Phil, my husband Bill has a device, not sure what it's called, which 
has pads you place on places such as your shoulder or back and you 
can control pain with electrical impulses.  He has a torn rotator cup 
and arthritis so bad that it has been hard for him to lift his arms 
to put his shirt on.  This device relaxes the muscles and reduces the 
pain.  Perhaps, if you have insurance,, it might pay for such a 
device for you.  Also, maybe someone knows what that device would be 
called.  I should know, having been a medical transcriber, though 
that was back in the 70s and I doubt they had anything like that.

At any rate, I'll be praying for you.  I know that the Lord will not 
let you suffer more pain than you can stand.  He will always be there for you!

Jackie




At 06:13 PM 2013-08-01, you wrote:
>First, happy 137th birthday Colorado.
>
>My appointment with the back doctor wasn't all that encouraging 
>today.  Basically, the x-rays they took today, plus the physical 
>tests they did, revealed my lower back is telescoping, that is, the 
>vertebras are all pressing downward.  As they  do, they are 
>pressuring the disks which in turn are spreading out, slipping to 
>the sides, and coming in contact with nerves which creates the pain 
>in all the various locations.  The pain changes from the lower back, 
>into my hips, back of my legs, and all the way down to my 
>ankles.  Each back episode, creates pain in multiple places but not 
>the same places each and every time.  Also, the pain level my be 
>from mild to severe.  They do not recommend surgery because it would 
>take a number of fusions of the vertebras to repair the damage that 
>is ongoing.  They are recommending physical therapy in order to 
>learn ways of exercising to the point the vertebras pull back from 
>each other further and thus creating less pressure on the disks.  In 
>short, learn to live with it.  I was hoping it would be a single set 
>of vertebra that could be fused but that isn't the case.  The pain 
>episodes will continue but hopefully, with the PT, not as often and 
>the exercises can be continued at home and should help keep things 
>in better shape; maybe.  At some point, if the PT is helping, I can 
>go back and get shots in different places of my lower back to help 
>with pain management, if it gets unbearable, that is, but only time 
>will tell.  Learning to live with pain is going to be the name of 
>the game.  At least now I know.  Certainly not as encouraging as I 
>would have hoped but knowing is better than not knowing.
>
>Phil.
>
>Satan Has A God Complex
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