Back Surgery to Repair Badly Herniated Disc in My Back

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I had back surgery on October 20, 2004, to repair a badly herniated disc in my back that was pinching my sciatic nerve and causing me excruciating pain. Here is my story.

In January 1996, three months before I was to retire from the United States Navy with 20 years of service, I twisted my back while carrying something. The pain was heavy and sharp but I figured it was a pulled muscle. Eventually it resolved and the pain was only an occasionally twinge now and then until February 2004.

I was rehearsing a skit for Church and when I walked up from the sanctuary level three steps to get to the podium the pain hit me so hard in my lower back I fell to the floor. I was able to get up but I had a difficult time walking.

The doctor diagnosed me with a herniated disc and he told me that it was pressing directly back into my spinal cord and pressing into the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is probably one of the longest nerves in the body. In my case the pinched nerve from the herniated disc was located in my lower back at a location called the L4/L5 area meaning the lumbar vertebrae numbers 4 & 5.

The pain was in my lower back, in my hip, down the front of my thigh and leg, and across the top of my foot. We tried every medication, soaking, and massage therapy available, but since the pain in my hip, thigh, leg, and foot was what is called a “phantom” pain it was never relieved.

My doctor initially put me on 5 mg of Morphine. With the average person with severe pain 5 mg of Morphine usually kills all the pain but not in my case. The doctor increased my dosage to 10 mg and still no results. He finally put me on 20 mg of Morphine and it sometimes knocked out 50 percent of the pain but sometimes it did nothing.

I finally had back surgery to repair the herniated disc on October 20, 2004. When I woke up from the surgery I was pain free. The Doctor told me that the part of the disc that was herniated actually broke off, and it was about an inch long, and that the piece that broke off went behind my sciatic nerve, while the disc itself was still herniated and pressing on the sciatic nerve from the other direction, so it was a double pinch of the sciatic nerve.

By removing the piece of the disc that broke off, and shaving down the remaining part of the disc that was still herniated, the pain was alleviated totally.

So if you have this situation you need to have disc repair surgery. It is fairly simple, requiring an incision of about one inch in your lower back, and it is done with a scope, so your recovery time is quick.

Death of My Lucky Dog in July 2009

Written By:  Andrew Eide

My dog was Lucky. I had him in my life from his birth on March 11, 1995 until he passed away o July 19, 2009, just two days after my last wife died of cancer. Today I wish to tell you the life story of Lucky Dog and why he died two days after my wife did. Lucky was 14 years and 4 months old when he died.

 Lucky came into my life when he was 6 weeks of age. As you can see from the various photos above you can see him with me as a puppy at 6 weeks of age and then the last photo of him was on July 5, 2009, just two weeks before Lucky passed away. His Groomer, Shiloh, came to our home to bathe and groom Lucky and this is how he looked on that day. So when he passed away two later, two days after my last wife died, you know Lucky Dog was looking as good on his way out as he did on his way into my life.

In the photos above you can see how adorable Lucky was at 6 weeks of age the day I brought him home and then you can see him two weeks before he passed away. I had Lucky cremated and I have his ashes in a box sitting on my computer desk so that he is always near to me. You can see the box I placed Lucky’s ashes in. I had the plaque made but the little four leaf clover came from his Groomer, Shiloh, as she always felt that Lucky was a very special dog to her.

Shiloh was such a sweet woman and she told the other groomers that NOBODY in the grooming salon will bathe and groom Lucky but her. When Lucky wasn’t able to get around much due to old age Shiloh would come to my home and bathe lucky in our guest bathroom and groom him also. How sweet.

Around the age of 10 years of age Lucky started having hearing problems and he was nearly totally deaf by age 11. Then by age 12 he was having heart and joint problems and he was totally deaf of course. Lucky was having a very difficult time standing up and walking around and even a more difficult time going potty and eating. This was around the same time my last wife became bedridden from breast cancer.

Lucky seemed to know that my last wife as dying and I believe he hung onto his life to be a support to her because she passed away on July 17, 2009, which was her 59^th birthday and Lucky passed away two days later on July 19, 2009. It was a noble thing for him to do, to sacrifice his security and health, for her benefit.

Lucky Dog truly was, as the plaque on his Ashes Box states, MY BEST DOG EVER.

Death of My Previous Wife in 2009

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Cancer is an equal-opportunity thing and it doesn’t discriminate whether you are young or old, White or Black or Asian or Hispanic, or whether you are rich or poor. Cancer is evil and disgusting and today I will tell you about the situation with my last wife, Blanche, and how she ended up suffering for 4 years with breast cancer to which she finally died of.

My last wife had a condition called Fibrocystic Cysts. This means that small cysts develop in the breast tissue, fill with fluid, then need to be drained of that fluid. People with this condition rarely develop cancer so they are considered fortunate.

My last wife kept having the cysts drained and told by the doctors that the pathology test on the fluid indicates there are no cancer cells present.

Then in October 2004 I needed back surgery as I had a badly herniated disc in my back that was pinching the sciatic nerve. I will write a blog article on that later in the month of September.

After the surgery my last wife started having more pain and more cysts in her breasts. Then in April 2005 she demanded to have a biopsy done and tested to see if she had cancer or not in her breasts. She wavered between not wanting to know and knowing once and for all what was going on. Regardless of which decision she wanted, which changed daily, she would claim that not knowing if she had cancer was stressing her and knowing would alleviate the stress because she would know what is going on.

In April 2005 she found out she did, in fact, have breast cancer. She ended up stressing 10 times more than before she knew if she had cancer or not. She then claimed that if she didn’t know she wouldn’t be as stressed but I reminded her how stressed she was prior to knowing.

Over the years from April 2005 to February 2009 she continued to deteriorate. The problem was that when fully healthy she was at the most 110 pounds and 5 feet 3 inches tall. She was so skinny that the doctor told her if they tried to remove the tumor in her chest they would have to remove half her chest and she would either die on the operating table or never recover from the surgery.

Also being a person who takes something as simple as an aspirin and her body freaks out and goes into convulsions we knew that chemotherapy and radiation would only kill her faster than the cancer would.

By February 2009 the tumor was about the size of an avocado seed and it was busting out of her skin so it was visible on the outside of her body. She was completely bedridden by March 2009 and she died on July 17, 2009, which just happened to be her 59^th birthday.

Although during our 19 year marriage she was extremely mean and disrespectful to me it was still hard to watch her waste away and suffer dying from cancer. I was relieved when she passed away as I knew she was no longer suffering. My dog, Lucky, passed away two days later on July 19, 2009, and my next blog article will discuss his life and why he passed away two days after my last wife did.

Abuse By Dixie Watkins at the Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church

Written By:  Andrew Eide

From February 1997 until July 2009 I attended the Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church located in Redlands, California which is between San Bernardino and Riverside.

I found working with adults in the church to be boring and insulting so I focused on working with the youth of the church. I worked from newborns to teens and I found the most comfortable place for me was in Kindergarten or Primary Sabbath School where I could teach children from age 4 to age 8. After the age of 8 the kids started getting a know-it-all attitude so it was easier to work with younger kids.

Although I had no biological children of my own my first wife, Salvacion, had a son named Ador. He was already an adult and had kids of his own when I married my last wife, Blanche, in September 1990 after Salvacion passed away in May 1990.

I worked in the Seventh-day Adventist Church from 1990 until 2009 both in the Chula Vista, California SDA Church and the Redlands, California SDA Church. It is in the Redlands SDA Church, from February 1997 until July 2009 that I was on the receiving end of major abuse at the hands of Dixie Watkins.

Dixie was one of those smart ass know-it-all jerks who bullied everyone else. She couldn’t resist cramming into your face that she was married to a Doctor and all three of her sons were also Doctors. She never stated that she was a stay-at-home wife and mother and mooched off the income of her Doctor husband.

I also worked in a program called Kids Church which was created by Pastor Brent Kimura who was our Youth Pastor at the time. I loved the program and I was not only writing scripts to perform for the kids once per month but I was also the contact person to arrange for people to bring animals into Kids Church for the education and enjoyment of the kids during the program. I was so well-known that I would be at the grocery store or Wal-Mart and have kids run up to me and exclaim:  MOMMY! LOOK! Its ANDREW THE ANIMAL GUY FROM KIDS CHURCH IN REDLANDS!

My enjoyment was in teaching the young kids about God and Jesus and to entertain them, while at the same time teaching them, in Kids Church. I was very outgoing with the children even though in reality I am a very shy person and I don’t normally want to be the focus of attention.

After several years working in Kids Church and being very popular with the kids and their parents I got a call to visit Pastor Zach Thorpe in his office just before we were to practice for Kids Church the night before.

Pastor Thorpe told me that Dixie Watkins was accusing me of being a pedophile and abusing the children in the church. Man was I totally shocked and in total disbelief that anyone would do something like that.

I realized that Dixie was ashamed that I was more popular in the Church then she was but I never thought she would resort to this disgusting tactic.

I asked Pastor Thorpe where in the hell this accusation came from and he told me that Dixie claims to   have spoken to many of the parents who also work in Kids Church, and to parents of kids who attend Kids Church, and that they were telling her I was too touchy-feely with their kids and that creeped them out. I got the names of the parents Dixie invoked and I spoke to them about it. All three of the parents told me that Dixie never spoke with them, they have no problem with me working with their kids, and they have no clue what is going on with Dixie Watkins.

 It was devastating to me to hear that Dixie has claimed that since I had no children or grand children of my own attending the Church that she felt it was creepy for me to work with kids both in Sabbath School and Kids Church. This was at a time, from 2005 to 2009 when my last wife was dying a horrible death from breast cancer. So try to imagine the stresses I was going through at home only to have Dixie add to that stress.

She said she felt it creepy and disturbing that a man in his 40’s and 50’s with no children of his own would want to work with kids in Sabbath School and Kids Church. The reason I know this was deliberately harassment ad bullying by Dixie upon me is that we had a man named Paul who also worked in Kids Church with us. Paul was in his mid-40’s, he was single and never married, and he lived at home with his mother, but Dixie never once mentioned that she thought that a mid-40’s, single, never married, and living at home with his mother, was creepy, unnatural, and disturbing that he wanted to work with kids in Kids Church. So the discrimination and harassment was directed at me.

My last wife passed away shortly after this incident with Dixie. I was so devastated that I didn’t attend Church, especially at the Redlands SDA Church, from February 2009 until my wife’s death in July 2009.

I tried to file a lawsuit against Dixie for what she did to me but no Attorney would take the case. I tried to get a show scheduled with both Doctor Phil and another host of a show but I forgot his name, and after several years of them being incompetent I figured I would drop the attempt to confront Dixie on national television and I will let God punish her for what she did to me.

Well I told you that September 2016 was going to have some shocking blogs and I’m just getting started.

September 2016 is Going to Be a Shocking Month

Written By:  Andrew Eide

September is going to be a shocking month as you read articles explaining things that went on in my life. Some of the articles will appear to bizarre and out of the ordinary that you will think I am making them up but I am not. Everything I tell you is the truth.

Just to give you a little teaser for the articles to follow here in the month of September 2016 the subject matter will include the following:

(1) Harassment from Dixie Watkins in the Redlands Seventh-day Adventist Church

(2) Death of my last wife in July 2009

(3) Death of my dog Lucky in July 2009

(4) Death of my first wife in May 1990

(5) Back surgery for herniated disc in October 2004

Becx's First Round of Disc Golf

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Becx played a round of Disc Golf with me on Monday, September 5, 2016, at Suwanee Creek Park. She shot a round of +26 over Par which is good for her first time. That's the same score I did when I played my first round of Disc Golf.

I improved over the next times I played to get down as far as +21 over Par. On September 5th I was +23 so it shows you can be up and down.

The main thing about Disc Golf is the cost for playing items is low, there is no payment required to play the courses, and you have fun and get lots of exercise.

Below are our scorecards for September 5, 2016, at Suwanee Creek Park.

Disc Golf

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Recently I decided to take up the sport of Disc Golf. There's two reasons for this. I used to play regular golf but the cost is restrictive while Disc Golf is affordable. Here are the comparisons:

Regular golf I would have to pay around $500 for an annual membership at Northwood Country Club which is the least expensive golf course in our area. Then, as a Senior, I would pay around $120 per month for monthly dues. Since a normal round of golf costs $30 to play if I play four rounds of golf I've evened out on my $120 per month. However if I were able to play twice per week for a total of eight times per month I would save $120 over paying Greens Frees each time I play. But that's a lot of money since we have bills to pay.

Disc Golf provides us with three courses, each 18 holes, in our general area so the drive isn't far to play. One is at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville, Georgia, but I don't really like it because the holes are hard to figure out which basket you are aiming for and half the holes are out in the win with the remaining holes in the trees.

East Roswell Park in Roswell, Georgia, is a nice course with most holes playing in the trees. I haven't played there yet but maybe on one of our weekends when Nanay and Keira are at someone's house for a visit Becx and I can go there and see how the course is.

Suwanee Creek Park is where I first saw that our parks system has Disc Golf. The course is entirely in the trees except for the first hole. It is up and down, creeks and side-hill play, but it is a great course. I've played three rounds there and I am getting used to where the discs need to be for better play.

Below are photos I took when my two sets of Disc Golf discs showed up. They are not top-line discs but they work for a beginner like me. The BLUE one is called the Driver and it is for distance, the WHITE one is for accuracy in the mid-range (or fairway) shots, and the RED one is for putting to the basket as it is very stable and good for short distances.

I'm having so much fun and the exercise is great. I'm also saving over $2,000 per year not playing regular golf.