39 minutes ago, sloppysmusic said:

Glad you are getting more active even if the pain is still bad for you. Despite their ability to make life seem worth while after a bad injury they often. end up causing more damage in the long run. When I immigrated to this country before I got settled I had the joy of 2 wisdom teeth emerging at the same time. With no insurance I was told to go to the 'poor clinic' where I was grateful to be treated for what I could afford (with a wife dying of cancer it wasn't much). The dentist prescribed me hydrococodone and after 2 days I went back and said it wasn't easing the pain so he upped the dose. I had no idea what it was but it worked. A week later I was taking my wife out and realizing I want ready to leave until I 'dosed up'. So I quit taking them. Fast forward 5 years back pain came along and I asked my doctor for the same stuff as before as the pain was making life unbearable. I was told very firmly "we do NOT give out NARCOTICS here! ' Feeling like a criminal as that word I associated with TV crime shows Id watched growing up I went away finally realizing why people would do almost anything, criminal or not, to get hold of it. I since discovered ibuprofen in the right dosage could dull lost pain so yes I agree you shouldn't use it unless you need a genuine post injury short term pain solution.

Good luck to you in your recovery. 

My daughter was the one who really turned me on to ibuprofen and if needed I mix that with Excedrin in between doses to take the edge off.  As for Hydrocodone, I cannot take it or Codein, I could only tolerate the stronger Oxycodone which they do not prescribe except for extreme cases and I guess I do qualify.  But I could only take it around bed time because of the nausea until I found a cheap non drowsy nausea medication at Family Dollar half way thru my prescription.  A little non alcoholic Nyquil with Dextromoporthan also helps because of the anti spasmodic properties of the medicine, but only in non alcoholic form and irregularly.

Almost any drug, including the ones they claim are non addictive, is addictive if the mental part of us needs it, even milk is highly addictive for me which is not good as a diabetic and Lactose free milk does not cut it, only two percent, one percent is just chalky water, lol...

As for back pain, I am still hurting below where I was hurt by just aging, and I am resentful for that, not so much to the driver but simply because of the lack of pedestrian protection and cameras in big cities.  I am turning next week to the security at the supermarket which faced my crash, in case they still have video that might have been aimed at that intersection.  Their gas station attendant told me it is likely because the cameras also cover their parking lot, a mere three feet from where I was hit.  But it depends on their back ups and camera footage is not needed since the driver confessed to police her responsibility for the crash, and there were some witnesses.  I am trying not to get involved that way, to protect the driver I do not want to even know the driver's name, because insurance is supposed to protect them and pay their responsibility in the first place.

When I first worked as a WAN admin for the one insurance company I worked for, our CIO Vasu, who also was the man who first launched ATM systems in the world, right in the US, simply said as IT we needed to understand the industry in one sentence.  He said, I quote "We are bookies".  And that is what insurance companies are, generally most people pay more for coverage than any cost they incur the insurance company, thousands upon thousands more.  Insurance companies are in league with body shops, home repair firms, aircraft repair firms, etc.....  And they pay for reinsurance from the biggies like Lloyds of London because as my company almost found out during the California and Los Alamos fires, without it they would have gone out of business.

Whether you pay for auto, home, apartment or other insurance, you are their investor, and they work for you.  Mandatory insurance, which started for me in California, doubled my non accident, non ticketed, driving history premiums overnight.  Just like the individual mandate from Obama's plan doubled health insurance, overnight.  If you make something mandatory, like housing expenses and food expenses are, it is a seller's market wherever in the world you live.  Just look at our own income and property taxes, etc....

John

John, I am happy to hear that you are working through the pain to keep up your mobility.

I am also a diabetic and my primary insists that I walk around the block several times each week. Since I live alone and in a marginally sketchy neighborhood, I will not "walk around the block". Instead, I've compromised by going window and/or grocery shopping several times each week. At least in Wally World or the grocery stores there are ample folks around to assist me should I fall down.

Pushing a shopping cart around the store instead of my walker provides stability and support enough. The unfortunate side-effect of course is that I keep finding "bargains" and typically wind up spending $50 or so. It's a good thing I have a deep-freeze on my back porch!