Poke Me With a Fork- I'm Done
Many of you may wonder what has happened to my blog and let me just say that I am still here, but barely. On Jan. 8, I had to call an ambulance for my husband as he was unable to walk, sit, move on his own at all. He had complained that his hip hurt on the previous day, but nothing to make me believe that it was bad.
We went to the emergency room where he stayed most of that day. They done an x-ray of his hip and found nothing wrong there. After hours of waiting, they finally decided to admit him to do an MRI the next day. Pain meds were not aiding at all with the pain and obviously, they had no clue as to what was wrong. We were there from 11 a.m until after 6 p.m. when they decided to admit him.
We spent three days there and never really seen a doctor or got any answers. His A1C was high and they were super concerned about it, but not the pain that he was having. He was in such excruciating pain and even the morphine pump was not really helping other than he was sleeping most of the time. After a couple of visits from therapy, they decided that he was able to go home. Still with no real answers ( a NP stated that he had some layers of issues in his lower back that was causing pain), they discharged him.
The following day he was still unable to walk and still complaining that his hip and leg was hurting extremely bad. By 8 p.m. that night he decided that it felt like the left side was beginning to hurt and he absolutely could not stand the pain in his leg any longer, so back to the ER we go, but a different one this time. Unsatisfied with the first and closer hospital, we made a trip and drove an hour to another one. Within 45 minutes, the ER doctor had gotten the results of his MRI from the first hospital and told us that he had several severe issues going on, the main one being pinched nerves, and that he should be seen with their spine triage center doctors as soon as possible. He sent us home with new meds and said their spine center would call with an appointment. They did - the very next morning!
We seen the doctor at the Spine Triage Center and was informed that there was some very serious issues going on. He had disc degeneration, spinal stenosis, pinched nerves, muscle weakness, herniated discs, and most of it was just wear and tear of daily work and life. He suggested that he do therapy and follow up with him. Therapy was scheduled for the following week. He gave him Gabapentin, which is a nerve medication and sent us home.
That was Friday afternoon, on Sunday my husband informs me that he is having problems lifting his foot off the floor. I said that we would mention it to the therapist and I would call the doctor. The trip to therapy was a total waste really as they would not work with him at all as they were afraid that they might damage him more and said that we should speak with the spine doctor again about the foot. I called and once again, we were seen the next day.
I took the MRI results and image disk to him and within 10 minutes, he came in to tell us that he believed that my husband needed to see a neurosurgeon and he called the one in his building and explained our situation. We were immediately rushed to his office and there we actually got to see that a nerve was most certainly pinched and that he was concerned about permanent damage if it was not operated on. So plans were made. We went through days of pre-op appointments due to his blood sugar being high ( from the poor diet we had been having due to holidays and the fudge he had eaten) and the fact that he is a smoker. Finally, surgery was okayed and we were just a few days from the date.
Now, my husband does not like to go to the doctor and certainly has never had surgery so you can be that he was nervous. When he was wheeled away to go to surgery, I was sure I would hear them calling me to tell me that he was being an unreasonable patient, but he did fine. Surgery went well and he is two weeks post surgical today. Walking is still difficult and he is still in some pain, but I think that he is on the road to recovery. We see the surgeon tomorrow and I am anxious to say what he says about his recovery!
On top of all of this, I have been sick and my mother in law went into the hospital with pneumonia and has since been sent to a rehab and I now have my father in law, who lives next door, to help with as he does not drive or read. Needless to say, I have my hands full. Plus, I need to figure out a way to go to work since my Pink Zebra business is not going well. UGH!
We went to the emergency room where he stayed most of that day. They done an x-ray of his hip and found nothing wrong there. After hours of waiting, they finally decided to admit him to do an MRI the next day. Pain meds were not aiding at all with the pain and obviously, they had no clue as to what was wrong. We were there from 11 a.m until after 6 p.m. when they decided to admit him.
We spent three days there and never really seen a doctor or got any answers. His A1C was high and they were super concerned about it, but not the pain that he was having. He was in such excruciating pain and even the morphine pump was not really helping other than he was sleeping most of the time. After a couple of visits from therapy, they decided that he was able to go home. Still with no real answers ( a NP stated that he had some layers of issues in his lower back that was causing pain), they discharged him.
The following day he was still unable to walk and still complaining that his hip and leg was hurting extremely bad. By 8 p.m. that night he decided that it felt like the left side was beginning to hurt and he absolutely could not stand the pain in his leg any longer, so back to the ER we go, but a different one this time. Unsatisfied with the first and closer hospital, we made a trip and drove an hour to another one. Within 45 minutes, the ER doctor had gotten the results of his MRI from the first hospital and told us that he had several severe issues going on, the main one being pinched nerves, and that he should be seen with their spine triage center doctors as soon as possible. He sent us home with new meds and said their spine center would call with an appointment. They did - the very next morning!
We seen the doctor at the Spine Triage Center and was informed that there was some very serious issues going on. He had disc degeneration, spinal stenosis, pinched nerves, muscle weakness, herniated discs, and most of it was just wear and tear of daily work and life. He suggested that he do therapy and follow up with him. Therapy was scheduled for the following week. He gave him Gabapentin, which is a nerve medication and sent us home.
That was Friday afternoon, on Sunday my husband informs me that he is having problems lifting his foot off the floor. I said that we would mention it to the therapist and I would call the doctor. The trip to therapy was a total waste really as they would not work with him at all as they were afraid that they might damage him more and said that we should speak with the spine doctor again about the foot. I called and once again, we were seen the next day.
I took the MRI results and image disk to him and within 10 minutes, he came in to tell us that he believed that my husband needed to see a neurosurgeon and he called the one in his building and explained our situation. We were immediately rushed to his office and there we actually got to see that a nerve was most certainly pinched and that he was concerned about permanent damage if it was not operated on. So plans were made. We went through days of pre-op appointments due to his blood sugar being high ( from the poor diet we had been having due to holidays and the fudge he had eaten) and the fact that he is a smoker. Finally, surgery was okayed and we were just a few days from the date.
Now, my husband does not like to go to the doctor and certainly has never had surgery so you can be that he was nervous. When he was wheeled away to go to surgery, I was sure I would hear them calling me to tell me that he was being an unreasonable patient, but he did fine. Surgery went well and he is two weeks post surgical today. Walking is still difficult and he is still in some pain, but I think that he is on the road to recovery. We see the surgeon tomorrow and I am anxious to say what he says about his recovery!
On top of all of this, I have been sick and my mother in law went into the hospital with pneumonia and has since been sent to a rehab and I now have my father in law, who lives next door, to help with as he does not drive or read. Needless to say, I have my hands full. Plus, I need to figure out a way to go to work since my Pink Zebra business is not going well. UGH!
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