Today is my mom’s appointment, where it will be discussed what can be done about her back pain due to the compression fracture and three herniated discs that were discovered on her MRI earlier this month. Thanks for prayers.
Daughter-in-law will have an MRI on her knee the end of the month. It’s not good and she can’t imagine how she can have surgery with a very active three-year old; is resigned at the moment to a life of pain. Pray for wisdom, perhaps a miracle and insight into how to help her. I don’t know what to do. 😦
She and my dad (and my brother, who drove them to the appt.) met with a neurosurgeon today. He did not make any recommendations, only gave explanations of her situation and laid out options for further care.
The “compression fracture” is not really a fracture, but more of a compression or squishing of a vertebra, something that won’t ever return to its original shape. That, along with osteoporosis, stenosis (a thickening of the walls that carry the nerves along the spine is how my brother explained it), and the bulging discs are the biggest issues right now, but are apparently not that unusual for an elderly person.
(As an aside, it seems strange to think of my mom as elderly, as she is only 74, and looks quite a bit younger than that. Of course, the body still wears out, even if one looks young…) But, anyway…
Options include doing nothing (might be some improvement, but likely nothing significant); shots in the back (can temporarily relieve pain for some, but are not a long-term solution); or surgery (with a 1-3% chance of something bad happening — nerve damage, paralysis, infection, or, worst-case scenario, death, among the possibilities). Under normal circumstances, surgery would involve a 1-to-2-day hospital stay and recovery time of 6-8 weeks, with the first 4-7 days being painful. Probably some therapy, too.
This neurosurgeon has done over 10,000 of these surgeries, about 300-400 a year.
Pray for wisdom for my parents as they contemplate the next step.
And if you could pray for my dad — he was not able to finish mowing the lawn the last time he tried it, and now this is something else he realizes he has to give up. He is 85, and this is hard for him to have to keep giving up what he used to be able to do because he gets so out of breath with his heart issues.
Chas, it doesn’t seem at all silly. And I’ve seen it in my father-in-law. He has fought the edict that he cannot drive anymore.
I suspect it is harder in our culture, where age isn’t respected. Scripture speaks of the honor of the gray head if it is found in the way of wisdom; we in America have a hard time with that. It’s one reason I insisted I didn’t want to dye my hair–Scripture honors the gray head, but our culture does not. It may seem petty, and at best it is only symbolic, but I’d rather be on the side of Scripture.
Wandering Views 
One of my favorite psalms.
Today is my mom’s appointment, where it will be discussed what can be done about her back pain due to the compression fracture and three herniated discs that were discovered on her MRI earlier this month. Thanks for prayers.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Okay.
LikeLike
Daughter-in-law will have an MRI on her knee the end of the month. It’s not good and she can’t imagine how she can have surgery with a very active three-year old; is resigned at the moment to a life of pain. Pray for wisdom, perhaps a miracle and insight into how to help her. I don’t know what to do. 😦
LikeLiked by 2 people
Update on my mom’s appointment:
She and my dad (and my brother, who drove them to the appt.) met with a neurosurgeon today. He did not make any recommendations, only gave explanations of her situation and laid out options for further care.
The “compression fracture” is not really a fracture, but more of a compression or squishing of a vertebra, something that won’t ever return to its original shape. That, along with osteoporosis, stenosis (a thickening of the walls that carry the nerves along the spine is how my brother explained it), and the bulging discs are the biggest issues right now, but are apparently not that unusual for an elderly person.
(As an aside, it seems strange to think of my mom as elderly, as she is only 74, and looks quite a bit younger than that. Of course, the body still wears out, even if one looks young…) But, anyway…
Options include doing nothing (might be some improvement, but likely nothing significant); shots in the back (can temporarily relieve pain for some, but are not a long-term solution); or surgery (with a 1-3% chance of something bad happening — nerve damage, paralysis, infection, or, worst-case scenario, death, among the possibilities). Under normal circumstances, surgery would involve a 1-to-2-day hospital stay and recovery time of 6-8 weeks, with the first 4-7 days being painful. Probably some therapy, too.
This neurosurgeon has done over 10,000 of these surgeries, about 300-400 a year.
Pray for wisdom for my parents as they contemplate the next step.
LikeLiked by 2 people
And if you could pray for my dad — he was not able to finish mowing the lawn the last time he tried it, and now this is something else he realizes he has to give up. He is 85, and this is hard for him to have to keep giving up what he used to be able to do because he gets so out of breath with his heart issues.
Thanks.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I know how your dad feels.
It isn’t stubbornness, it isn’t pride.
“You’re not the man you used to be” hurts at every step.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Chas, on the other side, “you’re more the man you used to be” in other ways.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Maybe Cheryl, but no t in the man’s eyes.
It may seem silly to make an issue of minor things.
But you can’t give up.
If you give up, you go down fast.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Chas, it doesn’t seem at all silly. And I’ve seen it in my father-in-law. He has fought the edict that he cannot drive anymore.
I suspect it is harder in our culture, where age isn’t respected. Scripture speaks of the honor of the gray head if it is found in the way of wisdom; we in America have a hard time with that. It’s one reason I insisted I didn’t want to dye my hair–Scripture honors the gray head, but our culture does not. It may seem petty, and at best it is only symbolic, but I’d rather be on the side of Scripture.
LikeLike
My mom opted for surgery. She will call the doctor’s office tomorrow to set up an appointment.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Prayers needed. Whatever you think of to pray, pray. Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
praying for you in the night.
LikeLike