Hey mud community! I'm going to put myself out here and speak on some things that are really hard for me to express and talk about because of my pride and stubborn nature. First I'd like to express my appreciation to the mud community everyone has already helped me immensely. I've been on mud for almost a year now and was creeping for a couple before that. Landcruiser owners are some of the nicest most knowledgable kind people I've had experience with. Getting the "landcruiser" wave or thumbs up on the road brings a smile to my face, all the helpful info on here and the eagerness to help and offer tips is amazing. That being said I'd like to share with you all my current situation and why I'm reaching out to you all. For the past 4 years I've been experiencing nagging pains in my hips and my back. It started out pretty mild so it was tolerable just very annoying. There were certain things that aggrevated the pain and there were things that would eleviate the pain mostly whiskey and rest lol but it always came back a little worse than before. It got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore couldn't even sleep through the night without my hips throbbing with pain. So I sought medical advice two years ago in Dallas where I lived. I should have seen a doctor sooner. I had a bad feeling something was seriously wrong with my hips I just kept putting it off because I was in denial I guess, how could a 28 year old guy be having hip problems!! Old people have hip problems, German Shepards have hip problems, not someone who grew up as an athlete, playing multiple sports. I used to be an amateur power lifter (gym rat) up until a few years ago, I was strong I was fit I never needed to ask for help doing any kind of physical task I was proud of that. I was also finishing up my associates degree in welding technology at my local community college, not much classroom time just lots of bending kneeling stooping in a hot welding shop learning the ropes. But I was excited to become a welder I enjoyed it a lot and I was good and still am good at it. Again I was in denial about my health, I just thought it was going to eventually correct itself if not I told myself to settle with the pain and discomfort, it was a daily routine at that point. But who was I kidding I was living a pretty miserable existence. I couldn't do the things I loved to do couldn't work out couldn't take my dog for walks I couldn't even sleep without waking in pain I couldn't sit without pain, I was not myself physically or mentally anymore. So I decided to seek medical help finally, after years of putting it off. My worst fears came true one day in Dallas when I returned to the doc for a follow up after X-rays and MRIs. My hips were literally destroyed in the anitomical sense. The labrum on each hip was torn to shreds. The hip labrum creates a cushion between the femur and acetabulum of pelvis and allows for range of motion of the joint and creates a sealed space for the joint lubricant your body produces. My labrum were badly torn and frayed I was leaking joint fluid constantly. They were literally hanging on by cartilaginous threads. The cup of my pelvis over the head of the femur on both sides was badly mishappen as well as the head of the femurs. I had bone spurs and cists as well. In medical terms I have moderate to severe hip displaysia and severely torn labrums on both sides. The years of elite soccer tennis and basketball growing up and then the power lifting in my twentys had ruined my hips with all of the twisting, torquing, impact and heavy loads with squats and deadlifts . The hip dysplasia is congenital I was told but no one in my family had any problems except my grandfather in his 70s , but that's almost expected when you get that far up there. I was living my life the way I wanted to in my youth and twenties but not the way my body was setup for or could sustain. It finally broke down. The anatomy of my hips was very unstable and I just didn't know it. My options were to have bilateral skeletal correction surgery (ganz osteotomy) of the ball and socket of my hip (controlled breaks and slight rotation of pelvis cup and then affixed by some gnarly ass 4 inch permanent screws) along with complete reconstruction of both labrums (they ended up using cadaver donated labrums rather than fixing mine, they were beyond repair). Other option: tough it out for the next few years but a double hip replacement in my mid 30s was pretty much inevitable. With the game and labrum replacement I have the chance of having healthy functional hips for at least 20 years or so hopefully ( rather new procedure, so they aren't positive about long term prognosis) Total Hip replacement is the last result. So after the doc dropped that bomb my world went spinning basically. I had literally just finished welding school a few days prior to hearing from the doc. Me and my gf were planning to move to colorado that spring, we had been talking about it for a years. My parents retired and were moving to Olympia in may and the little family I have left either lives in Pennsylvania, Oregon or Washington state. It was time for me
to leave Texas and start somewhere new. I had already contacted employers in denver and had a couple weld tests and interviews already set up. I decided surgery was not in the cards at the time there was too much going on to just give up right then and get surgery. The Doctors said I could work and do activities that were tolerable but the longer I wait the worse my hips would get. I was going to be a welder I had told friends that I told family that too. Thing is I never mentioned my heath issues to my family or friends, I just couldn't believe I was in this bad of a physical state. I felt embarrassed and ashamed for some reason I don't know why. (gf was the only one who knew) the mental anguish was driving me crazy honestly, I had a long road ahead of me to get healthy I just didn't want to set off on it yet. So we moved to Denver weeks after finding out about my health the day before my parents moved to Olympia. we said goodbye to the house I was raised in since I was 4years old. It was tough to say the least along with everything else on my mind, especially the fact I'd been lying to my friends family and myself about my health. When we got to Denver I tested for a company the third week I was there passed and landed a job. I became a welder for a really cool construction company called prescient. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Being a welder is very labor intensive, lots of twisting turning bending kneeling not to mention the mando overtime almost every Saturday. But I knew all of this I knew welding was going to tough and taxing on the body. So as I expected I lasted 6 months before I couldn't stand the pain it got to the point where I had to fake taking s***s just to catch 5-10 extra minutes off my feet. I dreaded waking up and going to work but I loved welding. My foreman began to notice my wincing my limping my constant digging into my hips with my knuckles or random solid staionary objects around the shop, the multiple s*** breaks and all the stretching I did before shifts and after breaks. I had to let them know. I approached my foreman before he really started to ask deeper questions other than are "you okay". I was not okay at all. I told him my situation and basically put in a months notice right then and there. Previous to putting in my notice I had visited with a recommended hip expert in Denver he confirmed what the Dallas doc said and I went ahead and set up my first of 4 surgeries, number one was December of 2016. In the meantime at work we were almost done with a construction project in the area called Brent's place two. It is a housing facility for the visiting families seeking medical help in denver area for kids with cancer. It meant something to me. all the projects did but I wanted to help complete this one I didn't want to quit just then. I have hip problems not a limited amount of time to live or the possibility to not even make it past childhood. I still feel bad though, like I kind of deceived my employer. I knew I wasn't going to last long but s*** I needed money and I really loved welding and I wanted to get some experience in because I had just finished school. Even more frustrating was the fact that it was a young company with lots of room to move up and they really liked my work ethic. I was there on time every day, and caught on quick and never had a sick day not once. So regrettably I had to quit work in late October 2016 to prepare for my December surgery. There were some things I wanted to do first though buy an fj62 and places I wanted to see before I was going to be voluntarily handicapped for the next two years. I had been wanting a 62 for awhile now even before I knew all my health issues. I had been working hard in Texas as a waiter for the last few years and was living with my extremely generous loving parents who hardly charged me rent at all. I was able to save quite a bit of money between waiting tables in Texas and then working long hours as a reasonably compensated welder for six months in denver (wasn't doing pipeline welding or power plant $$$$) just a production structural welder. With the money saved from living almost rent free and working as welder for 6 months, I afforded myself the opportunity to buy a pretty sweet fj62 cruiser in October before I quit work, despite everything else pending on my plate. I wanted one before my health issues and I wasn't gonna let it stop me. I got to really enjoy the fj62 for about 2 months before my surgery. Dec 9 2016 I had my labrum replaced and in early January 2017 this year I had my pelvis literally rearranged using the scariest medical devices I'd ever seen. other than longingly staring at her in the garage or asking my roommate to take her for a spin to keep her going, the landcruiser also had a miserable existence for months. I was on crutches for 12 weeks and weened down to a cane for a month after that. Physical therapy twice a week and a whollllllle lotta net flix and Hulu. Couldn't walk a street block without extreme discomfort still. I was able to drive after about 6 weeks so I did enjoy taking the cruiser out for strolls around town (off-roading would jar my hip too much doc said nooo way for awhile.) other than walking a very slow pace my mobility was horrible but that was expected. Doctors said it will take up to a year to get complete range of motion back and to feel normal again. I managed to do some small amount of maintainence on her air filter, plugs wires cap and rotor that's it haha. I had to pay someone to change her oil that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life lol. I couldn't get on the ground and back up easily at all with out assistance. I didn't have the range of motion to do much of anything. it's amazing how little tasks become so difficult or impossible when you aren't healthy. So basically I've avoided any maintanance that aggravated my joints and that was pretty much anything being on my feet or knees or back longer then ten minutes. I also had to pay someone to put a new water pump and belts on. that was something I thought would be a good project for a noob and I really wanted to tackle it. My recovery from surgery was slow, slower than the docs predicted and slower than average. I eventually became mobile enough to change all my fluids, chhaged the oil again even though it had maybe 100 miles on it, it pissed me off I payed to have it done. I was taking my dog for short walks things were getting and feeling better. Around august of this year I felt pretty good. At least my left hip did. I felt like I was turning the corner to feeling kind of normal again, despite the fact that my right side was still really bothering me too and now I developed pretty intense back pain from the imbalance . The thought and the feeling of my left hip getting better raised my spirits a little bit though. It was a tease kind of false hope, I knew my right hip needed fixing asap as well. And just as soon as I was feeling kind of better I knew in the back of my head I was only half way there. So cut to the 9/15/17 yesterday...I'm laying in a hospital bed at this exact moment as I write this. I had the labrum replacement done at 1030am yesterday. I'm heavily drugged up right now morphine, hydro morphone Valium and more, perhaps it's giving me the courage to share all of this with you and maybe it has something to do with the length and rambling nature of this post (sorry, I've literally not spoken about it much it's hard for me, it's a lot to get off my chest). I have my 2nd surgery of my right the osteotomy of the pelvis scheduled for October 3rd in less than a month. So what's my question? What am I asking of mud members? I need help guys and gals. More than anything I just want to hang with some local cruiser heads. I would absolutely love to just come watch and learn if your wrenching in the Denver area s*** even colo springs or Fort Collins, I'll be on crutches but I can still hand you beer and tools lol. I want to ask questions take notes literally. I have a service manual but I'm more of a visual learner hands on style. I need to do my knuckles, my radiator is leaking now and I'd like to adjust my high idle (tps and throttle body correct?), and my exhaust system has a leak and the hangers have rusted off. I'll be laid up at home on crutches and unemployed again for the next 4-6 months. Luckily I have savings and my employer kept me on their insurance (COBRA law) but bills are stacking up though. I can't afford to pay anyone to work on my rig and I didnt want to in the first place. I want to learn I want to be sufficient myself. By no means am I asking for anyone to come fix my rig while I sit there and watch. I want to make some friends and learn some things. so basically I'm reaching out for cruiser camaraderie. So if you live in the front range area and don't mind someone observing I would love to meet some cruiser people. I haven't had the chance to get out much at all since I moved here I worked all the time and then I've been crippled sitting at home since last January limping around recovering. So perhaps by late October or early November I will have the energy and physical ability to get out. I literally won't be able to drive for at least 8 weeks since it is my right leg this time. I hope I'm reading this community right you all seem like some great people willing to lend a hand. I hope I didn't make complete ass if myslef by sharing this with you. So please if you have some free time, or you like to teach people, or just want to have a beer and talk about landcruisers, I will be available for a lonnnnng time. These next months are going to be very difficult for me. it would make my recovery a lot easier and enjoyable if I could do what I love and that's anything landcruiser related. Mud has been great for me so far, I would just like to make some real friends and learn everything I can about my rig. For those of you who spent 20 minutes reading this and aren't moved at all I really am sorry for wasting your time. If you have read this and are willing to help me or hang out sometime in the future I will be forever greatful for your generosity. Thank you ih8mud.
to leave Texas and start somewhere new. I had already contacted employers in denver and had a couple weld tests and interviews already set up. I decided surgery was not in the cards at the time there was too much going on to just give up right then and get surgery. The Doctors said I could work and do activities that were tolerable but the longer I wait the worse my hips would get. I was going to be a welder I had told friends that I told family that too. Thing is I never mentioned my heath issues to my family or friends, I just couldn't believe I was in this bad of a physical state. I felt embarrassed and ashamed for some reason I don't know why. (gf was the only one who knew) the mental anguish was driving me crazy honestly, I had a long road ahead of me to get healthy I just didn't want to set off on it yet. So we moved to Denver weeks after finding out about my health the day before my parents moved to Olympia. we said goodbye to the house I was raised in since I was 4years old. It was tough to say the least along with everything else on my mind, especially the fact I'd been lying to my friends family and myself about my health. When we got to Denver I tested for a company the third week I was there passed and landed a job. I became a welder for a really cool construction company called prescient. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Being a welder is very labor intensive, lots of twisting turning bending kneeling not to mention the mando overtime almost every Saturday. But I knew all of this I knew welding was going to tough and taxing on the body. So as I expected I lasted 6 months before I couldn't stand the pain it got to the point where I had to fake taking s***s just to catch 5-10 extra minutes off my feet. I dreaded waking up and going to work but I loved welding. My foreman began to notice my wincing my limping my constant digging into my hips with my knuckles or random solid staionary objects around the shop, the multiple s*** breaks and all the stretching I did before shifts and after breaks. I had to let them know. I approached my foreman before he really started to ask deeper questions other than are "you okay". I was not okay at all. I told him my situation and basically put in a months notice right then and there. Previous to putting in my notice I had visited with a recommended hip expert in Denver he confirmed what the Dallas doc said and I went ahead and set up my first of 4 surgeries, number one was December of 2016. In the meantime at work we were almost done with a construction project in the area called Brent's place two. It is a housing facility for the visiting families seeking medical help in denver area for kids with cancer. It meant something to me. all the projects did but I wanted to help complete this one I didn't want to quit just then. I have hip problems not a limited amount of time to live or the possibility to not even make it past childhood. I still feel bad though, like I kind of deceived my employer. I knew I wasn't going to last long but s*** I needed money and I really loved welding and I wanted to get some experience in because I had just finished school. Even more frustrating was the fact that it was a young company with lots of room to move up and they really liked my work ethic. I was there on time every day, and caught on quick and never had a sick day not once. So regrettably I had to quit work in late October 2016 to prepare for my December surgery. There were some things I wanted to do first though buy an fj62 and places I wanted to see before I was going to be voluntarily handicapped for the next two years. I had been wanting a 62 for awhile now even before I knew all my health issues. I had been working hard in Texas as a waiter for the last few years and was living with my extremely generous loving parents who hardly charged me rent at all. I was able to save quite a bit of money between waiting tables in Texas and then working long hours as a reasonably compensated welder for six months in denver (wasn't doing pipeline welding or power plant $$$$) just a production structural welder. With the money saved from living almost rent free and working as welder for 6 months, I afforded myself the opportunity to buy a pretty sweet fj62 cruiser in October before I quit work, despite everything else pending on my plate. I wanted one before my health issues and I wasn't gonna let it stop me. I got to really enjoy the fj62 for about 2 months before my surgery. Dec 9 2016 I had my labrum replaced and in early January 2017 this year I had my pelvis literally rearranged using the scariest medical devices I'd ever seen. other than longingly staring at her in the garage or asking my roommate to take her for a spin to keep her going, the landcruiser also had a miserable existence for months. I was on crutches for 12 weeks and weened down to a cane for a month after that. Physical therapy twice a week and a whollllllle lotta net flix and Hulu. Couldn't walk a street block without extreme discomfort still. I was able to drive after about 6 weeks so I did enjoy taking the cruiser out for strolls around town (off-roading would jar my hip too much doc said nooo way for awhile.) other than walking a very slow pace my mobility was horrible but that was expected. Doctors said it will take up to a year to get complete range of motion back and to feel normal again. I managed to do some small amount of maintainence on her air filter, plugs wires cap and rotor that's it haha. I had to pay someone to change her oil that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life lol. I couldn't get on the ground and back up easily at all with out assistance. I didn't have the range of motion to do much of anything. it's amazing how little tasks become so difficult or impossible when you aren't healthy. So basically I've avoided any maintanance that aggravated my joints and that was pretty much anything being on my feet or knees or back longer then ten minutes. I also had to pay someone to put a new water pump and belts on. that was something I thought would be a good project for a noob and I really wanted to tackle it. My recovery from surgery was slow, slower than the docs predicted and slower than average. I eventually became mobile enough to change all my fluids, chhaged the oil again even though it had maybe 100 miles on it, it pissed me off I payed to have it done. I was taking my dog for short walks things were getting and feeling better. Around august of this year I felt pretty good. At least my left hip did. I felt like I was turning the corner to feeling kind of normal again, despite the fact that my right side was still really bothering me too and now I developed pretty intense back pain from the imbalance . The thought and the feeling of my left hip getting better raised my spirits a little bit though. It was a tease kind of false hope, I knew my right hip needed fixing asap as well. And just as soon as I was feeling kind of better I knew in the back of my head I was only half way there. So cut to the 9/15/17 yesterday...I'm laying in a hospital bed at this exact moment as I write this. I had the labrum replacement done at 1030am yesterday. I'm heavily drugged up right now morphine, hydro morphone Valium and more, perhaps it's giving me the courage to share all of this with you and maybe it has something to do with the length and rambling nature of this post (sorry, I've literally not spoken about it much it's hard for me, it's a lot to get off my chest). I have my 2nd surgery of my right the osteotomy of the pelvis scheduled for October 3rd in less than a month. So what's my question? What am I asking of mud members? I need help guys and gals. More than anything I just want to hang with some local cruiser heads. I would absolutely love to just come watch and learn if your wrenching in the Denver area s*** even colo springs or Fort Collins, I'll be on crutches but I can still hand you beer and tools lol. I want to ask questions take notes literally. I have a service manual but I'm more of a visual learner hands on style. I need to do my knuckles, my radiator is leaking now and I'd like to adjust my high idle (tps and throttle body correct?), and my exhaust system has a leak and the hangers have rusted off. I'll be laid up at home on crutches and unemployed again for the next 4-6 months. Luckily I have savings and my employer kept me on their insurance (COBRA law) but bills are stacking up though. I can't afford to pay anyone to work on my rig and I didnt want to in the first place. I want to learn I want to be sufficient myself. By no means am I asking for anyone to come fix my rig while I sit there and watch. I want to make some friends and learn some things. so basically I'm reaching out for cruiser camaraderie. So if you live in the front range area and don't mind someone observing I would love to meet some cruiser people. I haven't had the chance to get out much at all since I moved here I worked all the time and then I've been crippled sitting at home since last January limping around recovering. So perhaps by late October or early November I will have the energy and physical ability to get out. I literally won't be able to drive for at least 8 weeks since it is my right leg this time. I hope I'm reading this community right you all seem like some great people willing to lend a hand. I hope I didn't make complete ass if myslef by sharing this with you. So please if you have some free time, or you like to teach people, or just want to have a beer and talk about landcruisers, I will be available for a lonnnnng time. These next months are going to be very difficult for me. it would make my recovery a lot easier and enjoyable if I could do what I love and that's anything landcruiser related. Mud has been great for me so far, I would just like to make some real friends and learn everything I can about my rig. For those of you who spent 20 minutes reading this and aren't moved at all I really am sorry for wasting your time. If you have read this and are willing to help me or hang out sometime in the future I will be forever greatful for your generosity. Thank you ih8mud.
