Surgery ?

We met with the Dr. who showed us the MRI. All the discs except the second one from the bottom are sharp and crisp, just as they should be. But the second disc is fuzzy mush. Even to the untrained eye it is obvious that it is not right.

The doctor says his disc has degenerated a lot from last year when Richard first went to see him. He gave him three options; to do nothing, have a series of ESIs (Epidural Steroid Injection) to reduce the inflammation and help with the pain, and/or do surgery. Dr. Powell said he can do a minimally invasive procedure to fix the disc.

Obviously, doing nothing, is not the answer. He's to go in for his first ESI this morning and wants the surgery for a permanent fix. Richard told him he doesn't want to come back every six months to a year for injections and have to baby his back in between. If there's a fix he wants it done. And he wants it done while we've still got company insurance. So, depending on how many injections, how often (once a week or every two weeks depending on the relief he gets) and when the doctor can get approval from the insurance company he's looking at surgery, probably, after the first of the year.

Ain't it fun getting old? Not...

After our move this weekend Richard was still moving gingerly and had planned on going to work today. That it, he was until he took a shower to get ready. He almost couldn't get out of the shower. He is in a lot of pain, the worst he's ever been.

I made him call the doctor and he was worked in this morning. The doctor took X-rays and saw that his disk looked worse than last time (about a year ago) and wanted him get an MRI, too. Fortunately, they had an opening after lunch so we went and got a bite to eat & then came back for that. He is scheduled to go back to the doctor on Thursday to review the results.

Moving Day

After some discussion Richard & I decided we needed to move closer to Dayna's family to help out with the grandkids while she's gone each month. We are packing up this weekend and will move tomorrow. Our month is up here on Monday so it's a good time to move. Richard is still moving very slow because of his back so I have done more than I usually do outside to get ready. Chris came and helped us move some big things to our storage unit.

We were going to move today but when we went to make arrangements at the new place an overnighter has pulled into the spot we want. They will be there through tonight. So best laid plans and all that.