Once More With Feeling

Well, we got Dad home for a few days but last Monday he started having difficulty walking.  By Tuesday morning, his legs would completely give out on him.  We called the neurologist and he sent us to the ER.  They were waiting on us when we got there and took him in for an MRI...then a chest x-ray...then a brain scan...

And then we waited for a few minutes...

Then the orderly came in, very busily getting things done and made the comment "we're getting this one ready for the OR"

WHAT?!?

Mom and I thought he was in the wrong room.

Then, Dr. N came in.

Though the first surgery was successful, it wasn't enough.  Dad was going for a second surgery, same thing but from the pack of the neck.

My Dad asked "so when are we doing this?"

Dr. N said "right now".

My poor mom and I just looked at each other thinking there is no way this nightmare is happening. He was already in so much pain and having so much trouble getting around, we could not imagine how he was going to be after a second surgery.

Many hours later, we found ourselves back in the Neuro ICU but we could already tell something was different.  By that night, Dad was feeling better.


After another five days in the hospital, we're back home again.  It's still a bit rough.  He's weening off the steroids now which is making the pain come back and making him dizzy so walking even with a walker is an adventure.  So, I'm sticking close... just in case.

And so is Shelby...

Hiding Out at Home

It was rough going in the hospital but Dad got to come home on Friday.  I got to drive him home because he can get in and out of the BAL (Big A$$ Lexus) easiest.  Mom went to the pharmacy so I was on my own to get him in the house...a little daunting for many reasons.

We made it home with no problems.  I asked him to wait in the car while I got the front door open.  Next thing I know he's out of the car and decided he's going to take his "walk".  (The doc wants him to walk, you know...on flat ground with now obstructions for about 20 feet.)  Dad decides he's going to the mail box...about 70 feet away...by himself.

Did I mention he's a little hard-headed?

So I run to get the door open...then I run to catch up with him.  He makes it to the mailbox and about 10 feet back towards the house before  the power slump happens.  If you've ever had surgery, you know that feeling...something that usually takes no effort at all suddenly becomes impossible.  It took a while to make it back to the house but we did.

We're figuring out our new routine, our new ways of doing everyday things...like taking a shower, getting in the bed, eating.  Mostly, I'm sitting at the kitchen table working on the computer and being quiet while he catches cat naps in the recliner five feet away from me and doing whatever he wants when he's awake - feeding him pureed soups, checking his blood sugar, feeding him drugs, putting a new movie in the DVD.  The only one keeping a closer eye one him right now is Shelby...she's a great little nurse's aide.

Pains in the Neck

Well...not really.  It was actually the lack of pain in the neck that clued them in to the real issue.  For quite some time, my Dad has experienced numbness in his arm and hand and had difficulty walking a straight line.  (No alcohol involved...he just wobbled.)  Finally, someone decided to look at his neck.  What they found was cervical stenosis with underlying myelopathy which means his spinal canal was narrowed and was squishing his spinal cord.  (yeah...I had to look it up.)

It can develop over time - lots of hard miles - did I mention my Dad is 70 and has had a hammer or saw in his hand since he was about 12?

It's also congenital - not the best news I've heard all day but then again, I've been a princess most of my life and though I've worked in construction since I was about 12 also, I mostly worked a paint brush and a broom.  My brother, on the other hand...REALLY not good news for him since he, too, has wielded a hammer since an early age.

Back to Dad...

So...what to do...well, you find Frankenstein or the best neurosurgeon you can find and put him to work to do anterior cervical discetomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery which means they take out the angry little disks between the vertebrae and put cadaver bone in their place...then they screw a metal plate into the vertebrae to hold the cadaver bone in place.  Over time, the bone will grow over the plate and the whole thing is fused together.  (yeah...I had to look that up too.)  Dad had four disks replaced like this poor soul here...

So that's what we did yesterday.

It was scary.  My dad is 70 and a diabetic who doesn't follow the rules.

The good news is the surgery went well and he is on the road to recovery.

The bad news is my dad is not a good patient.  He'll be on a really soft diet for a while and will be in a hard neck brace for at least three weeks, then a soft brace for another three weeks.  He's grouchy on a good day and we're in for some bad days.

But you know what...as long as he's still here, it's a good day in my book.

Tis the Season

...that tries to kill me every year.

I love fall.  I really do.  Really.

but...

everything happens at one time...and then I get sick...goldenrod hates me.

So in the midst of preparing for my first NCQSI Board of Directors meeting as the new president this weekend, and planning for an art sale next week and getting ready to have a booth at the Davie County Quilt Guild Quilt Show next weekend, plus some really big goings on at Sew Sisters...  I am puny.  So most three days last week was spent in the bed or in my big comfy chair nursing several concoctions that would allegedly cure me including:

hot cinnamon tea
a cinnamon and honey paste
a shot of Southern Comfort and honey (which is about half a shot more than I can handle without slurring and giggling)
chicken soup
sick tea a la Starbucks
egg drop soup (thank you again, Bonnie!)

All that, lots of encouragement from friends online and Shelby keeping me company got me through the worst of it. 

I made it through the retreat and back home and though I'm not 100%, I'm 200 times better than a few days ago.

...which is good because this week is gonna be nuts...