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A Less than Mantastic Health Update – No Kamen Rider Review

136 Comments

On July 6, 2014 I suffered a serious soccer injury to my lower back which left me unable to walk/stand for several months. Over time it has not improved despite numerous pain clinics, specialists, medications, etc. and I now live with severe chronic pain in both back and neck. There is no diagnosis and the most likely outcome is to live with horrible pain for the rest of my life. This has greatly impacted my ability to perform common tasks and requires numerous adjustments to try and lessen the pain.

Since January 1st, I am unable to stand upright, require assistance with walking (relying on a cane or person), need help using a towel after a shower, dressing, difficulty with bowel movements, and essentially any basic life function. I spend quite a fair amount of my day lying on my side in pseudo fetal position as I cannot fully extend my legs which also means I sit with my knees to my chest as well. On top of this, there is always a massive wave of pain whenever I need to reshift my position or move my back along with the constant sharp pain that comes with not even moving. Some people say to try and find things that take your breath away but gasping for air after trying to get to the bathroom is not what I call a good time.

I have not left the house in nearly a week and do not plan to until my variuos appointments at Saint Paul’s Hospital and their Intervention Pain Clinic  where I have several procedures lined up for Jan – April after an unsuccessful series of Lidocaine Infusions and other treatments in mid-late 2019.

Essentially, I have been unable to do much PAD-wise in 2020 but will try to resume my normal activities when the pain returns to its normal level. This morning is marginally better compared to yesterday but still far from my normal levels of pain and find it difficult to focus in general.

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this challenging time.

136 thoughts on “A Less than Mantastic Health Update – No Kamen Rider Review”

  2. I hope things get better for you, thank you for all your content, it’s probably the main reason I’ve been able to keep up with PAD after all these years! Your health must come first, however, and I really hope things get better for you. Stay mantastic no matter what, your attitude and resilience is beyond inspirational!

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  3. Hope you recover soon. It’s sad hearing this. I would not have been half as interested in in PaD had it not been for your site and you are an invaluable resource for the community.

    Best wishes and I hope you recover soon

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  4. Really sorry to hear about that man. I appreciate all the dedication and top-notch information you’ve contributed to the game and community. I hope you’re pain reduces, and you recover to a manageable state soon. Maybe experiment with some CBD products. Don’t push yourself, and listen to your body.

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  7. Heartfelt wishes for improvements. You are a rock for the PAD community – we’ll always be here waiting for your insight!

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  9. Keep your head up. This is just a game. I love the time you take to write the reviews, but your health comes first. Get well soon

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  10. Since you’ve had this injury for such a long time I can’t imagine all the possible things you’ve tried to deal with it, but just curious to know if you’ve tried things like going gluten and dairy free. If things still don’t get better you could go try a lectin free diet, which is kind of a more extreme gluten free diet. Also reducing sugar intake. Basically the things that cause chronic inflammation.
    I was having problems with chronic swelling, hives, and vomitting for almost two years and it didn’t go away until I went completely gluten free (no cheating whatsoever). I never got a diagnosis but I resolved all of those symptoms through diet alone. Another thing that might turn people off is that when I committed to going gluten free, for the first 2-3 weeks my symptoms actually got significantly worse. I had actually noticed this from trying before and quit my diet restrictions because it appeared to not be the problem, but I researched withdrawl symptoms and found that they could be expected. So I pushed through and eventually everything cleared up and never returned.
    Anyway, the good thing is that it doesn’t hurt to try. It might be hard to give up on certain foods you love, but in exchange for a pain free life, its a no-brainer. Ramen was personally my favorite, but I had to give it up 😦
    Hope you find some relief and stay positive.

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    1. I have gone dairy, gluten, carb, soy free at the request from some specialist for almost a year for inflamation like you said. Sadly, it did not work but I did lose some weight. At the same time, I do eat pretty healthy to begin with but I now eat all those again but in much much smaller amounts along with rarely consuming sugar. it may not work for me but trading various things for salads/veggie and fruit smoothies help

      I also love ramen =P

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  11. Hi Mantastic,

    Been using your blog for a long time. I suffered a major back injury 7 years ago and fought severe muscle and nerve pain for years. Several times I was bent in half for weeks/months despite massive amounts of muscle relaxants. I saw numerous doctors and therapists but nothing helped. When my daughter was born I couldn’t even hold her due to the pain so out of desperation I tried a new physiatrist who was highly recommended. He had me undergo several months of intensive manual physical therapy that changed my life. They moved my muscles through range of motion exercises while doing massage, acupuncture, heat, or ice to break up scar tissue. It was an incredibly painful process but I noticed results after each session. Now my pain is 80% better at least and I haven’t needed a muscle relaxer in months. Just throwing it out there in case you might benefit from the same type of program. Hope you feel better!

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    1. Glad to hear you have made progress with your own struggles =)

      As for myself, I have been to numerous different pain clinics and some were set up similarly to how you described but it made it significantly worse but that could also be me simply getting worse along with no diagnosis/specialized treatment plan

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  12. Hey mantastic,

    I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you how sorry I am that you were going through all of this and how much you mean to me as well as the rest of the puzzle & dragons community. I’ve been playing this game for many years and I think part of the reason I enjoy it so much has a lot to do with your help and videos. I don’t think there’s a collaboration or a tournament that I don’t stop by your website to get your advice and insight. Gungho is beyond lucky to have someone like you in the North American community and if anyone from gung-ho is reading this, mantastic deserves a huge chunk of help from your company. That being said, I do financially pretty well for myself and I would love to help any way I can. Is there a way I can send some money to you?

    Thank you so much for all you do, from a middle-aged guy that works far too much and barely has time for any enjoyment in my life, puzzle & dragons has been my escape and much of my enjoyment is because of you as well. I hope you stay strong and I pray that you are feeling back to normal. Keep looking for new doctors until you find that one you can get you feeling well again.

    Please let me know how I can send some money. It’s long overdue! And on a separate note, if you did a patreon account, you know we all would follow you right?

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      1. Glad you found it and a big thank you ❤

        I am thrilled to hear you enjoy my content and you support means a great deal to me.

        It is interesting you bring up GH supporting as their policy is to not support content creators outside of the occasional retweet due to the gatcha nature of the game. This was at least what I was told a couple of years ago

        Today is better compared to the last couple of weeks and I am more on track for my regular sleeping schedule which is important for routine and sanity

        Sadly, I am severely limited in how much I can stand/walk which makes common tasks like making food or dishes difficult as I can only stand for ~45-60s without sharp shooting pain

        As for Patreon, I have had one for a while and primarily use it for funding various medical expenses over the years https://www.patreon.com/user?u=2825213

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  14. We totally understand, and I hope you make some progress recovering from the injury. Hope playing some good ol’ PAD helps during the times where you movement is restricted, and it’s really cool that I see a lot of the other fans of your blog offering advice based on their past medical experiences.

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    1. Yeah the support from the community has been wonderful to say the least

      I have been doing a tiny bit of PAD but not much outside gift dungeons and now a few Ranking Dungeon runs

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  16. I know a lot of clinics will steer you away from it, but speaking from experience here. I used to have pain that shot down from my back into my hip, and if I stepped right, my leg would buckle under me. I found the solution to be a good chiropractor. Within 6 weeks I saw marked improvement, and now I have no pain in my back and I’m a 1/2 inch taller with everything where it’s supposed to be. Don’t know if you’ve tried that avenue yet, but i wanted you to know there is hope for improvement as long as you never stop looking for the solution

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  17. Hey Mantastic! Here’s to a speedy recovery! I made a small donation, it’s the least I can do to say thanks for all your work on this brilliant website and for helping me make sense of this brilliant little game we call PAD. And most of all for making it much more enjoyable to play!

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  18. I am sorry to hear of your health issues. I would greatly recommend healing meditations. Our bodies is made to heal it self. I have been doing healing meditations for pain and it has reduced or eliminated much of the pains that I have suffered with for years. Since your lying down most of the day you have nothing to lose by trying. Just google “Guided Healing meditation”on you tube. I prefer the ones by Michael Seely. My son a psychologist interning at a VA hospital recommends meditation as well. He likes the The honest guys mediations. Simply relax and listen. Try it believe it it works. Their are many other Types of guided meditations you may also benefit from. Best wishes,

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    1. Thank you for your suggestion and I have actually tried a fair number of meditation/mindfulness exercises both at home and in group clinic settings

      I find it does not provide much relief but I do incorporate various breathing techniques into my every day life.

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