Thanks to all for your help

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By Craig Hall
Hall about it

I want to thank everyone who responded to my column about the back pain I have been dealing with.

More people offered suggestions, comments and advice than I expected, and I appreciate every one of you. I really try not to whine too often — I don’t drink or like cheese, and most people have enough going on in their own lives without worrying about mine.

Trish the wife does a pretty good job keeping me going, to be honest, but let’s not let her know that.

I do have some good news. I actually got to talk to a real person at my neurosurgeon’s office in Tulsa and have an appointment set for the afternoon of July 7. I am hoping the surgery gets on the fast track so I can return to work.

I do not typically want surgery, but I would like to walk and do the other things I used to do without being in constant pain. That seems like a reasonable goal.

There is one silver lining in all of this — I have managed my diabetes better than ever. The day before my first visit to the neurosurgeon, I had my every-three-month A1C test. Given that I had not been as active as usual, I expected it to be bad. It was. An 8.6.

I had to get that number down to at least 7.5 before surgery would be approved. I did some research and was told it would take three months. Wrong. I cut out all sweets, stuck to two meals a day and had a snack only when necessary.

I woke up to low sugar alarms frequently, courtesy of my Dexcom, which sometimes reads my blood sugar accurately and sometimes has its own ideas about what is going on.

When I went back for another A1C test last week, I knew it would be better — I was expecting something around 8.0. Nope. It came back at 6.8, probably a record low for the Craigman. My pancreas thanks me. And I got clearance to move forward with the operation.

Again, I am not a fan of someone cutting into my back, but this is supposed to be a simple outpatient procedure where I actually get to go home the same day. There will be a recovery process, but the idea of being able to go somewhere and stand or walk without pain will be a big deal. I rarely leave the house as it is, and when I do, it is only for necessities — or I bring my walker, which greatly eases the pain and remains the best $40 I have ever spent.

To my favorite Martin — thank you for reaching out, offering to mow the yard and checking to see if I needed anything. You are one cool dude, as always.

Thanks again to all of you. Hopefully things are on the upswing.

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