Autopsy report on Tom Petty

[themechanic]

 

[YY1]

Had some chronic pain issues due to hip injury IIRC.

...and of course the RnR lifestyle is always suspect.

We saw the last tour and you really couldn't tell anything was wrong.

IIRC just a few months prior to his death.

No big surprise.


Mudcrutch with Mike Campbell is still active.

 

[moparedtn]

Big, bordering on huge, TPTHB fan here. Prefacing my comments with that fact...
The years of heroin were, as you might imagine, really hard on him and it was noticeable.
Health issues to come only piled onto that, even with legit prescription painkillers.
His hip was full-on broken and required replacement ASAP; he chose instead to finish what
he perceived to be the obligation he felt to his fans and to the band and crew.

By his last tour (40th anniversary), he was hammering oxy's before shows just to get through
them and you could tell on stage, both in his speech and in his mannerisms - yet he was
hellbent on seeing it through.
Bandmates reported him needing help to get to the stage some days - he was barely able to
bear weight on his hip towards the end, so what he did on stage was miraculous really.
By then, it was Fentanyl and Oxy's...

Personal observation on my own exposure to prescription painkillers:
They don't actually "kill pain" - instead, they make you simply not care about having pain.
Almost instantly addictive. I've seen them ruin many an otherwise perfectly good human.
I learned early on to live without them, regardless of whatever was to come (and as y'all
know, a metric ****-ton of pain was and is a part of my life).
I'm simply scared to death of them - and they don't freaking kill pain.

If you listen to the last couple interviews, he was both proud of the fact the band had completed
the tour and at the same time, there was a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the physical condition
he was in - but he also sounded like he had gotten done what needed to be done and was at peace,
like he was completed in his obligations.
As a lot of you fellas have learned over the years, when there's no mission anymore, no obligation,
no reason to get back to work in someone's life, oftentimes bad things happen.
Purpose is a huge reason we get up and go; hell, it's probably the prime directive.

I've been there, when the perceived purpose had been completed - and I can relate.
It may have just been time for Tom; he may have been called home, job well done.

 

[moparedtn]

Had some chronic pain issues due to hip injury IIRC.

...and of course the RnR lifestyle is always suspect.

We saw the last tour and you really couldn't tell anything was wrong.

IIRC just a few months prior to his death.

No big surprise.


Mudcrutch with Mike Campbell is still active.

Mike has his own band for a few years now and it's the "active" one in his life these days, along with
the usual side gigs (he's still very much in demand as a session/guest guitarist).
Everyone should seek out "Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs" on YouTube.
They're really good and a lot of fun!

 

[Ron H]

Worst pain I recall was when I had a disc herniation stabbing my sciatic nerve. It happened when I was in a hotel night before a training session I was to present. Longer story on how I managed to drive the 230 miles back home; but I got scripted some oxy and it helped make it bearable. Getting an epidural was better before surgery. Those pills though were like magic to me and can see why they can be addictive. I had other injuries when I was prescribed this med and liked the feeling other than the constipation if I stayed on them too long. At my age with all the aches & pains…sometimes wish I had one of those to pop. Likely better I don’t have easy access to them.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Those pills though were like magic to me and can see why they can be addictive. I had other injuries when I was prescribed this med and liked the feeling other than the constipation if I stayed on them too long. At my age with all the aches & pains…sometimes wish I had one of those to pop. Likely better I don’t have easy access to them.

I have ten in a pill bottle, they've been in my medicine cabinet for three years... If my sciatica flares I may take one otherwise I choose to ignore them...

 

[Dennis H]

Never used any. But, sciatica is the closest thing to a death sentence I’ve ever experienced. Crawl on floor. Can’t sleep. Can’t wipe your ***. It’s bad. Epidural helped but surgery was the cure. Think of wiring chaffing as it passes through the firewall. Doctor Rustahmzadeh walks on water.

 

[themechanic]

Don't carry a thick wallet in your back pocket if you have problems with sciatica.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Don't carry a thick wallet in your back pocket if you have problems with sciatica.

To have a fat wallet means you have money... I have nothing to worry about...

 

[Ron H]

Never used any. But, sciatica is the closest thing to a death sentence I’ve ever experienced. Crawl on floor. Can’t sleep. Can’t wipe your ***. It’s bad. Epidural helped but surgery was the cure. Think of wiring chaffing as it passes through the firewall. Doctor Rustahmzadeh walks on water.

Yeah, was the most painful ordeal I went through. Hit me like a bolt of lightening just after I dropped my luggage in the room, sat on the bed to open my laptop – bam thrust me on my back! As it was, I was in a town where my daughter was attending college and she was working the front desk at the hotel. Took me a long time to get to the phone across the room…when I got to a chair to sit was the only time I didn’t have intense pain. Sat there a while figuring out what to do. As I sat there I tried to emulate driving and found this could work to drive back home.
Called my daughter at the desk to come up and she wanted to call an ambulance. I said not, grab my stuff and bring my car in the parking garage as close to the entrance door as possible. It took 10+ minutes to take a normal 2 minute walk to the door sweating like mad as my kid tried to keep me on my feet. Got in the car and prayed I wouldn’t need a pee stop going home. Prayer wasn’t answered having to stop mid-way home. Oly chit, wished I'd a had a bottle to piss in. Got back home around midnight. Used two putters when I had to walk anywhere until thankfully I got the epidural.

 

[Hemi2Much]

I had a bad accident back in 2011. I had 2 ruptured discs and 2 crushed vertebrae.
I had nearly severed the sciatic nerve down my left leg. I had 2 surgeries on my back and one on my left hip. I now have 3 titanium rods and 18 anchors in my back and L hip. I had 2 vertebrae removed from my lower back and replaced with titanium cages and cadaver bone. I had to wear a bone growth stimulator for 4 months. I was on Oxycodone and oxycontin for 9 years. I never took one pill out of the way they were prescribed, That doesn't mean that I wasn't hooked. It took me 6 months to get over the addiction, 6 weeks of hell of withdrawal symptoms. I've been off of them for 2 years now and every day I'm gracious for the strength to do it. They were taking their toll on my life and my health. Luckily I had enough sense to realize what was happening. I can't simply take Tylenol, Aspirin, or Ibuprofen for pain. I'm highly allergic to them all. I'm not as active as I used to be but I still feel better being off of the pills. I have learned to deal with the pain. Probably the hardest thing to do is to know your limits and not push yourself too far, The pain is much harder to control if you overdo it.

 

[roadrunnerh]

L4-L5 surgery here - twice. 1998 + 2005. Much better now, especially after losing weight.
I stayed away from pain pills at all costs.

 

[Richard Cranium]

B

Personal observation on my own exposure to prescription painkillers:
They don't actually "kill pain" - instead, they make you simply not care about having pain.
Almost instantly addictive. I've seen them ruin many an otherwise perfectly good human.
I learned early on to live without them, regardless of whatever was to come (and as y'all
know, a metric ****-ton of pain was and is a part of my life).
I'm simply scared to death of them - and they don't freaking kill pain.

.

That's funny, because when I had 3rd degree burns and a required a skin graft, the pain killers (Oxycodone) that I had took away the pain and never made me high. Even when they gave me a double dose of morphine while I was in the hospital, I was still totally lucid.

 

[themechanic]

That's funny, because when I had 3rd degree burns and a required a skin graft, the pain killers (Oxycodone) that I had took away the pain and never made me high. Even when they gave me a double dose of morphine while I was in the hospital, I was still totally lucid.

True genius never sleeps.

 

[roadrunnerh]

That's funny, because when I had 3rd degree burns and a required a skin graft, the pain killers (Oxycodone) that I had took away the pain and never made me high. Even when they gave me a double dose of morphine while I was in the hospital, I was still totally lucid.

That's not what everybody else thought...

 

[Richard Cranium]

That's not what everybody else thought...

Actually, it was.

 

[roadrunnerh]

just busting balls

 

[440 4 speed]

Sciatica!
Had a fellow come in complaint that all of a sudden his orthotics weren’t working as well. He did a lot of driving, so I said where do keep your wallet, reply was back pocket. I suggested he move it. Pain went away.
Another fellow came in complaining about pain, long term patient. Figured out he had been driving a full size van, changed to a mid size, caused different seat angle, he started driving with a cushion, that helped.
Patient had pain, added a 1/4 inch heel lift, pain went away.
I had an instructor, that was training me on the job. He was fully qualified in England, had passed the Cordwainers qualifications and had been an instructor at the college. Very prim and proper fellow. I worked with him for about 15 years until he retired.
So, a woman comes in with back pain. Charles used levelling blocks and and decided she had a leg length discrepancy of 3/8 inches. We made her a molded orthotic with the raise so she could transfer it from shoe to shoe.
Several months later she came in for an appointment. She wanted to come into the workshop, so the receptionist brought her. She was obviously pregnant, she rushed over and gave Charles a huge hug and kissed him on the cheek. He sure became flustered. Her husband was smiling ear to ear.she then said that they had been trying for a few years to conceive and had given up.
When she became pregnant her Doctor told her it was surely due to the orthotic helping to align her back. End of story, had a girl and I think two more.

 

[joe smith]

My youngest son died the fall of 2020 from long term drug use... He was 36.. Opioids and what ever else for close to 20 years....
What you don't read about is long term drug usage destroys your internal organs.. So even if you clean up, you are not going to shake the damage to your organs.... He was found dead lying on the floor of his apartment with his dog laying next to him.. Dr said his heart wore out....
You don't see many OLD druggies........

 

[themechanic]

My youngest son died the fall of 2020 from long term drug use... He was 36.. Opioids and what ever else for close to 20 years....
What you don't read about is long term drug usage destroys your internal organs.. So even if you clean up, you are not going to shake the damage to your organs.... He was found dead lying on the floor of his apartment with his dog laying next to him.. Dr said his heart wore out....
You don't see many OLD druggies........

I don't know about that. Most of us on this here forum are old former druggies.