doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com prepping to hunt

This year involved some visits to several medicos to see about resolving some chronic low-back pain. Options vary according to circumstance, but mine haven't been great. As I write this I'm waiting to go (in about 20-minutes) for something really special: marrow will be withdrawn from my hip-area, spun to separate out the stem-cells (and possibly treated in some other ways?) and then re-injected into my L3-4 facet joints. Anybody here ever tried this one? I'm hoping that by the time I'm boarding a flight to the Great White North (in about 2-weeks), I'll be a much-improved version of my current self. I've never thought of myself as Guinea Pig-material, but I suspect that I very-much am now. When (& if) I wake up in a few hours, I guess I'll know alot more about it.

Hope you have better luck than I had at my Chiro Lloyd. Went in for a tune up before ML season.....back is killing me today and I struck out chasing the Elk as well. All I have to say about getting old is it does beat the alternative.

Getting in shape to hunt gets harder every year. Used to be I figured two weekends of quail hunting and the dogs and I both were good to go the rest of the season.

Now its walk, walk, walk all Summer, and if I skip a week its back to square one. I'll be seventy next birthday and that does not seem old enough to be washed up.

I guess as long as the desire is there I may be slow, but I'll still be out there...Geo

Good luck with this adult stem cell procedure Lloyd. I've read about it but don't know anyone who has had it done yet. I understand that it is still considered experimental, and they may also add platelet rich plasma and hyaluronic acid to the mix. Did they tell you to expect to see results in only two weeks? I was under the impression that any regrowth of degenerated disc or cartilage took much longer than that.

I gave bone marrow to one of my nephews who had cancer. It was not a fun experience. I was not asleep for the procedure. In fact I don't think it was even offered. Anyways I watched the large bore needle as it was lowered into my leg and then screwed into the bone. Not fun. Person who did it was very good and we got everything needed as quickly as possible. If called to do it again I would be put to sleep but I am getting so tired of procedures. Getting a sample from the hip should be easier but they needed a much larger volume for the boy.

Good luck Lloyd, I feel jealous of young lads like you and Geo.Newbern.
Mike

Pray you get better fast. Bobby

That doesn't sound good at all, Lloyd. Hope this doesn't spoil grousmas for you.

I'll be in touch. Not sure if I should plan the trip if you aren't up to it.


Best,
Ted

Diet and getting angry at the diet. My dr told me diet, walking and sex would balance everything, but also have to cut out booze to once a month. What a bastard saint!

I had an appointment with an Orthopedic surgeon a few days back to schedule a hip replacement surgery. Prior to the meeting, a friend called and said he had heard about some experimental work being done with stem cell usage for hip improvement.

While meeting with the PA, I asked her about the stem cell work being done for bad hips. Her response and I paraphrase was "we've had a few folks in that have been through that process." My response was "did it help them." Her answer back to me being; "They scheduled hip replacement surgery, so evidently not!"

I'm scheduled for Nov 6th to have it replaced.

I will be 83 sooner rather than later. Last year was tough, unable to walk very far or very fast, the Flashboy and the wee Jeff and I managed to scrape down 21 wild roosters, by hunting small covers and field corners. This year, we expect to do better. with a Pacemaker and different meds. I have an Antelope and an Elk hunt planned as well...Keep on trukin! Stay well, all.

LD:

It's encouraging to hear that you are still doing that kind of hunting at 83. Gives me hope that I have another 20 years of being in the field.

Rem

Lloyd, Cameron, hope things get better. LD, keep on truckin'. To quote a late boss, "I'm in great shape for the shape I'm in." Gil

Well...I survived it. Stiff and sore today but mostly recovered from the anesthesia. Keith, from what I was able to glean from the doc, they don't do anything else to the stem cells extracted from the marrow. Like you, I had read about a number of things being done to make the cells more "refreshed" and less "adult", but in this case I guess not. There is a lot of quackery associated with anything new and this procedure is no exception. Adult stem cells are considered more "safe" for a number of reasons, but mostly because the cord-blood sources are becoming suspect. This procedure is fairly common here in Denver now, evidently (my doc has done many like this, and with a fairly high success-rate), but insurance still considers it "experimental". I'm just trying to buy some time to do the things I love. Time will tell, of course.

Hope it helps. You roll the dice and take your chances. A lot of what once was experimental is now the norm. I remember when MRIs was experimental. Back in the dark age did did exploratory Sx now they do MRIs. Good luck.

Lloyd, I'm glad to hear your procedure went well, and that you are recuperating nicely. I just wouldn't get discouraged if you don't see very fast improvement. From what I have read, a great percentage of patients get great results from this new therapy, but full benefits may take as long as 24 months, and improvement is gradual as degenerated disc, tendon, or cartilage slowly regrows. Just give it time and do your back exercises. The adult stem cells are being used because there is fear that placental stem cells or stem cells taken from aborted fetuses may stimulate uncontrolled cell growth... another term for cancer.

Lloyd, hope recovery progresses well at whatever speed....that you get better and lose that pain.

Appreciate that James! Recovery will likely take much longer than the two-weeks where they told me to "take it easy", but I'm more than just hopeful. Walking in the deciduous forests of Minnesota on beautiful Fall days with a good doublegun can only help here, both physically and mentally. All I have to do is get there in one-piece and then have the weather cooperate just-a-bit to have a really good time. Which, of-course, is the best medicine of all.

"No one ever ruined a good walk by carrying a shotgun"

Golf, on the other hand, is a good walk spoiled.

This isn't always true but the more they research it, the more it's applicable across many aspects of recovery....

A friend of mine is from a family that own a private medical clinic here in socialist Canada. It got grandfathered into the system because when the government took control of health care, this was the world's leading clinic for hernias. It is still one of the best. And the radical treatment they pioneered was getting you up off the operating room table and having you walk back to your room. No delay whatsoever in pushing for the return of normal physical activity. The result of activity was a remarkably speedy recovery compared to a more typical approach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouldice_Hernia_Centre

FWIW: Back at work today. My back hasn't felt this good in years. Hope it holds up.