Two questions:
- How is the back?
- What is the status of the B-17?
Cheers,
Huub
Howdy Huub!,
2 Answers!
The back... well, it has been a very long road. Initially after surgery in mid-2015, the pain was pretty severe. As I began to heal, I began to realize that the surgery just didn't take. Well it did, and it didn't. After 6 months I went back for another MRI because I was still having pretty bad pain. That MRI showed that while my herniated disk was no longer pushing on the nerves in my spine, the scar tissue from the surgery replaced it and now it was pressing on the nerves. I asked the doc if it was somethign I might have done. Whether it was not doing enough therapy or whatever, he said no... I was just lucky. Humpff... they wanted to keep seeing me and trying different things but by that time I was pretty much done dealing with them. Id say that winter I had a pretty tough time. It was about as deep down the rabbit hole of depression you could get. I always tell people. I wasn't at teh point of suicide, but I could see that point from where I was. Pain does horrible things to the mind and body. I refused any pain killers, mostly because they honestly made me more sick than relieve any pain. I am 6 years post op now, and while the pain still lingers, I am a lot better. I will never be 100%, maybe 70% tops, but I think I have come to terms with it. One big thing for me was never getting to play soccer again in a competitive manner. That hit hard. I had played for 25 plus years... and then had to suddenly stop. This past winter, I played my first game of indoor in 6 years. There were parts where knees gave me fits, but my back surprisingly held up. I still get sore and I refuse to honestly lift anything more than 25 lbs usually. And people think I'm just being a dick at work, but I'm just like, "would you like to see the scar?" lol... So a semi-success story. A success in that the pain is less than before surgery. But it is just one of those, "this was the hand you were dealt" kind of things! Thanks for asking!!!!
The B-17. I am hoping to post more and more updates. I have sadly been absent from volunteering for all of COVID essentially. I was back last weekend to take a safety class for our B-25 ride program. Engine nacelles are done. Fuselage is almost complete. Tail is done. We are turning our attention to the wings now. The museum added an extension last year which is amazing as it moves almost all of the "shop" stuff out of the "hangar".
I will post some photos here maybe later today and some tomorrow hopefully!
Stay Tuned!
I'll also give an update maybe in another thread about my adventures in "Ye Olde Pub"!!
-Witt
