A(nna) to Z(eke): February 2008

Sunday, February 17, 2008

In other news...

Anna tried to dress herself today. Of course, she used my t-shirt instead of a shirt of her own. That still counts, doesn't it?

Arron's back adventure (or how to make the most of a 3-day, President's Day weekend)

Arron has a bad back. He has for years. We recently found out just how bad it is...

After an MRI of his back showed that Arron had 3 herniated discs, he started down the road of physical therapy. It worked well, for a little while, but then he got worse.

He got so much worse that Anna and I ended up taking him to the emergency room because he was showing symptoms of spinal compression.

The ER doc wasn't convinced of our home diagnosis, but wanted him to stick around for at least the night. They got him settled into a room that night, and the next day (Valentine's day) we waiting to talk to a pain doctor about management until we could get Arron up to Chicago to talk with his specialist.

Side note: For the time being, they put Arron on a morphine pump. I learned two things about Arron that day: 1) He won't share his morphine and b) he's a lightweight.

The following morning (the pain doc never showed up on Valentine's day), Arron got up to brush his teeth. His legs suddenly became numb and weak, another symptom of spinal compression. The decision was made for surgery that afternoon.

Things went fine - one of Arron's herniated discs had ruptured, putting pressure on a nerve. Once the doctor went in and fished out all the goo, Arron was good to go.

While I don't have a picture of him getting wheeling into the OR, I do have one of his fresh scar!

Of course, you can't have back surgery without getting new gadgets for around the house! I've spent two days running around getting things that will help him survive at home without me. He should be all set now.