Hello Everyone while I am not Batman, I am a Wounded Warrior who was recently retired from the Army. Almost eight years ago I was diagnosed with a benign giant cell tumor in my left femur it has reoccurred three more times for a total of four occurrences, two in my leg and once in my lung. I rediscovered woodworking after my deployment to Afghanistan while at the Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) at Fort Knox through small woodworking projects donated by the VA like breakfast trays, magazine racks, etc. Everything came pre-cut it required sanding, assembly, and staining. Once, I figured out how therapeutic woodworking was for me I moved onto a more significant project in creating three white oak aromatic red cedar insert blanket chests from my family. Using a Dewalt job site table saw, a Dewalt router and, a Bosch Router table I made them in a one car garage. Once this project was complete I was returned to duty and not even a month and a half later by tumor returned. After breaking my femur while sitting down reaching for my water bottle, an infection and a few hardware failures, I have had eleven total surgeries ten on my leg one on my lung half of my femur and my knee have been removed and replaced with an internal prosthetic femur and full knee replacement.

 

Once I am verified I can attach a shortened version of the medical imagery MRIs CTs Xrays as well as photo of part of the bone that was removed. One year ago today I was discharged from the ICU after receiving a five-day Ketamine infusion. During the previous six years except for the five months, I was deployed, I have been administered or prescribed just about every type of medical opiate (methadone and nucynta are the two exceptions). Morphine, Hydrocodone, Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, Tramadol which is nucynta's little brother), Fentanyl, and Buprenorphine (which is a sister of methadone). Before my last surgery, I attempted a slow taper starting at 150mg a day of Oxycodone by 10mg a week. This is like a living hell due to how long I have been on them. Every Thursday I would drop 10mg and every week I would go through withdrawals only to start feeling better by Tuesday and then have it start all over again. I was down to 60mg when I broke my hardware and had my last and eleventh surgery. My wife and I decided that six months after my last surgery enough was enough and we researched alternatives as going through withdrawals every week is not fun which is why I went in for a ketamine infusion. I came out on zero opiates and in less pain then when I was on painkillers. If you know someone who is struggling with opiates and they WANT to get off of them a ketamine infusion may be a viable alternative. Ketamine also has the benefit of resetting pain receptors that years of opiate medications create.

We are moving to the Northwoods of Minnesota from Southern Texas here shortly, and I will be able to set up a proper wood shop. Being in the military and having an allocation of so much weight per move having proper woodworking equipment was not an option. However, now that I am retiring I am able to set up shop and I will be asking for lots of advice and recommendations the first being what equipment to purchase. Once I am verified I will post a thread on my thoughts for my first machinery purchases, which I will have delivered to the new address. While I am not looking at setting up the shop until the spring as the honey to do list takes priority (I'm no dummy!) the holiday sales may allow me to purchase equipment before. I have a good idea, but we will see what more experienced woodworkers think based on my goals. 

 

I do have one question. Does Batman live in Bruce Wayne's basement or does Bruce Watne live in Batman's attic? 

11 minutes ago, Guest Batman said:

I do have one question. Does Batman live in Bruce Wayne's basement or does Bruce Watne live in Batman's attic? 

Wow, a couple of thoughts:

First and foremost: THANK YOU for your sacrifice and service. I can't emphasis that enough.

Second, WELCOME to the forum. We have a great group here, with a lot of veterans, and are always happy to see new faces.

Third, I sincerely wish you the best with your recovery(ies) and hope your situation improves.

Lastly, bring it on asking for help. We love helping other people spend money ()..seriously, you'll get a broad range of opinions here on, well, everything. But each of those opinions represent our personal experiences and are correct; even when they are in conflict.

 

One more thing: DID I SAY Welcome? Glad you're here.

welcome batman...

and thanks for your service...

Just now, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

We love helping other people spend money

don't we ever.....

Thank you, Batman. And a hearty welcome. 

There are at least four of us here who might suggest looking at a Shopsmith. A used one wouldn't break the bank and, would make a lot of separate purchases unnecessary.  

 

Just ignore that SS remark they are gone nuts lately. Welcome aboard and thank you for your service

45 minutes ago, Gerald said:

Just ignore that SS remark they are gone nuts lately. Welcome aboard and thank you for your service

Lately???

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome! Amazes me how the woodworking community comes together! I posted my noob new shop help here. Hopefully I am headed in the right direction! As promised here is my medical imagery starting in February of 2011 when my tumor was found. 

Welcome Batman, and thank you for your years of service and sacrifices.

 

I'll check out your noob shop post and see what your thoughts in that direction are.

 Welcome Batman, glad you made it to the site.

Welcome to the forums and thank you for your service.  don't forget while looking for equipment to check out your local Habitat Restore; they often sell all kinds of tools and building materials (in addition to hardware, furniture, cabinets, etc.). 

Welcome.  Look forward to your participation.

Welcome aboard Batman, and thank you for your service & sacrifice.

Belated welcome & Thank-you for your service @Batman. Great introduction! Glad you found us. Jump in and have fun.

Welcome to the fun!