How you all holding up?

[Drew62]

Just wondering what price you've paid over the years for your chosen profession/love!Starting at the bottom bits,I've torn the ligaments on both ankles-twice on the right side,so I live in boots now-they seem to go with no warning once you've torn em.Knees hold up but ache and are stiff sometimes-kneeling on damp grass over the years.Had a new hip 2 years ago at 54-consultant suggested I wouldnt be able to do my job anymore,thankfully still doing everything I've always done.Popped a disc about 12 odd years ago,have to watch that now and be careful.Had tennis elbow in both of them,takes ages to go away and they are never the same I suspect-that was disc-cutting patio slabs.Necks a bit creaky but thats just ageing I fear.Apart from all that-I'm as fit as a butchers dog  ;D

[Drew62]

Whoops!forgot a few small but important bits.Flattened fingernails and icy cold fingertips in winter-dropping /catching them under patio slabs,buzzy hands in the eve-vibration.Uncuttable toenails (cant get behind them anymore)-35 years of steel then alloy now plastic toecaps :(

[lxskllr]

Blew out my back ~25 years ago bullpinning stakes into compacted road base. Never been to a doctor, but I suspect one or more blown disks. A bit longer ago than that, I got flown to shock trauma after a cable dropped on my head. I was fine, but got the Xrays and stuff, and the Xray tech told me I had degenerated disks in my neck. Pretty young for that, and it doesn't give much problem yet, but it's probably something to look forward to.


My knees are getting a little squirrely. Every so often they'll start aching, especially after a long day of walking on uneven terrain. They've just about given out a couple times, but that hasn't happened in awhile. I thought I really damaged myself after my virgin spur climbing adventure last fall. My right hip socket was sore for more than a week, but it got better. I was favoring it too much in the tree, and I'm getting old  :^D  I was worried though. I don't know what a bad hip needing replacement feels like, and I don't have the time/money for that nonsense now. Wrists/elbows/shoulders sometimes hurt, but nothing that can't be dealt with. That's probably from swinging a hammer.


I think that's about it. I'm in better shape than I should be, and I've had several close calls with death/serious injury I just walked away from. Oh, and as of last weighing, I'm about 30# overweight. five of those pounds will be gone by the next weighing, but that other 25 has been very persistent. I'd like to be an even 200#. I like round numbers  :^D

[sawguy21]

Not worth a darn, thank you very much. ;D Between old age and abuse when I was young and bulletproof my lower back is giving out. Hearing is deteriorating, audiollogist tells me the range I have lost is due to prolonged exposure to loud noises (read chain saws and helicopters). Old age ain't for sissies.

[Fishnuts2]

I've got bad knees at 65, but other than hearing loss and hair loss, I can still do a lot of former things. 
I have found however, that a new saw to try out deadens most pain for at least 4-5 hours!  The next day is a different story! :D

[Magicman]

My constant nagging problem had nothing to do with my telephone career nor my "retirement" sawmilling.  Blame it on recreation.  Yup, a dirt motorcycle crash in 1974 when I was 31 years old and "bulletproof".  My left knee was not designed to turn the direction that mine went so there was stuff stretched that ain't supposed to be stretched.  I had arthroscopic knee surgery in 1994 to remove cartilage fragments that had it locked up but other than that I just keep on limping keeping on.

My hips are starting to give me some pain, so I might have to learn how to "hip hop".  :-\

[TACOMATODD]

My Crohns diagnosed about 01, my MS about 04, my Trigeminal Neuralgia about 15, hearing and hair loss. And I am only 47! At least I am not fertilizer yet. Lots of DVT's and almost died last year and 3 pints of whole blood while in the hospital last year during my birthday. The Dr's maybe have the blood thinners correct now. What a way!

[ehp]

I have had a lot of operations , my sheets looks more like a novel than someone still kicking . I have been asked to go on full pension 3 times but tell them Im not dead yet so no . Got just over 100 pieces of steel total in the body , told at age 46 I would not see my 50th birthday by 2 docs but Im still going and turned 56 . Im not as fast as I was say 10 years ago but I still feel I do pretty good and I like what I do . Im slow in the morning for the first tree or 2 then Im off to the races . Im hoping to last to 70 if I can get that far , then my boys will be old enough for me to see what they end up doing

[mredden]

64 year old lawyer. Profession has nothing to do with it

I don't jump to the ground from my truck bed anymore because of the knee damaged when a limb of a tree stand broke.

Hands hurt from dozens of scars and filing chains. Back hurts - just because. Feet too.

Heck, I'm old. :'( It all hurts til Saturday morning when I have a full day of sawing scheduled! Then, I am reborn for 8 to 10 hours.

[HolmenTree]

At 61 knock on wood I have no aches and pains.
But worried about my lungs from all the leaded gas fumes I breathed in since a young kid running old gas tractors on the field and powersaws in the bush . Also smoked for about 15 years when younger.

[Al_Smith]

Shoulders aren't so good ,life of working with my arms over my head .Torn bicep one arm ,torn rotator  cuff on the other . Right knee isn't as good as it should be,"cutting out " on a 40 foot class 2 or 3 pole 40 years ago  . About everything else is good ,that that isn't they make pills for --at 71 I might be old but I'm not dead  ;)

[Drew62]

*DanG,most of you are doing better than me! Good on you all.Its funny thinking back and looking at how attitudes change over time.I grew up from a farming background,and as kids we were taught that hard work was a virtue,and me and my siblings/cousins competed like hell to see who was the hardest workers.Over my working life I've had a few apprentices/trainees to train-some were good,most have been frankly appalling-the attitude been 'hell,I turn up for 40 hours+you expect me to WORK as well',depressing really.I could/should employ a youngster now,but really given the extra expense/red tape and the undoubted going back snagging their poor work-I just dont have the time/patience for it,and thats tragic really.A lifetime of hands on experience is a huge value for someone young-and Id love to do that....

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm doing pretty well, considering my profession.  I broke my leg very badly while skiing in Colorado.  Split my tibia down the middle like a piece of firewood.  Luckily I had a surgeon that worked on John Elway several times.  He put some huge screws in me to put my bone back together and sewed my meniscus cartilage back together after he fished the piece from way down in my leg.  That was 20 years ago and doesn't cause much trouble yet.  I had the screws taken out after a year.
It was the job that caused my tennis elbow.  That was fixed with some more surgery.
I often have a sore back, which I attribute to carrying large patients down stairs, up stairs, up hills, down hills and everywhere else they put themselves.


I'm doing pretty good mentally even considering some of the stuff I've seen.  I think it's my woodworking and sawmill that helps with that.  Hoping to retire in 10 years or less and just do my side business for my only business.

[MichaelS70]

Hats off to you Gentlemen lots of injuries endured.I'm 48 with a couple bad knees from football back in the day.Born with bad hearing,it was hereditary and has got worse over the years.Shoulder problem from weight lifting which I havent done in a long time.All in all not to bad off so far .

[DaveP]

Feel great.  Got two new knees and two new hips in the last 8 years.  Probably don't go as fast as I once did but still get it done.  With all the new parts I can still climb if my wife isn't around but I don't do much of it.  You have to stay active.  Like the old saying goes, "If you don't use it you loose it".

[firefighter ontheside]

Hats off to you Gentlemen lots of injuries endured.I'm 48 with a couple bad knees from football back in the day.Born with bad hearing,it was hereditary and has got worse over the years.Shoulder problem from weight lifting which I havent done in a long time.All in all not to bad off so far .

My wife is a doctor of audiology, so she keeps pretty good tabs on my hearing.  Her study/thesis for her masters degree was on noise exposure in the fire service.  At home she makes sure I have good hearing protection.  Muffs in the shop.  Muffs at the mill.  Custom ear plugs for everything else.

[Al_Smith]

I would well imagine if most of us at a younger age were more aware of the long term affects of improper work habits we might be in better shape than we are . We danced to the  music now we get to pay the piper . 

[pineywoods]

Dad always said "If you give up and sit in a rocker on the porch, the grim reaper will slip behind you and getcha." I took him at his word. I run the lt40 most days and I'm the local fixit guy for anything that's broke. Got 4 saw jobs waiting in the yard and 5 fixit projects waiting. So far no serious problems, just getting slower. Too many projects and not enough time. Be 83 next month. Never give up.. :

[mredden]

Feel great.  Got two new knees and two new hips in the last 8 years.  Probably don't go as fast as I once did but still get it done.  With all the new parts I can still climb if my wife isn't around but I don't do much of it.  You have to stay active.  Like the old saying goes, "If you don't use it you loose it".

OEM or after market??

[MichaelS70]

I heard a few people say over the years "hard won't kill you " I agree it won't but it sure does peck away at you over the years lol

[Tom King]

Coming up on 69, and still working full time.  No hair, and kinda bad feet, but everything in between still working pretty good-don't even need glasses yet.

[tree-farmer]

Aging and wear and tear that comes with are akin to being nibbled to death by ducks, large angry ducks. No individal peck is fatal but the cumulative effect is the same....

[Pine Ridge]

I am 50 years old , pretty much been blessed with good health. Messed up my right knee playing basketball 22 years ago, drs said it was just a sprain at the time, doesn't bother me all the time but still sin' quite right. Had gout for about the last 10 years or so, tart cherry capsule every morning keeps it in check. Read it somewhere a guy said if he had known he was gonna live this long he would have taken better care of himself !

[Air Lad]

Acl recon
Knees /elbows/bulged disc's
Wouldn't dare complain when there are 70 something year old guys posting here with issues with their 70cc chainsaw not running just right
Cheers
smiley_clapping
 

[lxskllr]

Acl recon
Knees /elbows/bulged disc's
Wouldn't dare complain when there are 70 something year old guys posting here with issues with their 70cc chainsaw not running just right
Cheers
smiley_clapping

I'm always reluctant to say it's cold out around here. The resident Canucks'll say "Isn't that cute, he thinks that's cold"  :^D
It's all relative. Nothing to do but keep going til you stop  :^)

[doc henderson]

Pain is relative.  Yes that could mean your sister in law is a pain, but also it is what you are used to.  The pain scale is a way to communicate your pain, but is still the pt. perception of their pain.  It is stated that a 0 is no pain and a 10 is the worst pain of your life.  by definition being born would be a 10/10.  An 18 y/o boy betting numbed for a stitches will sometimes scream for their mom to hold their right hand and for their girlfriend to hold their left hand, and kick their feet as their mom tells me they have a "high pain threshold".  In the 1980s the healthcare system started accusing docs of not taking pain seriously and to listen to the patients.  Now we have a opioid crisis and everyone blames the docs and pharmacies.  The 80 y/o ladies during the same procedures or worse ask, "so how many children do you have doctor".  if you hurt every day getting out of bed, you just stop complaining!     My hats off to the 80 y/o ladies.

[Old Greenhorn]

My hats off to the 80 y/o ladies.

OH boy Doc, ain't that the truth! I think it's universal. I haven't had the pleasure of assisting with a birth, so I will just take the ladies word as to the pain level and believe them. On the male side, the worst I have ever had in my ambulance that was conscious was a fella with bad kidney stones. His pain was so acute and vivid that I felt it myself. I felt so bad for the guy. Most trauma patients seemed temper the pain with fear, except for the ped cases. Peds could be very cool, until Mom showed up.
 By far, the highest tolerance of pain I would see routinely was in 'older' women. I had one that fell and kept insisting she was fine, just needed help to the chair. The FD was going to do that when I stopped them to do a proper exam. My working diagnosis was that either she had a fractured hip or the top of the femur fractured. Told her she needed to go to the hospital for some repair work, she insisted she just need a chair. SO we very gently started the lift until she felt the true nature of her pain. Put her on a scoop stretcher, transfer to the ambulance and off she went. To this day, I cannot imagine how she tolerated that pain, and she was not unique, I saw more than a few of those. Them gals are tough ones, I'll give you that.

[doc henderson]

Yes OG, I agree.  The 10/10 pain during birth was from the babies point of view, since it is the very beginning of life outside the womb, and therefore by definition the worst pain they have ever had!!  We as adults are happy when they cry, as that is a normal response to realizing you are wet and cold and naked in a room full of strangers... I suppose OG has a story about that as well :D :D :D :D :D  Ask you wife before you post your personal stories OG!!!

[Old Greenhorn]

I think it's best for all concerned if we just leave my wife out of it. ;D ;D Both our kids were c-section and they wouldn't let me be present. I had a rule that there were no babies allowed to be born in my ambulance, and stuck to it through my 'career'. A messy trauma is easier to clean up and decon than child birth. Messy traumas usually had less screaming too.
 I have been wet and cold and naked in a room, but always made it a policy of not being with strangers when it happened. ;D :D :D No real need to share those stories here either.

[Logger RK]

A older Logger I know told me he remembers the day he was born. But he was so traumatized by it he couldn't talk till he was 2 or 3 years old

[Texas Ranger]

Bad knees and hips from  making my living on my hind legs, hearing loss due to loud bangs 55 years ago, VA hearing aides help, but not the tinnitus.  Dislocated shoulder in College, makes it burn with repetitive action. A variety of scars, knitted bones, aches and pains, but hey, I am still here and kicking but no one  around my house listens to my complaints.  8)

[lxskllr]

A older Logger I know told me he remembers the day he was born. But he was so traumatized by it he couldn't talk till he was 2 or 3 years old

[realzed]

 On the male side, the worst I have ever had in my ambulance that was conscious was a fella with bad kidney stones. His pain was so acute and vivid that I felt it myself. I felt so bad for the guy. 

I can relate to the 'stones' deal.. I had attacks every morning at 4AM for a month solid before they finally got me to a Southern Ontario clinic for a Lithotripsy session.  
When loading me up with Morphine for the flight home 24 hours after the procedure - one particularly nice ER nurse leaned over to me and said - "I've had 4 kids - a pair of them fairly large twins and I've also had a kidney stone.. and if I had to - I'd gladly take 4 more before I'd ever take another stone again"..
I didn't make it all of the flight home before the Morphine finally wore off and the pile of bits started to move around that was a true Hell - in and of itself..
From what little I do recall of my flight, I remember the stewardess remarking to me that she had never seen anyone's skin tone turn so grey in color before..    

[doc henderson]

Yes, I have had 2 kidney stones. The first in med school and the second a few years ago.  Your body does not know what to do, so you vomit, then pee, then feel like you need to have a BM.  The nerves involved are close to those involved with uterine pain in child birth but no break between contractions.  
the only advantage is when I show up at 2 am, they tell me "the Doc wants to know what you want".  I say a liter of saline, a CT, 8 mg of zofran and 1 mg of dilaudid please.  

[gspren]

  I'm in good shape for the shape that I'm in! My only injury in Viet Nam was a broken heart and I later found a good woman that healed it up. A bum ankle from playing with a Bultaco Matador motorcycle but I'm still having fun.

[doc henderson]

My grandma always said she was "sick and tired of being sick and tired"!
she also said "the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys" and "he who dies with the most toys wins!"

[realzed]

Yes, I have had 2 kidney stones. The first in med school and the second a few years ago.  Your body does not know what to do, so you vomit, then pee, then feel like you need to have a BM.  The nerves involved are close to those involved with uterine pain in child birth but no break between contractions.  
the only advantage is when I show up at 2 am, they tell me "the Doc wants to know what you want".  I say a liter of saline, a CT, 8 mg of zofran and 1 mg of dilaudid please.  

Yup - and even after the meds - (they dull it slightly but even then you feel like you gut is ready to explode at any moment) and after hopefully you can pass something, the resulting deep ache for weeks felt like somebody had taken a baseball bat to my lower back with a vengeance.. 
I did manage to pass one or two smaller ones - biggest of which occurred when I was lying on a gurney in the hallway of the local ER and the doctors were amazed that it measured a full 1/4" in diameter apparently and they all ran around the ER showing it off like it was some kind of prized record catch at a local bass tourney! 
They all promised me that I would get it back since it was mine originally and I deserved it fully, for my efforts - but when I finally succumbed to the drugs and fell asleep and hour or so later - it disappeared off to some doctors office, for display purposes I guess.. 
The larger couple I had in subsequent episodes were estimated to be 3/4 of an inch in diameter from the X-ray estimates, and you can only imagine all of the fun they brought when they were blasted into the many smaller bits which still needed to work 'through the system' later on!
Haven't had any more of that in over 25 years and certainly have no wish at any point to return there..
My kidney has never felt quite the same even to this day!   

[mredden]

Discouraged.

Milled some 7 ft x 43" x 9/4 green pecan today. Couldn't move them on to my sticker stack. Losing muscle at 64.

[doc henderson]

those are some big heavy planks!!!keep on keepin on mredden