An injury

***just one thing before starting this post.  I just got my refund check in the mail from our screwed up IVF.  Some of you had asked so I wanted to update on that!  It was about damn time***

So last Thursday Lonnie called me from work and said that he got a cramp in his hip during a biopsy and it just would not let up.  When he got home that night it was still bothering him so I helped him stretch it out for an hour.  This was actually pretty comical because neither one of us are flexible at all. 

Friday.  He goes to work and has a horrible day.  He was in pain all day and could barely stand up.  He had to take some breaks during cases {unheard of} and even tried bringing in stools and chairs to help take some of the weight off of his leg while working.  {Obviously he stands up all day doing cases}  

Friday evening he comes home and he looks rough.  He has been dealing with severe pain all day and he said the day was a blur.  He went directly to the couch and fell asleep until the next morning.  

Then our whirlwind weekend happened.  What I didn't mention in that post is that Lonnie was in bed or on the couch from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.  The pain got a lot better but he noticed that his leg was weak.  For example, he could not lift it as high as he wanted.  {Think if you were trying to march...he couldn't bring his knee up very high}  He also noticed that the medial part of his calf was numb.  We both started thinking maybe this was an issue with his back and not his hip.  

We both went to softball practice Sunday afternoon.  He was feeling better and said he was in no pain.  He is not the type to complain about every little ache {like I do!} so I know he was in some pain but he didn't say that.  He didn't do much at practice but it was obvious that his leg wasn't working right.  He was favoring it more than he had been.  

He went to work on Monday and had an "okay" day.  He said he wasn't in pain {lies} and that the weakness wasn't getting worse.  The problem is that it wasn't getting better.  I told him to get an MRI.  He said that wasn't necessary.  When he came home Monday he went straight to the couch again and didn't get up. 

Finally, on Tuesday morning he decided that he should go ahead and get that MRI.  {may have been my nagging} So yesterday after work, he did.  

Here is a normal MRI of the lumbar spine.  I added some text just to show you the discs and the spinal canal....basic stuff...I am no radiologist!  

image via

And here is a snapshot of Lonnie's MRI.  Sorry for the terrible quality...it is a picture of the computer screen.  

So here is what that picture means.  He has a severely herniated disc with a fragment of the disc causing severe spinal stenosis.  Lonnie looked at the MRI himself and also had the neuroradiologist in his group look at it.  Both agreed that it may require surgery.  Not good.  Need to talk to a neurosurgeon.  

Yesterday.  Wednesday.  He talked talked to the neurosurgeon.  He suggested getting an epidur.al stero.id injection pronto and then resting until Monday.  He said that if his leg weakness wasn't better by Monday then he will need surgery next week to fix it.  If you don't fix it soon enough then the damage could be permanent.  {As of right now he can't walk without a limp and feels like his leg may buckle every time he takes a step}

So that is where we are now.  Of course he couldn't get the epi.dural stero.id injection yesterday because he was too busy.  He went in early this morning and his partner did it.  {Irony...Lonnie does those but obvi can't do it on himself...ha!}  Now we just wait and see.  He is at work today but says he is feeling a little better.  We were supposed to leave for a trip, just the two of us, on Saturday and be gone until Wednesday but that has now been cancelled.  I am sad about that because we were really looking forward to having some hubby/wife time but I am way more concerned about his back.  We are REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping to avoid surgery.  Back surgery would be major.  Like avoid back surgery if at all possible.  He was scheduled to be off next week anyway {the trip} so hopefully he can get through work today and tomorrow and I can just take care of him after that.

Just UGH....  I want him to be better.  Blakely is totally freaked out that Daddy is "hurt".  I should have never even said those words.  I wasn't thinking.  I was trying to explain to her why he couldn't throw her up in the air 15 times and chase her around the dining room table when he got home from work....like he does every single day.  I said Daddy's hip hurts and now she cries every time she sees him.  I feel terrible about it.  

Here's hoping he has an easy day at work today and tomorrow and then the doctor becomes my patient.  Which requires doing everything I say.  You reading this, Lonnie?