Medical month

Richard went into see his primary physician last week. He started injectable insulin about 6 weeks ago and needed a follow-up to make sure everything is going well. It is. So we asked about finally being evaluated by a neuro-surgeon for correcting two ruptured cervical (neck) discs.
It has been almost 10 years since he ruptured those discs.

At the time, Richard injured himself, he also was diagnosed with a ruptured diverticula that had formed an abdominal abscess (peritonitis). He ended up having about 30 inches of his colon removed. There have since been several other surgeries, two of them related to the same infection. In addition, he was put on oxygen, had to start taking increasing doses of oral medication for diabetes which led to a lot of weight gain. So until now they have avoided doing anything about the cervical discs, other than to prescribe heavy duty pain meds. These have taken there own toll and we would very much like to eliminate, or at least be able to cut back on them.

Now that his blood glucose has stabilized, he has lost a substantial weight, and he no longer needs oxygen, we are jumping on the potential opportunity for this surgery. Richard saw his hematologist today (he also has a chronic problem with low iron). Seems the leg cramps he has been having are related to that situation. So now that his iron level is below 50, he is scheduled for two infusions, Sept. 3 and Sept. 10. He also has an appointment tomorrow for an open MRI of his neck. After that, he will be seeing the neuro-surgeon.

I anticipate cervical disc surgery some time in October. But I will let you know. This has been a long time coming. Please pray that all comes together and that he will have the surgery he needs, it is successful, and that he recovers completely and quickly.