I hope the surgery does the trick. I'm in the same boat, sort of...bulging disc in my neck pinching nerve, causing muscle cramps, atrophy of biceps and numbness in right hand Since Feb. 2013. No Sir, no fun at all.
No surgery yet. I had the epidural injection 3 weeks ago and that really helped, although I believe it is wearing off and I have some pain and discomfort returning. So far stretching exercises, pain meds, anti-inflammatories and muscles relaxants are helping. I had a sciatic nerve problem on my right side for years and managed to control it with exercise and stretching. I hope I can get to that point with my left side.
Geez George, I had no idea you were dealing with those issues. When we hunted last fall, I thought you were part cheetah. Sounds like you are doing whatever it takes to get it back. I think I got 320 acres of private we can hunt just south of where we hunted public. I'll call you early Nov. Keep after those docs and make em' earn their keep. Thinking about you. Take care.
This has been a fun trip. Had some pain starting to come back so I was taking some of my anti-inflammatories and pain meds. Well last Saturday evening (Sept 6th) I was sitting around watching tv when I started to get pressure and pain in my upper abdomen and chest. It wouldn't go away and the pressure increased to a high level. Felt like a boa constrictor around my chest. So off to the ER we went. I'm in the bed and they have me all hooked up and I'm sweating like crazy. I was sure it was the "Big One". After all the tests they said my heart was just fine. My stomach must have really reacted to the meds and what I ate that day. I stayed in the hospital for a day and with some morphine and other "good" drugs the pain went away. Good thing is that the last 5-6 days I've had no back pain. Hope it holds.
I am sure you are helping yourself by your conservative treatment plan of exercise, OTC drugs, etc. Keep up the good work. It must be nice to know that there is nothing wrong with your heart although you found that out the scary (and expensive) way. Whew!