westslope wrote:

Same thing I thought in 1983, which I think is part of why I got admitted: when we look for ways to help patients we need to look at everything, don't we?

FWIW, I avoid the sciatic pain trap by using an exercise hoola hoop.  Looks silly.  My torso muscles love it.

 Steely_D wrote:
I believe I was the one who originally posted that question.  The reason why I posted it is because 

a)  I believe that cannabis can be useful for pain because of the way it distracts the patient from the pain, it does not eliminate or cover up the pain, and 

b) my perception is that most cases of sciatic pain are just too painful for cannabis to work effectively.

As soft, relatively safe medicine for treating mild pain, clearly cannabis is wonderful.   Thoughts Steely?

 cc_rider wrote:

My "insurance" won't cover one for me until I'm 65.

 cc_rider wrote:
shingrix?

Got the first shot of the shingles vaccine today. Horror stories about symptoms finally made me pull the trigger - anything to avoid that living Hell.
Updates as they become available...
c.

”Question: Does cannabis actually help with the sciatic pain?”

You know what’s freakin’ awful? When I interviewed to get into med school (1983?) one of the questions they asked was “what do you think of marijuana as a medicine?”

You’d think by now it wouldn’t be controversial. 

 kurtster wrote:
 
Your assessment sounds reasonable

So I finally made the phone call after all these years to a Roundup / Non Hodgkin Lymphoma lawsuit hotline.  Thought about it and thought some more for quite a few years.

So the pitch says they can tell me within minutes whether or not I might have a case.  First one I've seen that made that claim, so why not.

I call and a nice lady answers the phone. 

So after all of the formalities I ask, so which type of NHL is this about because there are around 38 different types ?

She says, all types.

Me to myself, this can't be.

I continue, going through the motions, give up my email so they can send me a contract to look at and, don't you have email access right now ?

No, I say.  Tell the lady, I'll look it over and get back to you.

Finally I look for it after a couple of days and find it over in the spam side.  Look at it, standard boilerplate, mentions the splits, fees, peripheral costs and then comes the mention of liens on the medical expenses by the likes of Medicare, Medicaid and any other insurance outfit that may have covered the expenses, that get paid out of my share, which is 40% after all costs are removed, but before any liens are settled.  Bells go off in my head, alerting me to the fact that this would have to be at least an 8 figure settlement to even allow me to get a dollar or two for myself.

So I kick it around in my head wondering about how this would affect my present care should my provider take a dim view of me becoming litigious in my older age as they provide copies of my medical records which are getting close to 3,500 computer pages at just the Clinic.  Then the docs have to make statements which nearly any hospital I can think of does not like to do.  We have established a relationship of sorts as they have collected well north of $2.5 million on my behalf over the course of the past 11 years now.  I kinda just show up and ignore certain things and they seem to let me as long as insurance keeps paying whatever they pay.  That could very well end with the termination of the long term goodwill between the two of us goes down the drain if I should pursue participating in this kind of a lawsuit.  A close friend whose wife has worked for my provider for 30 or so years agrees with my assessment that I could really piss off the Clinic and end up screwing myself.  Better to just move along, nothing to see here.

A week passes and finally last Tuesday, a lady calls back and asks if I had read and signed the contract.  I said, no and proceeded to explain my reservations.  I mentioned how big of a settlement would likely be needed for me to get anything even remotely worth risking pissing people off and that it would likely be north of $10 million with my care costing at least $2.5 mil so far.  She said that she understood and would have one of their attorneys who could answer my specific questions call me back and go over things with me.

I have yet to get a call back.  Kinda thinking that one will not be coming anytime soon.

Had to try.  Had to find out once and for all.  If something sounds too good to be true, then, well, ya know how that goes ...

Next !

 kurtster wrote:
 

If you was me, I'd be trying acupuncture, chiropractic, and voodoo 

moving this over to a better place ...

 westslope wrote:  
I am on my way to finding out the answer.  Had my test this morning.  Found out that I was not due until May.  Grrrr.  It seems that your contract gets renewed the same month every year.  I thought it was on my first visit of the year.  After some back and forth and some discussion of my sciatica and that with all things considered that I would be clean for THC he said we're good, we'll do the paper work part when the time comes.  He was willing to overlook other things that he knows we have because of my wife's problems, but THC was verboten.

Same GP that I have had for over 15 years, saw me through my cancer and all the other shit not to mention my wife's stuff.  So we both have a rock solid relationship built on trust over all of those years, that we are overall knowledgeable, compliant and are not at risk for abusing RX medications with the track record to prove it.  And we will not embarrass him with any sloppy behaviour on our part.

As for dealing with the pain and inflammation, we're going to find out.  After 55 years of consumption, I sure as hell won't be imagining any kind of relief.  It will either be real or it won't.  

So far this evening after a very long nap earlier in the day I finally partook after being up for a few hours.  Nothing really other than getting a little buzz.  It still hurt like a mofo.  After an hour or so, a wee bit more and I'm caring less about the pain and walking around a little more comfortably.  Now home after taking Jr back to his home and some more and I'm down to a meh ... or on that 1 to 10 scale about a 3 or 4.  It's been 8 or better for the better part of the last 3 weeks.  I've also indulged with 2 different strains so hard to say what is going on.

So we'll see.  I'll keep a pain o log and see what if anything is happening in regards to THC and CBD's.  It is very possible that over the many, many years I have benefited from the pain relief without consciously knowing it.  Back and nerve issues are a result of cumulative injuries over your entire life and one funny little move could be the wrong one that will do more to you than just hurt.  That and / or just plain neuropathy from all of the chemo.  It is a major side affect of half of the chemo drugs I've had.  Now I have a chance to find out.  I'm very in tune with my body.  Knowing myself as well as I do and making note of changes is a large part of discovering my cancer as early as we did.  And when it came back a couple of years ago.  And not being afraid to go to the doctor to find out what is wrong.  I'll report back on this.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 

Never suspected his guest was trying to poison him

 steeler wrote:
 

Yeah I just hit the google too and it looks like I just got lucky. Apparently "most people" only have the sore arm for a while but I got all the symptoms.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 

Not sure how I could determine whether the shots I received were defective or less than necessary potency. Upon quick internet search, I see where reactions can vary and some people do not experience much in the way of side effects while many others do. One person I know had a very sore upper arm for at least a week and told me it had turned red, but not the sickness and fatigue others are reporting (I read some people saying they experienced hellish nightmares!?!?). So I guess it varies. For me, the shots themselves were quick and really did not hurt and, as I said, the aftermath was just some very tolerable soreness in shoulder area for a few days. I am just hoping it works as expected — at least 90 percent effective — and I did not get a bad batch.

 steeler wrote:
 

I don't know, but the person sticking me did say that the nasty reaction means it's working. That doesn't mean no reaction=not working, but it might be worth investigating.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 

Hmmm. I got the first shot in September and the second in December. Both at my primary doc. Other than a sore upper arm, I did not feel bad at all. Other people I know who got the shots  had similar experiences to yours.  Now I am wondering if the shots I got were somehow defective!

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
great info graphic

Coronavirus 2019 - nCoV Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE

 cc_rider wrote: 
Will you be here all week?

 miamizsun wrote:
 
I thought those went in your arm...
c.