Way back in 1992 I did a very stoopid thing!
I had a prang and, amongst quite a few other things, managed to sustain (The Medical term herewith) ''...an unstable compression fracture of the first lumbar vertebrae.." 
I was warned by the Townsville based Surgeon who put me back together that whilst I would always be in pain, sometimes severely so, I would still be relatively 'functional' and capable of leading a relatively normal life. Until one day.....
And that one day things would start to deteriorate and various extra ailments would appear and that I would find life increasingly 'difficult.'
Yes.... that day has arrived!
Over the last few weeks I have found that in the mornings, getting out of bed requires a lot of effort (No, Slasher! Not in your way either! 
) and that for the first 15 minutes or so I have a severe limp in my starboard leg, seemingly caused by the Sciatic nerve giving me absolute buggery until everything loosens up! Thereafter for the remainder of the day I can shuffle about reasonably so but with the occasional use of some pain relief.To ease the problem of the morning I now have next to the bed....a walking stick!!
The following is with apologies to Lewis Carrol;
''You are old Father Baum, the young Man said
and your hair has gone rather white....."
