Black Friday
I went by a store the other evening and there were people camped out in front of it with lawn chairs and sleeping bags on the ground. It surprised me to see this and it also presented a real truth about our society and how priorities make little sense some times.
These people were lined up hoping to purchase an item at the store that was just coming on the market. People could and would live without the items this store sold. What possesses people to go to such lengths to buy these items? For some it is the plan to purchase cheap and resell for a profit. For others it is the drive to purchase an ultimate holiday gift with the hope of achieving love, acceptance, or to make someone happy. One has to ask--is it worth it to stay out in the cold, rain and wind overnight just to make this purchase? Is the person who receives it going to see the sacrifice and efforts you put into it? Is it even going to matter? Probably not.
It is no surprise that people call the Friday after Thanksgiving "Black Friday"...People are wild in the stores. They are goal driven and plan to achieve their mission at any cost. Lines are usually long and shoppers have no care for others. I remember many years ago when special dolls came out on the market. I happened to be with a few friends planning to shop for one of these dolls. It was my first and last attempt to shop on "Black Friday". That year, people were in a craze by the time the doors opened. When they did, people shoved themselves through the doors and had no regard for anyone but themselves. In fact, shoppers fought over gifts like little children themselves. Windows were broken, displays dismantled and people injured just so they could get their hands on these dolls. I was so disgusted with the entire performance I lost my desire to shop all together and walked out of the store. There is nothing in any store that is so important as to make behaving like foolish children an acceptable thing. I for one will remained home this year!
9 Comments:
I HAD A PARTIAL LAMINECTOMY AND REMOVAL OF THE LARGE RUPTURED DISK AND DECOMPRESSION OF THE NERVE ROOT AT L5-S1 IN 97. LATER IN 2003 I DEVELOPED PAIN RADIATION DOWN RIGHT &LEFT LEG SAW DR AND FOUND DEGENERATIVE DISK DISEASE L5 S1 HADE BILATERAL DISK REMOVAL L5 S1 &spaers &bone graph m8 screws &pins were used. now for the past 3 years i have ben expermenting with meds & things still have cronic leg pain recently i have beeb taking oxyotin (80mg)every 12hr and percoset (10-325) 3 times aday. tryed eleto implant didnt help went the other day and they are pushing painpump implanted. i have ben looking at all i an find here still confused any suggestions thank you for lisening
I have a bad problem with L5-S1 for the last 14 years. My Dr has me on 200mg of morphine a day and this Dr said I should go ahead and have the surgery. But my VA Dr says I should never get surgery becauce the will heal itself in 20 years. Please help me make up my mind.
I am 30 yrs old and had the surgery almost 3 weeks ago. I thank god every day for the courage to have the surgery.. all though in my case i didn't have much choice. I had the worst pain I had ever experienced going down my left leg. I had passed out from the pain and first went to the ER which was a total joke. I then made a follow up appt with my GP... another joke. All anyone was doing was masking the problem with pain killers that were't working. A friend of mine suggested that I go to a orthapedic, and gave me the name of his. In fact, I had several friends that saw him. Dr. Henry Small was his name, and I called and could only get an appt over a month away. At this point, I was so desperate and thought there is no way I could live like this. This pain was far too bad and had basically taken over my life. Let me also add that my insurance had said no to 3 requests for a MRI. Out of desperation one day I called back to Dr. Small asked if there had been any cancellations.....there had. I was in his office the next day. They knew right from my x-rays it was bad, but insisted I needed a MRI. I told him about my insurance issues. He laughed. I was so bad and desperate, and he could see it in me. He suggested I go to the ER of one of the hospitals he worked out. My insurance could not deny a MRI in an emergency situation. I was skeptical because of the lack of treatment I had received before in ERs. It was so bad that 2 days later I went to the ER, and within an hour of walking in the door I was in the MRI. The results were bad. He said my disk was smaller than most (which was one of the problems), but the blow out was the worst he had seen. Also, he discovered I had degenerative bone disease in my L4/L5. He wanted to remove the disk that had pretty much exploded and landed on the L5 nerve. Even though he sees some issues with the L4/L5 he says you never do more than you absolutely have to at the time. I went in for surgery the next day, and woke up so happy!! The pain is gone and I healing well. I am off from work for about 8 weeks. It was a choice I had said from the beginning I would not do, and also, had been told by my friends this particular doctor did not opt for surgery. I am so grateful he suggested this and my family supported the decision. In my mind, I can not see a reason not to have it. My life was taken by pain. My quality of life was gone. Even though I swore to myself I would not have surgery on my back, thank goodness I did. I do not have any rods or spacers. He went in optomostic he could use a new spacer that does fit in some L5/S1 cases, but with mine it did not. In the future, if I do have to go back in for the L4/L5 he would use a spacer there. Again, I was up walking the hospital the next day and 2 1/2 weeks after the surgery I can walk almost a mile. I still can not bend or twist, and no lifting. I can handle all of this.... if it means the pain I had before is gone. A lot of this suregery is your frame of mind. I am so optimistic and ready to start living again.
Hope this helps....
I started having pain in my back years ago. It was not daily but it would flare up every so often. My mother said I must have inherited it from my father. My brother also had same problem. I just blew it off and continued with my daily routines for years and took pain meds when it would flare up.
Last yr (2006) my PCP and my Neurologist both said I had RLS (restless leg syndrome) and they prescribed Quinine and that didn't help so I was given Requip. No help.
My husband and I took a trip to England in Sept 2006 and I was in such pain I could not even walk around a block.
Finally decided I had had enough at the beginning of this year that I went to my Orthapedic dr and he took Xrays right in the office and showed me my disk problem. Also sent me for a MRI and showed it was pretty bad.
He suggested light duty at work from Jan 8 until I could not even walk.
I am finally in Physical therapy but I do not see how this is going to work.
I feel great after the therapy but when I get home and need to do shopping or cook or try to enjoy my grandkids I am miserable after.
I am very pessimistic on all of this and of back surgery.
hurting in va
I have a herniated C6/C7 disc. The nerve impact has me in great discomfort most of my awake hours. I take medication but it is only a relief and not fixing any problems. My MRI along with 4 Drs said that a surgical intervention is probably my best chance at getting my problem fixed. I am considering surgery, however, may opt for Neucleoplasty first. Its minimal invasive and has a good chance to fix my disc before I get cut open. I will let you all know how it goes!
I am a 39 year old very active mom with 2 kids.I was not able to function normally because of the pain in my leg from my herniated disks. I was horrified at the thought of surgery, however after my cat scan I was scheduled for in the O.R. 2 days later. The surgery was quick & I woke up so releived. When I opened my eyes.. there was no more pain. I have healed very quickly and am doing everything I did prior to my injury, and more. My quality of life is better than before...
I'm 24 yrs.old and have recently had a L-5 , s-1 discecetomy twice and the past 10 months. my first surgery was march 28 2006, it was emergency surgery, and the doctors kinda scared me into it.After my first surgery it was a HUGE regret.I hurt worst than ever, i was desperate. the pain was unbearable, and what made it worse my son was 3 months old and i couldn't even pick him up. so i went back to my orthopedic surgen and told him there is something wrong, he had me get another MRI, it showed that the same disk he worked on had herneiated again , and was bigger than before, and recommened a second surgery.but i was so desperate that i did it again. Now i had my second back surgery Sept 28, 2006, and i hurt worse than before. They keep denying and claim for disablity.Now my surgen is telling me that i have a degenerative disk disease, and my back is deteroating on it's own and says he sees a wheel chair by age 35, I wish I would never had back surgery. and the bad part is people around here sell their meds. so it's imposible to get med for pain!!!! SAD
I had a laminectomy about 10 years ago at L4 and L5. My spine collapsed and the pain got worse. Doctors wanted to put me on morphine and I refused. I started going to Dr. Engen (a pain management specialist in Wheatridge, Co.) He has been giving me nerve root blocks about every 6 months. They worked well but the last one only lasted 4 months. I went to my rheumatologist and told him I hurt all over and my back was really hurting. I had pain down my left leg. He put me on Lyrica because I have fibromyalgia. To my surprise it helped my back pain. I still have pain down my left leg but it is better than it was. I'm not needing many pain pills at this point. The doctors keep trying to talk me into having my spine fused. I'm 67 and I don't want to have surgery until I have no choice.
my husband has 5 ruptuered disks in his spine. The doctors refuse to do surgery, but tell him he will be paralized by the age of 40., he is now 36. I am so scared for him. I love him so much and promise to take care of him, but i wonder , because we both have state issued inssurance, is this why they refuse a surgery he so desperately needs?? Any answers please e mail me at madkat0105 at yahoo.com thank you to all who read this, and good luck to all who have suffered through this pain, I see what my husband goes through everyday and it breaks my heart to see him like this.
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