back surgery.” Some setters use Percocet for severe pain, and have had some success with medical marijuana or CBD oil, sometimes in combina- tion with yoga and stretching. Prayer Daniel J. Picard of Picard and Sons Tile in West Warwick, R.I., and his uncle Gary Picard of Picard Tile in Fairhaven, Mass., both advocate prayer. Daniel said, “Prayer brother. I’m 35 and had both my hips replaced and I’m in pain every day. So I live on prayer and ibuprofen.” As a final word, Nick Aldama of Veneziano Tile & Stone in Santa Rosa, Calif., advises some preven- tative medicine: invest in good helpers. “I have two bulged discs pinching two nerves that run from my back to my toes. It shoots into my knees, as well as early onset degenerative disc disease from L5 to S1. I’m only 34.” Aldama also suffered from a collapsed lung twice last July and a 10mm kidney stone. “I wake up in pain every day and push through,” he said. “They tried to give me pain meds but I can’t work on them. My dad taught me tile at a young age, but I had to give it a break for a while.” And Jon Donmoyer, owner of JD Tile in Annville, Pa., who’s deal- ing with knee issues and scoping sur- gery to rem- edy it, is tak- ing the long view. “Get help – you have to think of the rest of your life. When your body is talking – listen. Your health should come first.” Dan Chamberlain was wowed by all the responses to his query. “I didn’t think that there would be so many going through the same issues,” he said. “I have already been doing the massage thera- py, chiropractor and a little acu- puncture.” He admitted he already drinks a lot of water, and will look into the supplements mentioned. HOT TOPICS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Certified TileInstaller WANTTOBETHEBEST? TheCertifiedTileInstaller (CTI)programistheonly third-partyassessmentofa tileinstallationprofessional’s skillandknowledgethatis recognizedbythetileindustry. Visitourwebsiteandputyourself abovethecompetition. GETCERTIFIED! 864-222-2131 info@ceramictilefoundation.org www.ceramictilefoundation.org 86 TileLetter | February 2019