resonate6279
Got two bulging discs 5 years ago (L4/L5). Have impingement on my femoral and syatic nerves.
I ride a desk for work and do hobby farming to stay active outside of work, and work part time as a first responder (EMS)
I have a cane for bad days, and meloxicam for really bad days/weeks.
Doing CPR sucks, running sucks, basically most excersises suck. I can’t pick up my kids as much as I’d like, and I am having a hard time convincing my wife to let me try bull riding… doing to much gives me nerve shocks down both legs from by butt down to my heels.
But, I push through and try to stay active.
I’ve done physical therapy twice, both times made it worse. Tried a chiropractor, each visit would give me about 45-60 minutes of relief after the procedure.
Long car rides are about the worst. I’ll be bent over almost double getting out. During isn’t bad, it’s the straitening out afterwards.
Former FF, and current EMT here.
Just to add a few things, Fire Departments are also increasingly running paramedics or EMTs to be able to do more care before the ambulance shows up. It’s not uncommon for the FD to beat my ambulance to a scene.
They are also great lifters and pusher pushers. One of my favorite lines is “lift with your firefighters, not your back.” I can’t tell you how many times their muscle has been helpful on a scene. But, they still have to respond to fires, and their understaffed, so they cant bring their SUV to my medical.
And as for pushers. Running a code, my medic will be pushing drugs, I’ll be breathing for the patient, I’ll have a fire fighter pushing on the patients chest, and another ff driving the rig. Three people is super obnoxious in the back of a vanbulance… it still gets tight in the back of my box that is on an f450 chasis, but way better than it could be.
It’s about $80/month each for me. I’ll usually keep two deactivated while they are parked in the barn. I’ll have two active, and the other two are either waiting for me to repair them, or waiting till the other two break down. Sucked that one time I had three down at the same time…
I’ve had good luck using permethrin as a bug repellant instead of a clothing treatment.