Mary9761, How's your back?

[Mr. Bloom]

Mary, what's the latest. My sciatica flared the other day and had me thinkin' of you?

[mary9761]

How thoughtful of you to ask Mr Silver. I am having good days and bad days yet, luckily not as excruciating as previous so I'm not taking AS much pain meds, but I am still waiting to get a referral to see the neurosurgeon. I know that on days I'm more active (ie having to go to appts, store, etc) I have more pain. I have taken out my cane again for when I need to do a LOT of walking and if I need to go out, I take at least the diazepam to try to head off the pain before it gets too bad.
I'm sorry to just be getting back to you. We have had quite the eventful and HELLISH end and beginning to the old and new year. Our CD Rom drive broke on the 30th so we had to replace it. We decided to go ahead and upgrade to a CD-RW drive so I could burn some of the photos off of our hard drive. We also decided to upgrade from Windows 98 to XP as all of our browsers and programs were crashing and we couldn't get any updates for Win98 anymore. In the process of upgrading to XP, we found out that our modem wasn't compatible with XP (nothing can be simple eh?) It was New Year's Eve by now and no time to get a new modem and have my father install it. Because of my leg and back problem, I was told about, but not invited to my son's New Year's Eve party, because he was concerned if I got uncomfortable there wouldn't be anyone sober enough to bring me home. We had a boring New Year's Eve NOT being able to get online and FIENDING for an internet fix. I had a night I couldn't sleep so it was nearly 4:30 before I could fall asleep.
I slept in on New Year's morning only to be awoken by a phone call I couldn't get to fast enough from my mother. My mom said that my 93 year old Grandmother had gotten up and was trying to get back into bed (they just recently got her moved into THEIR house just in time it appears) when she missed the bed and had fallen. Dad couldn't get her up and they rushed her to the hospital. Well of course I panicked and tried to get ahold of my son, sister etc at my son's apartment to tell them and NO ONE answered the phone. I tried to hit redial and got my sister whom my husband had called. I couldn't reach my mom, then finally looked up the number for the hospital and got put through to my Grandmother's room. They were going to keep her over night but they couldn't see any significant injuries.
Mom and Dad needed to stay at the hospital with Grandmother so we didn't have the opportunity to put the modem in. Grandma came home and since my Mom was already watching my Grandsons because I'm unable to yet, Dad obviously needed to stay home to help. Grandma continued to complain of pain and arrangements were finally made to have a physical therapist come to show Mom and Dad how to help Grandma do exercises to help her move her left leg (she'd complained of not being able to move it right while at the hospital BEFORE being sent home). The day following the visit from the therapist, Dad located a therapy belt like had been used the day before. As that day continued, Grandmother BEGGED for pain medication, she's never asked for more than an ibuprophen before and she wailed in pain. They contacted her doctor and said they were taking her BACK to the hospital, but it WOULDN'T be where she had gone before. This was Friday by now and nerves were raw and they called the ambulance again to take her to a DIFFERENT hospital. The doctors in the ER ran a CT scan and found a hairline fracture in her hip.
She finally had surgery on Saturday and when they gave her the morphine, she went balistic on them all. She was hallucinating (she has macular degeneration so she's mostly blind) and it broke my heart to hear they had to put her in a vest and tie her to the bed just to get her to surgery. She made it through surgery with very little blood loss and in remarkable (PHYSICAL) shape for someone who turned 94 on Sunday. My sister and I went to visit while Mom and Dad took a break and he came over and installed our new modem. We're still having software issues, but trying to work through it. Can't find my original Norton installation disc from a hundred years ago and evidently it's not recognizing that I just upgraded last year to 98 since we now have XP too. It was rough seeing Grandmother in the shape she was Sunday when we went to see her and wish her a happy birthday. She was still in restraints as she was still also hallucinating (seeing her deceased family members etc) and we just basically agreed with her for the most part, but it was heart breaking every time we had to tell her we couldn't take the restraints off. We told her we were more afraid of her doctor than of her and tried to laugh, but it was just heartbreaking. Dad says she is doing better today and they have been getting her out of the bed a bit more, but she will need to be going into an extended care facility (read nursing home) for a short time after she's released since she will need near constant medical care that Mom and Dad won't be able to give her. It has been a long and Hellish week and I'm just glad to be able to get back online and have some sort of lifeline to the outside world, and something to keep my mind occupied on more than just constant worry over Grandmother.
Thank you again for asking about me. It means a LOT to know that I was missed and I missed everyone while I was unable to get online.
Mary

[Bad JuJu]

Mary! So good to finally hear from you--we've all been wondering where you were (note the "Anybody know where Mary9761 is" thread.) All I can say about your recent difficult family and computer problems is...holy mackerel, you poor thing! I know how it can be taking care of ailing, aging parents, and it sounds like you guys are doing everything you can and handling it together, which is the best way you can handle it. You're fortunate to have your family all around you--that helps. And it sounds like things are on the upswing for you and your family.

But I'm sorry your back is still giving you trouble and you haven't been able to bicycle for such a long while. I've been having a surge in back pain as well, though it's nothing like what yours sounds like. Here's hoping for better things in the new year! Glad you're back online and with us!

[colby]

Wow Mary, for someone in as much pain as you are, you've sure been busy!!

Take care of yourself. Sounds like you've got a full plate as it is.

[pooks]

Mary, I'm so very sorry for your grandmother and your famiy. We're dealing with issues with a 92-year-old family member, and it's so difficult for the very-elderly and for those who love them when they have these difficulties.

But don't forget to take care of yourself.

[LBTC]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Mary}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

As Pooks says, don't forget to take care of yourself. You don't have to wear the cape 24/7, but I know your grandmother and family appreciate it.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Mary, good to see you back here too, there are messages at BJ for you too.
Hugs