Mom update

I wrote about how my mother is the toughest person I've ever met. After undergoing a hellish spinal reconstruction surgery, she is going home early because she is recovering ahead of schedule. As my father said in an email, the doctor "thinks she is superwoman".

I've gotten questions from people about exactly what she had done. I'll do my best to explain. This was the fifth surgery on her cervical (neck) spine. It was actually two surgeries. Doctors wanted to do one, then let her recover and see if the second was even necessary. To me this sounds like they simply wanted to be able to bill the insurance company twice. My parents were able to convince them to do the whole thing at once.

Three of her past surgeries were done from the back and one from the front, through her throat. Because since this was really two procedures this time they had to go through the front and back.

Basically, my mother's spine is crumbling. In the past they would literally bolt the vertebrae together to stabilize them. More deterioration, more titanium "instrumentation" as the docs say. The spine is a complicated mechanism, however. It's meant to bend and act as a spring. The procedures she had done were state-of-the-art at the time but unfortunately they changed the dynamics of her spine. The "fix" created additional damage, in addition to the normal deterioration that would have happened anyway.

I'll let my father explain.

"This latest procedure was to correct the curvature of her spine, shave one her discs that was slightly tilted and reposition it and remove and replace all of the old instrumentation and replace it with newer and better material. So now the whole thing is about 6 or 7 inches long and has a rod the length of it to give it additional strength. Hopefully this will alleviate some of her pain and be the last one. Mom is home and doing well and getting plenty of rest."

Long story short: They took her neck apart and put it back together again.

I've received lots of nice comments and messages from people. Some said it was too bad I couldn't be there. Well, she was originally supposed to have the procedure in December, but purposely postponed it to after my return to Cambodia. She didn't want to be in the hospital during the holidays, especially with me home.

Needless to say I felt guilty. I certainly didn't want her to suffer more on my account! But she was feeling okay and in fine spirits while I was home. I questioned whether it was smart or safe to send her home early. My sister's response:

"Mom is unbelievable. The doctors went on and on to her and Dad about how strong and tough she is and remarkable. Everyone agreed it was better for her to be home because at the hospital they check vitals and all about every 2 hours and she needs sleep. She is well enough to move around on her own with Dad's help. You wouldn't believe it. I am so proud of her."

Kelly says she knows Mom is doing better because she wanted to talk about coupons :-)