I want to introduce myself.

Dear Woodworking friends,

I have bean already a couple off mounts on you great forum, therefore I found it decent to introduce myself
I'm Henrie Schumacher from the Netherlands, I'm 46 years old, I'm married whit a lovely wife and I have 3 great kids.
I ‘am/was also a great lover off woodworking, when I came back from my work ( police officer ) I loved to work in my little barn/shop.
But 8 years ago it was going wrong, by chasing a criminal at my work I got a accident and my live was over.
In the last 9 years I bin operated for 8 times and I have done a lot off rehabilitation but nothing seems to help.
Till I came to one off the best orthopedics doctors in our country and he told me that I hat a serious way off
posttraumatic dystrophy, that was the thing where we so afraid for, because we now there is no cure for this sickness.
There are no medical possibilities more at this time and I lying now most off the day on my bed. I use a lot off painkillers,
among other things, a lot off Morphine, but that brings not any pain reduction.
This story is not to be pitiful, only to let you now my story and let you now who I' am.
Because the great woodworking websites in the US en Australia and of course this website I want and I must do some woodworking.
I want to try, in my wheelchair, to do some woodworking, I'm getting crazy on my bed and I see all those great things people make.
In Holland we don't have surge a great woodworking community as you have in the US and Australian, you have great magazines
about woodworking and beautiful woodworking shops only all for those things I want to emigrate to your country :-).
I have now a subscription on two woodworking magazines, Fine woodworking and popular woodworking.
You have a great woodworking community and I have contact whit several woodworkers.
I throw away most off my hand tools when I heart that I hat this illness, because the pain and the grief and now I'm saving for
new tools, and that is not easy when you don’t have a job anymore.

Greetings from the Netherlands and hope I can learn a lot from you guys.
I hope that can make something off my letter, my English is not very good.

Henrie alias Schummie.

Hallo Henrie, hartelijk welkom, sorry Aussies, and Americans, saying my welcome in Dutch to a fellow countryman.
Henrie, you going through a lot of nasty things, as I could read in your story.
Don't let you put down my friend, for that life is to beautiful.
I think that you take a wise decision with register yourself to this forum, because this is the best excisting forum.
Woodworking is a very good therapy, so pick up again your woodwork.
Don't hasitate to show us some of your work, we all like pictures.

Ad, Bergen op Zoom

Hallo Ad,

thanks for your kinds words. Nice to see that there is also a fellow countryman
on this great forum.
Yes, life is beautiful, but I can tell you that my life is truly not beautiful. I wish it was.
If you must life whit pain, 24 hours a day, day in day out and you have no sight on recovery, than is it difficult.
I'm hoping that I can save enough money to buy some hand tools, that I can try to do some woodworking again.
There was even a fund raising for me, a American friend arranged the fund raising on several American forums.
But unfortunately the fund raising was not really a success, we got 5 donations.
You can see the announcement on the this website, see here

Thanks again for your welcome.

Greetings Schummie.

Hi Henrie...and welcome!

I would like you to know that I'm sympathetheic with your situation as I have been through something similar, as I'm sure others have also. In September of 2001 I had a failed back surgery which effectively put an end to my woodworking activities! The doctor then put me on pain killers, oxycontin and fentanyl which really didn't stop the pain but did make me groggy continuously and was sleeping on the average of 16 hours daily. I remained on the narcotics until 2 years ago when it was suggested that I check out an implant called a neuro-stimulator...I did just that and thank God I did so...it has enabled me to live life again. The implant has blocked at least 85 - 90% of the pain and now that I'm no longer on the medications, life is worth living again.

I urge you to check out the device with your doctor...in the meantime here is the website address for the neurostimulator implant manufacturer here in the U.S. http://www.ans-medical.com/

Please don't hesitate to contact me by PM if you have any questions about the implant procedure....and, once again welcome!

Cheers,

Ed :D

Hello Ed,

thanks you for your response.
I hat already a neuro-stimulator, after 3 years, but unfortunately he didn't work by me.
I hat also the operation and the wires in your back, but after 2 weeks the have removed the stimulator.
After 2 days I was lying again in the hospital, I hat a infection in the wound from the stimulator.
I have been in the hospital for 2 weeks. They find the infection after 10 days, the infection was almost in my backbone.
I don't have to say what you get when you got a infection in your backbone.
I can tell you that the done everything what was possible, I have used numerous medicines, treatments and rehabilitations.
I hat also contact whit a American pain doctor and told him what happened whit me
and what the done to me and he said that they do everything what was possible.
I have also used the medicines you have used, but nothing wants ti help.
I use now daily about 175mg Morphine.

Thank you very mutts for you message.

Schummie.

:(( Does it happens here more that your message not will be placed on the forum?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Schummie

Hallo Ad,

thanks for your kinds words. Nice to see that there is also a fellow countryman
on this great forum.
Yes, life is beautiful, but I can tell you that my life is truly not beautiful. I wish it was.
If you must life whit pain, 24 hours a day, day in day out and you have no sight on recovery, than is it difficult.
I'm hoping that I can save enough money to buy some hand tools, that I can try to do some woodworking again.
There was even a fund raising for me, a American friend arranged the fund raising on several American forums.
But unfortunately the fund raising was not really a success, we got 5 donations.
You can see the announcement on the this website, see here

Thanks again for your welcome.

Greetings Schummie.

---

Henrie, I fully understand your situation. Don't know what kind of hand tools you are looking for, if I can I would like it to give you a helping hand.
Sometimes I visit a dumpshop here in my town, and sometimes they have woodworking tools.
Where do you live in Holland?

Ad

I life in Alblasserdam, between Dordrecht en Rotterdam en nearby the windmills
from the Kinderdijk.
It is very nice from you that you want to help.

Greetings Schummie.

Hi Schumie, sorry to hear of all your woes. Hopefully we daft buggers on this forum, and some woodwork can distract you from them for a short while. If it is had for you to work with some tools, maybe you could design things that others could make, or partly make for you to finish or put together. Collaboration is a great way to go, and it also requires talking to others so is much more fun than sitting in bed all day watching TV. Hopefully we can help a little. :cool:

My dad is dutch, but I only know swear wards that he said never to say at school, where I there were dutch nuns. I don't know what they meant.:rolleyes: Because he had no other dutch people to talk to he never spoke it until his mother came to visit. Are all dutch grandmothers that scary? :D There is a big dutch community around the Dandenongs in Victoria. We even have a tulip festival and there is a windmill that you can look at if you get homesick.:2tsup: You can also buy enormous jars of rollmops in the dutch super market, so if you do come over we can make you feel right at home.:D

Hello Anne-Maria,

very nice name by the way.
Thank you very mutts for your nice e-mail.
It is not the problem that I can't work whit handtools, my hands are well pain full, but not so much as my leg,
but the problems is that I don't have any handtools anymore, but I'm saving.
It is for me a great dream to go woodworking again. For just a couple off minutes forget the terrible pains.
I deed have also design things, I have made websites, advertisements and that sort off things.

You much have a great dad or not. I didn't now that there is a dutch community, dutch
people can go from home, than the missing there "drop" and "hagelslag"
But I can understand that a lot off Dutchman go to Australia, I find it a beautifully country,
I hope that I can one day visit your country.

Anne-Maria, thanks again for your kind word.

Greetings Schummie.