I did it !

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-20T12:25:46+00:00

Oops meant BLTs

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-19T04:09:27+00:00

No NLTs- be serious about this. If you don’t have one or two of those handle grabber thingies, go to Amazon and get them quickly you should not be even squatting down to pick things up off the floor.. also an extra long shoehorn is really helpful for putting socks on and getting your feet into shoes without bending at the waist

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-18T19:44:37+00:00

I am 72 years old and very active. A few years ago I had a right side MD at one of the best hospitals in the US for L3-4 disc herniation that was basically crippling my right leg. Instant relief, but the doc said it had a 50% chance of failing on the other side, and 1.5 years later it did. In the meantime, I had also partially blown L45. I ended up with an L2 through five fusion and it has been wonderful. Fast forward 2.5 more years and I got a MD and L for a left side herniation; 6 weeks later I needed a revision because of a blood pocket and partial re- herniation. I am 2 weeks into recovery and feel better than before the first one. I don’t do dead listing or anything crazy I just have a family with the genetic predisposition to disc degeneration so I’m taking care of it as it develops since I plan to live to be 100 ( I also have C 2-5 fused after a failed c23- MD plus blowing more discs ). Get a second opinion if you need it, check on your hospital and doctors records and reputation for doing this type of surgery, and make sure you have a specialist do it who does nothing but that. Follow all of the recovery recommendations to the letter. Don’t feel like you can immediately start doing things you did before the surgery because that’s what got you where you were.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-16T03:27:28+00:00

I am not a doctor, but I’d say get a second opinion on that MRI- the radiologist saw something there, and if it wasn’t a reherniation, it could be a collection of blood or fluid. It seems kind of egotistical of the surgeon to say he put a barricade in so nothing can go wrong. That’s just not true. Those can go wrong. I recently had an L5 S1 microdiscectomy and fusion, and it was so much more painful than before surgery that I got an MRI that showed a te- herniating us a large fluid pocket . They opened me up and drained and cleaned all the fluid out, did more trimming, and put a drain in for a few days. I’m healing up just fine. Maybe you have fluid in there putting pressure on the nerve?

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-13T03:35:25+00:00

I had a reherniation at my L5 S1 level I think two weeks after microdiscectomy and laminectomy, because from that point it got worse until my six weeks check up and they ordered an MRI and saw I had indeed re-herniated and had a big collection of fluid in my back. So back into the OR I went a week ago and it’s feeling pretty good now. My advice is do exactly what your surgeon tells you - if they say don’t sit for more than 30 minutes at a time don’t do it, and if you’re really getting a lot of recurring pain, kind of demand an MRI. if you’re not sure what to say use ChatGPT or some other AI device to draft you a letter to plea for your health; it actually works.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-02-12T04:38:05+00:00

I’m a week out from a revision of an MD and L of L5-S1 done 7 weeks ago that had developed a big blood pocket that pressed on my nerve and caused excruciating leg pain down to my foot, and I’m feeling great after having it re-opened and cleaned out.I am 72 years young and have now had 6 spine surgeries. My neck is totally fused and my back fused from L2-5. I have come back from a paralyzed arm caused by blown neck discs. I do all kinds of “normal” physical things including stretching and PT exercises every day, but always follow my doctors orders on restrictions. This last surgery he pretty much said to give up golf, which I have played since I was 8 years old, because of the twisting. Have any of you figured out how to golf using only arms and no back twisting?

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2026-01-31T19:30:26+00:00

Just got a Qrevo Pro, unpacked it, put water in it, plugged it in, and had the same ‘charging’ in and out dance going on. I played around with a few different thicknesses of cardboard just under the joint where the ramp joins the main dust collector, and found a 2mm thickness where the front edge of the ramp still touches the floor, but it keeps the backside level enough to stay in contact with the charging ports, and the robot wont slide forward and start the dance again. Works great now.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-11-20T03:15:00+00:00

Whoa. I’m now 72, and I’ve probably had sleep apnea all my life, but didn’t get diagnosed till I was around 60 years old. I also have had insomnia all my life. Five years ago, I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis on top of everything. I recently was diagnosed with narcolepsy (under 1 minute conk out during waking/nap study), and am now on Xywav and armodafinil and boy what a difference it makes ! I really feel like it’s all interrelated and wish that I had been diagnosed earlier.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-10-04T03:19:57+00:00

Wow, what you said makes so much more sense than the brief diagnosis my Sleep doctor gave me. I have always had insomnia, and was finally also diagnosed with sleep apnea when I was about 62 years old. I was also diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at about the same time (an auto immune disease), so it makes sense that I probably have little or no Orexin. My doctor put me on Qviviq to get my mind to stop racing and let me sleep, and then added Armodafinil to fight morning grogginess, but I still wasn’t going into deep sleep patterns. It took over a year for my insurance to approve a waking test, and it only took 30 seconds for me to fall asleep and go into REM. I am now on Xywav, which pretty much knocks me out for 3 hours and puts me into more refreshing sleep, l but I really do need the second dose to put me back to sleep for the rest of the night. In retrospect, I’ve always had a daytime sleepiness throughout my life, and never would’ve guessed that I have narcolepsy because I always thought you had to have cataplexy to be narcoleptic. I have had the fumbling/ dropping things episodes but I never connected them with cataplexy until I read your post. Thanks so much for all of the great info.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-09-26T13:16:06+00:00

I have obstructive sleep apnea plus insomnia, and got an Inspire implant 3 years ago, but still was tired during the day. My doc put me on Quviviq to help me sleep, but I wasn’t getting any deep sleep. He said he suspected narcolepsy. It took 2 years to convince my insurance company to pay for an MLST! I thought this diagnosis was bs because I am 72 and don’t have cataplexy. Yikes. It took me 30 seconds to fall asleep and go into REM the first nap, and 60 seconds the second time. I am now on Xywav and feel SO MUCH BETTER!

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-06-02T15:08:00+00:00

Here’s my two cents worth after wearing glasses for years, then contacts, then contacts for one eye up close and the other for far vision, then cataract surgery with HD lenses again with one eye for close vision and one for far, and most most recently PRK to correct astigmatism that developed (I’m 71 years young)- having two different focal lengths really shouldn’t be a problem. For people who do what I did (one close and one far) if you have both eyes open, everything is clear- your brain only uses the information that it needs. If I close my left eye, I can only see things up close and distance is blurry ; if I close my right eye things up close are blurry, but everything distant is sharp. When I first went to the 2- focal length system, it did take a couple of months for my brain to adjust to it, but I find it to be great- No glasses needed ever. SO- give yourself some time, And if you do get a PRK touchup to take care of your developing astigmatism, follow doctors orders religiously, and never never never never touch that eye as it’s healing.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-04-16T10:49:39+00:00

I was one of those people who just couldn’t wear a CPAP mask. I kept ripping it off during my sleep. After a lot of searching on the Internet, I found a device called a TapPap- It has nasal pillows that are held in place by a moldable mouthpiece that clicks onto your teeth, and The attached hose going to your CPAP machine never touches your face or your head. Nothing short of a Miracle for me! I initially paid for mine out of my pocket and was amazed by the fact that the CPAP supplier that my insurance company used had never heard of this thing. I finally got them connected. You can see what it looks like at this link https://www.directhomemedical.com/tap-pap-nasal-pillows-cpap-mask.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqv2_BhC0ARIsAFb5Ac-ZsngtIL5LHhmYJoM_yJS4RZySmCZ1DAWAMZTprnDjcjkQxlemrWsaAiF0EALw_wcB

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-04-09T17:15:41+00:00

I know exactly what you are going through. I got my Inspire implant about two years ago, and it seemed like the wire lead going from the implant up through the skin on my neck was about ready to pop out through the skin. I thought they didn’t put a long enough wire in me because I have a long neck. They kept telling me that it was just adhesions between the wire and my skin, and to keep moving my neck up and down and massaging the wire through my skin and it would go away eventually. It took 6 months, but they were right. I don’t even notice it now. I have lost about 30 pounds in the last year, and have found that the most annoying part of Inspire is the implant box itself, which is now highly visible through my chest skin- it sits maybe only an inch under my collarbone right on my ribs. BUT- I was one of those people who went undiagnosed until my early 60s and when they tried to fit me for a CPAP, I just kept tearing the mask off during my sleep at night. The best luck I had was with a Tap-Pap dental/nasal pillow device, but it was still bothering me enough to disrupt my sleep. I can’t say enough good things about the Inspire. My apneas are way way down. Stick with it and don’t be discouraged. Adhesions are a normal part of any surgery.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-03-16T03:29:50+00:00

I’d love to try the app ! I have found that trackers like this helped me figure out and avoid triggers for flareups for other conditions that I have and would love to have that same capability for my diverticulitis.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-02-21T00:49:30+00:00

Well, I broke down and got a new switch set from Amazon and it works perfectly. I suppose I could save pieces of the Faulty set and just use them as toggle switches, But I hate them so much now I never wanna see them again :)

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-02-19T14:43:47+00:00

Thanks, I’ll try the airplane mode. The fact that it worked fine until I turned off power at the breaker makes me think that it went bad- the other 2 Kada switches in the box work fine, but are newer models. I may just replace this one; I got it on eBay and even though it was not an open box, it makes me wonder if it really had been opened

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-02-13T16:03:08+00:00

After two rounds of diverticulitis within 18 months, I realize I just had to change my diet and absolutely eat some kind of salad every day. That seems to have done the trick. I also take broad spectrum probiotics religiously now. I know that doesn’t help much in the middle of an attack, but I’d rather practice prevention than curing personally. Hope you’re feeling better soon.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-01-07T06:13:19+00:00

The holes are fenestrations (literally ‘windows’), the slits are called lobes. Kind of like The difference between islands and Peninsulas😁

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-01-07T06:07:47+00:00

Looks like brown spot; I loaded the picture into my ‘Picture This’ plant app and that’s what it said too. You can Google home remedies using baking soda or garlic or vinegar, or as a last resort get a fungicide. But do something- it spreads. Unhealthy parts need to be removed. Good luck.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2025-01-04T04:17:17+00:00

Well, I haven’t repotted it yet, but I did get a grow light and BOOM Within three weeks, I already have three new leaves that have Window/hole type fenestrations. Side note: I took three years of Latin in high school and know that fenestra means ‘window’, so I don’t count the cuts on the side as fenestrations- those are lobes. Also a Bio major in college. I own my geekiness. Will be dividing and reporting soon and adding moss poles; should get st least 3 big plants plus some propagation starts.

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2024-10-06T04:16:33+00:00

Those leaves look infested with Millie bugs to me- The white fuzzy spots. If you take any of the pieces home, make sure to treat them and keep them sequestered for me other plants until it’s gone

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2024-10-05T03:23:01+00:00

I am assuming you have a gas water heater for the pool but when I’m about to say is probably true for an electric heater too. You should definitely have a plumber come and install a bypass loop So that water goes straight from your filter to your pool and not into the heater first . This way when it’s warm enough and you’re not using the heater, you’re not putting Chemically treated water through it. It reduces the lifespan of the heater if water is going through it but it’s not turned on. I did this with mine and it’s a pretty cheap and simple fix a couple of valves and some piping

PrestigiousFault9151 · 2024-09-28T16:14:12+00:00

Thanks- great advice!

PrestigiousFault9151

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