Sounds like we can relate to back "pain"; it's so "weird", how the weather does intensify the pain; when it happens to me for years, I always "think", it was something I had done, and injured myself again. And then after several times and years, that it had happened; and I had been taking it easy; yet pain was unbearable; I finally figured out, it's a "storm", coming, and sure enough always does. We would be great storm weather warning people. Also the white coat thing is dangerous for us, I had this tooth a couple months back, they had told me it was abscessed. they are the ones who had over-drilled it, to fill, and cause it. She was cleaning my teeth, and told me about it and told me because it was drilled too deep. When she stopped cleaning, I asked her if that was what caused the abscess; she said yes; I said y'all filled it here. She oh no, I'm not saying that. I'm the worst about not going to Dr., unless I "absolutely", have too. Roy Masters; said you have a 99.9 % chance of living not going to the hospital. He said he went in; because he thought he was having a heart attack, but ended up being a constipation issue, and they damn near killed him, "he said". Do you use a body pillow? Putting in between legs, helps relieve pressure off the back, and sleep better at night. I thought about Roy; after you told me about what your wife said, about being worse after your chiropractors, and pain management centers.
In November of 1976, I got a job as a TV technician in a local TV repair shop. I had been fixing radios, TVs, stereos, and small appliances on the side and was a prior manager of a repair shop for A&S dept. store. The Ace technician (top honcho) assigned me a work bench and gave me a small portable TV to fix. I knew right away that he had given me what they call in the industry a dog. A TV they were having difficulty fixing. I was being tested. I knew by the symptoms that the problem was in a horizontal circuit and most likely a bad capacitor (cap). I got lucky because the first cap I tested was shorted, I replaced it, and the TV was working fine. They had shelves where you put repaired TVs and let them run overnight to make sure no other problems popped up. I went to the back of the store where the Ace had his work bench, which was large and filled with all kinds of fancy equipment. All I had was a VOM (volt-ohm-meter). I said "what’s next", he got up and saw the TV running on the shelf, and wanted to know how I fixed it, I said, with a smile "trade secret."... to be continued how his revenge disabled me for life.
The owner of the store had been out, when he returned he saw the TV on the Shelf working and said to the Ace Tech "you fixed it we finally can get it back to Mrs......" Ace Tech had to admit," No, I didn't, Tony did. " The look on his face wasn't happy, especially when the owner gave me some encouraging words of appreciation. For the remainder of that day, I fixed a few more TVs and a stereo, enough to earn my keep for the day. The next day was overcast, damp, and misty outside. As soon as I entered the shop the Ace Tech said, " Don't take your coat off. I have an outside job for you today." I said, "I was hired as an inside tech, " he said."Our outside Techs didn't show today. Sometimes, we have to fill in." It was a mistake by me, I should have stuck to my guns and refused to go and do outdoor work, but I didn't want to show I couldn't do it. I said, "ok." He explained the job, gave me the keys to the company van, said," The materials are in it." On the way out as I passed, one of the other techs, he warned me that they had shoddy equipment, and their s/b 2 techs. The job entailed putting an antenna on a roof, then running antenna lines to an amplifier and then to different rooms in the house. When I got to the house, the first thing I noticed it was huge, a mansion. The owners showed me the rooms where they wanted the antenna wires run. One of them was a play/game room on ground level, it had a pool table, some exercise equipment, but to my surprise it also had an inground swimming pool. I took the extension ladder off the truck and set it up on a slate walkway next to the driveway. I was a little concerned because the slate was damp and could be slippery. Because I noticed the van was leaking oil, I didn't want to park it on their beautiful driveway, so it was in the street. The first thing I decided to bring up on the roof was the role of wire, which was on an enormous wooden pool and heavy. I managed to carry it to the ladder and up on the roof. Coming off the roof the very first rung I stepped on, the swivel heel at the bottom of the ladder bent and the ladder went one way and I went in the other, opposite direction falling head first. In that Split Second, I remember song words pop in my head " Here I Go Again, about to take that fall again." Not wanting to hit the Slate head first, I put my right arm out to break the fall. I rolled down the driveway uncontrollably until I finally stopped in the bed on the side of the driveway. The first pains I felt were in my feet from them banging them against the driveway as I rolled. I got up and went back to the ladder, tried to pick it up only to feel excruciating pain in my right arm. I went back to the house to ask if I could use their phone to call my boss, I explained that I had hurt myself. The homeowners were pretty snobby people. They didn't offer if I wanted to stay in the house until help got there. I was working in a sweatshirt. I had my coat in the van, which I locked because it was on the street. The keys to the van we're in my right pants pocket, my right arm was useless, and my left arm couldn't reach the pocket. I had no way to open the van, so I sat on the rear bumper until help got there, which was 2 hours later. By the time they got there, I was freezing and shaking, and my right arm was swollen, I could see it through the sweatshirt. I couldn't move the arm w/o pain in the elbow.
When I finally did see the doc and told him what happened he said if I had landed on my head I could have snapped my neck, I said I got a pretty hard head.
It's really "hard", for a fall like that, and still be going. What did the employer say? I can only imagine; from what you've said so far. I've worked for some real a-holes over my years, like everyone, I guess.
@Jake Smith try practicing deep breathing exercises at home to lower BP, then use them when sitting in the waiting room or exam room at your appointments. I, too, have a bit even of "White Coat Fever" even though I have been around health care for most of my life. I always read higher on machines than when manually taken also. My BP at home is normal, and after some deep breaths, it is at the appointments as well.
I've done that. I get to chatting with the nurse, and when she slaps the cuff on me my BP is higher than normal (I'm usually 120/65 or so.) So I tell her to give me a second, I do my Zen thing, then it drops to normal.
I never spoke to the owner or anyone from the company again. I believe my wife spoke with someone once when they were applying for workers' compensation. After the cast came off, I worked hard with a physical therapist. I wanted my arm back. I still couldn't rotate my arm without pain and was dropping stuff that I was carrying. After a few months of therapy, the doctor says to me the x-rays show that there's no reason my arm couldn't open up. I had limited movement. He thought I was either lying or not trying hard enough. I believe he called the therapist and told him that, the next visit for therapy the therapist put his body between me and my arm and tried to force it to open I was in terrible pain and I had to push him away. Because I was having trouble holding stuff without dropping it caused by bone spurs, the doctor decided I needed surgery. On my next visit to the doctor after surgery, he told me he tried to open my arm while I was knocked out and couldn't do it. I said, "Now, do you believe me." In the end, the doctor removed the head of the radius bone, and I lost 45% strength, movement, and rotation in my right arm. That was in 1976. I still get pain occasionally, I got in the habit of keeping my hand in my pocket as I walked, it acted like a sling, keeping the weight off the elbow.
Thanks, Don, I will try that too, generally when at the dentist or doctor, it goes higher every time that they recheck it. This last dentist who pulled my abscessed tooth, just quit checking it and pulled it anyway; which I let him, it really had to go. But that was very dangerous, BP was like 200/160 and kept going higher. Luckily I didn't stroke out, they checked manually and battery operated; it didn't matter, it kept climbing higher. And that's taking BP medicine. I've tried breathing normally, and telling myself good thoughts, didn't help so far. The dentist even tried Valium, but it didn't help.
Sorry to hear that; makes everything harder to do, not to mention pain on top of it. Strange how we humans adapt to things, even animals do too.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, it is estimated that there are 8.7 million species of animals on earth, including insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish, plus some species I'm sure I forgot. It is estimated there are 1 trillion germ species, which include bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.. These numbers do not include plant life, which is estimated to be 382,000 different types. These numbers are not quantities but individual types of animals, germ or plant. Now comes my question with the current talk of aliens from another planet living among us, I wonder if their planet has such diversity or if their the only living species on their planet. What do they do for food? Do they raise some form of livestock, or grow plants? Maybe they travel to other planets / worlds to get their nutrition. Maybe they're born with a lifetime yoke that will nourish them through their life cycle. What do you think?