update on doug

Thursday, 10.23
Doug's appt. with the neurosurgeon had good/bad news. Much to my & his dismay, he has to wear the brace another THREE weeks. He wants to be sure Doug's spine & neck are "stable". He did have small fractures in his neck. At his next appt. he'll take more x-rays in different positions to see if his neck is in the right place. If yes, he's done with the brace. If no, surgery looms. He told Doug that this type of injury is VERY slow to heal and that it's not unusual for the pain to be so long-lasting. It sounds like this will be a long process, but I didn't ask how long as I'm sure the x-rays next time will give us more of an idea. Doug talked him into trying to get off the Percocet so we'll see if the less potent pills work. The good news is that he gets to wear a soft collar to bed now - which means more comfort for him and more sleep for me as I'm sure it'll be less snoring. Hurrah!!

He's allowed to try to work two hours/day at work, and he said to try driving with the brace on using his body to turn. The bad news is that he no longer has a car. I was driving to work (rural town an hour away) and was on a 2 lane hwy this morning. I was thinking about how I hate driving in the dark & sure enough a buck jumped out and I hit him. I did drive the Prius home, but my coworkers think the frame is bent.

His pain is getting more manageable, but he's very sore from the car ride today. I doubt that the work experiment will be doable but I guess it's worth a try if he'd like to. He's going to try to go to a wedding with me tomorrow night.

Thanks for the good thoughts & prayers (keep 'em coming!)

Mary