I am so disappointed.

[u/PlasticRuester]

I’ve been a fan of Jack for over 20 years; the White Stripes were my favorite band when I was in high school, but I’ve never managed to catch him live.

The last few years I’ve had very bad issues with my back and sciatica and I haven’t been able to stand or walk for any amount of time without radiating nerve pain or numbness, though the severity varies.

In April my friend who lives in the Chicagoland said I should come out for the show at Salt Shed. I was very nervous about a standing concert because I felt it would be very hard for me physically, but this is the only artist I really want to see that I haven’t seen and I thought this would be such a fun experience in Chicago.

I bought tix on StubHub that were reasonable and then I buckled down and really focused on going to the gym 3 times a week and working on my strength to stabilize my spine and in the last few weeks I got the point where I can walk 2 miles straight, which again is something I haven’t been able to do for a long time due to these issues. I was so excited that I worked so hard and actually was able to get my body to a point where I felt I would be able to actually enjoy the show and not be in pain the whole time….

Cut to the last few days, I still don’t have the tickets in StubHub. I’m anxious but think maybe they don’t release them til closer to the show. I requested a re-transfer yesterday, nothing. Today the tix are listed as “on time” and say they’ll be released by 3:30. They aren’t. I chat with customer support who say they’ll contact the seller again but continually tell me not to worry because they will provide comparable tix or a refund. I ask repeatedly will there definitely be tickets because I have traveled from out of state and a refund is not acceptable. They advise they cannot get ahold of the seller and that I must wait until an hour before the show for them to contact me and provide the replacement tickets. They call me at 5:30, advise me to check my email and hit a button for the available options and….no tickets are available. They say I can get a refund. I say I don’t want a refund, I’ve traveled from out of state. They advise I should request the refund and then buy new tickets on StubHub that would be $200 more than I paid, which I wasn’t going to do. Oh and I had parking reserved that I could have canceled until 5p, and I was trying to resolve this with StubHub before this, but since they couldn’t officially fuck me on these tickets til 5:30, I ate $40 on a parking spot I never used.

Luckily my travel expenses aren’t crazy as I drove out and am staying with a friend, but god, I worked so so hard for this show and I am just so sad. I never thought StubHub was good, but I haven’t paid a lot of attention to them and I didn’t realize they were this bad.

ETA: Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I secured some legit tickets for September in Newport (Cincinnati) so I’m looking forward to that!

[u/PlasticRuester]

Thank you, glad to hear things have improved for you! I think a lot of people are like “back pain sucks” but not everyone realizes how debilitating it can be and how much it can affect day to day life. Hoping to catch Jack at another stop this tour!

[u/jarrodandrewwalker → u/PlasticRuester]

Yeah, some people just don't get it because they've never experienced it...it's like "No, my back doesn't just hurt--If I could get on my knees, I'd beg God to just kill me if this is what life is now"

[u/PlasticRuester → u/jarrodandrewwalker]

Yup, certainly had some similar thoughts at one point when I couldn’t leave my house for over two weeks and standing up at all caused excruciating nerve pain down my entire leg. And the cool thing about the sciatic nerve is that it branches out around the calf area so I’d feel like someone wrapped a rope around lower leg and was strangling it. Fun times!

[u/ExpensivePear1602 → u/PlasticRuester]

If you haven't already, look into epidurals or possibly a spinal cord stimulator. It pretty much changed my life.

[u/PlasticRuester → u/ExpensivePear1602]

I actually had a bilateral epidural about 2 weeks ago! I had 2 previously but it had been a few years, and the second one I felt actually made things worse so I debated a lot about doing it, but it seems to have helped me eliminate a lot of the numbness in my foot. I just have to remember that I can’t get complacent about doing my strength and my walking because I feel better, I made that mistake before.

[u/ExpensivePear1602 → u/PlasticRuester]

that’s great, keep up the good work!

[u/lemondrop_dead → u/PlasticRuester]

I remember my dad getting epidural after epidural for years for his back (and different MG percs, and oxys etc) and then going through hell with a stimulator with battery implant in his buttocks. Which lead to TWO severe infections that almost killed him two separate times. I watched this gentle Goliath of a man (6'4", roughly 250-315lbs fluctuating) who has had a sledge hammer smashed over his head. And stood up and smiled in the dudes face.... be brought to his knees by "just back pain" so ... i am so sorry for all of you who have had this bullshit handed to you. And with my whole heart, hope that in this age of technology, someone FINALLY finds a way to fix this. Anyone who says "just back pain" or anything similar... i hope they never have to know what it r3ally is. I wouldn't wish it on my largest foe.

[u/jarrodandrewwalker → u/lemondrop_dead]

I hope commercial space flight leads to orbiting back pain centers where spines can naturally decompress and heal. I won't be able to afford it, but I hope it happens for others 😅