsened his condition causing his severe deformity. His suffering was intense but he strived to work and live his life in spite of his deformity and constant pain.

The onset of the disease can first be noticed as "floaters" or inclusions in the aqueous of the eye that appear as small specks or fibers when looking at the sky or a light colored surface.



A famous person that suffered the forward curvature of the upper back was Ed Sullivan. I always wondered why he appeared to be stiff as a board on stage. As A.S. develops the vertebrae are ultimately fused together causing "bamboo spine".

My onset was about the age of forty when I could no longer do My job without great suffering later in the day and into the evening.My daughters onset was at twenty five years of age. I must admire her working her way through college and painting in the evenings and during her days off. I reluctantly told her recently what nobody wanted to tell Me for years,there is no cure and slowly we are turning to stone.

12 comments:

  1. wow... my thoughts and prayers are with you, brother

    ReplyDelete
  2. John,

    I do Nerve Conduction Studies and EMG's for many CSM sufferers. Do you have Myelopathy or spondylarthritis? Are you both Cervical or is it Lumbar as well?

    Many doctors I test for are homeopathics and they have told me about magnet and crystal therapies, tens unit and some other herbal treatments. Are you doing any of these?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I dont know what type it is it just really sucks. Its in the upper back. Its like tiring the muscles to fight against the curvature pulling down,amplified when work is done with arms outstretched. I have done the TENS machine,it works while its on you. I go for MRI soon to see a specialist for possible neural implant or to see if they can fit Me with a brace or something. This is cutting into My car resoration time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good to hear from You. Thanks for the kind words.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So sorry to hear this John. I would never have guessed you were having such pain because your sense of humor just sparkles. What a bummer your daughter has to deal with it at such a young age. Is this a hereditary thing? Is this something that's been passed down?

    Hopefully, after your MRI they will be able to find a way to bring you some comfort. If not, smoke pot..jk;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hereditary yes. I got kinda used to the pain after so many years. Life is still good . I'll take a raincheck on the dro though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hope you'll see a holistic and diet specialist before too long.

    I fell from a roof in Houston and took a shot in my knee in 1980. The fall caused damage in lumbar and the meatcutters wanted to do a L5-S1 fusion surgery. I said no way and went to chiro and holistic doctor. I did major diet changes and herbal regiment.

    I can still play golf today but the knee, not so good. Eat your raw veggies buddy and minimize the alcohol.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beer has vegetables,barley,hops etc. Chewing tobacco is a vegetable. But to supplement those we planted corn,squash,okra,green beans,black eyes,cantelopes and watermelon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love texas cantalopes. I miss Texas. If I get there again I am coming for dinner uninvited. I love the menu.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The beer or the tobacco ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. But You have to chew it, it will put hair on Your chest.

    ReplyDelete