God Is Not Finished

In February (2023), I had my annual Medicare well-person exam that is required each year. My family doctor went down the list of questions we are required to answer each year and check for obvious physical problems. Eva and I have been going to this doctor for several years and she knows my medical history well. I asked her if she had any concerns about me starting to work out at a fitness center to get in better shape. She said I was in the best health of any 80-year-old patient she had, and she thought it was a good idea.

I signed up at Planet Fitness through a senior program and began working out a couple times a week. I also began eating more salads and making other diet changes. Then in early March, I began working in the yard pulling weeds and planting some flowers. I had oak blooms piling up everywhere, so I spent a day blowing them off the roof and raking them up off the driveway and sidewalks. Two days later, my neck and shoulders began hurting more than I expected, but I assumed it was from overdoing the yard work. When the pain did not go away after a week, I made an appointment with the doctor.

The exam went as I expected, with no real concerns and a prescription for a muscle relaxer. After a week of taking the medicine with no relief, I contacted my doctor and was given a different prescription to take. A week later, my neck and shoulder pain were gone; however, the pain had shifted to both arms and hands. That change occurred so quickly that I became concerned that the problem was more serious. I called my doctor’s office hoping to get in to see her asap. When I did not get a callback, I went to an urgent care to see a doctor.

The doctor at the urgent care office examined me and I explained what had been going on with my symptoms. He prescribed steroids and a different muscle relaxer and said he would put in a referral for a neurologist appointment for me just to be sure that the cause was not more serious. After a few days, I thought the treatments were working, however, the pain did not go away. I contacted my PCP doctor again, and she put me on another medication that is used for nerve pain and said she would put me in another referral for a neurologist appointment. After a week of that medication, I was still having the pain, but it seemed to be a little less. My doctor increased the dosage of the medicine, then she increased it again a few days later.

By April 17, the pain had not gone away, and I was feeling weaker. I still had no answer for what was going on with my arms and hands, so Jennifer took me to the hospital ER. I wanted to know if it was possible that I had a stroke or some other problem. They did a CT scan of my brain, chest DX, and blood work. The ER doctor said there were no signs of a stroke, but he put in a referral for an appointment with a neurologist for further tests.

On May 3, I was finally able to see a neurologist for an exam and to discuss my symptoms. He put in orders for MRIs and MRAs for my head and neck and he explained how those tests would help to identify any problems. He said if the tests were completed by Friday (May 5), he would review the results and call me with the results. That would be his last day at the clinic because he was moving to Washington State. My follow-up appointment would be with a neurologist in Katy on May 17. When I called to schedule the MRIs and MRAs they told me the earliest they could schedule the four tests together was on Sunday, May 14. I asked the woman if they could be done that morning and she said yes.

At 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, May 13, I got a call from the scheduling office saying the tests could not be done on Sunday because there would be no staff working on Mother’s Day. I explained that I had an appointment with a neurologist on Wednesday, May 17 to review the results from those scans. At this point, I had been dealing with the pain for about 9 weeks without any answers for the cause. She was able to make some changes and then scheduled my tests for Tuesday morning starting at 7:00 a.m.

On May 17, Kaylee drove me to the neurologist in Katy for my appointment. Dr. He showed me the results from the MRI of my neck and explained what was causing the pain in my arms and hands. He said I needed to see a neurosurgeon asap. He said if it were him, he would go directly to the Hospital ER to get quicker access to the surgeon. I called the neurosurgeon’s office that I had been in on May 3 to make an appointment and provided them with the information. They said they would call me to schedule an appointment. When Jennifer got home from school and I explained what the neurologist told us, she suggested we should go to the hospital ER immediately because I might not get a call until the next day or later.

When we got to the hospital ER, I told them about the results of the MRIs and MRAs and what Dr. He had said about needing to see a neurosurgeon asap. They took me to an exam room and started the usual procedures and the ER doctor on duty did an exam and looked at the results and previous CT scan of my brain from a month earlier. They contacted Dr. Herrera, and he reviewed the test results and ordered a CT scan of my neck. A little while later, Dr. Herrera came into the room to see me. He did an exam of me and asked me several questions while checking my reflexes. He showed Jennifer and me the images of the MRI and CT scan of my neck and explained how two discs in my neck had collapsed. The nerves controlling not only my arms and hands but other parts of my body were being pinched causing my problems.

It was an easy decision to decide to have the surgery, but that will be explained in more detail in another article. My problems were so severe that if I had not been taking aspirin as a daily dosage, he would have scheduled the surgery for Friday; however, he felt it would be safer to wait until Tuesday, May 23. That would allow my system to get more of the blood-thinning effects out of my body before my surgery. Before I was released from the ER, they did the blood work and other tests that would be required before the surgery.

When I got to the hospital for the surgery, I was in a positive and joking mood with the nurses and staff. Everyone was very professional and friendly. Some say, “You get what you give”. When I woke up several hours later, it was the same. I remember Dr. Herrera talked to me in recovery before they took me to my room where Jennifer and Tammy were waiting for me. I was surprised that I was not in a lot of pain, but I figured I was being given pain meds and was not able to move around. Kaylee came to the hospital to stay with me during the night so her mom and aunt could go home for the night. I did not sleep much that night due to all the things the nurses must do following surgery like mine, but I was not bothered by that.

The next morning, Dr. Herrera came to see how I was doing, and he told me if I continued doing ok, he would release me to go home later in the day. The nurse got me up in the chair and I got something to eat. When the doctor came back later, he brought PT and OT therapists with him to teach me how to get in and out of bed after my surgery so as not to move my head side-to-side or up or down. They taught me how to put on a neck brace. He had me walk in the hallway with a walker to see if I could get around with help.

Dr. Herrera then had me sit in the chair while he took the drain out of my neck and then he put two stitches in my neck to close that opening. After the nurse had removed all the wires and tubes, I was able to get dressed and released to go home later that day with instructions on what to do and a list of things not to do. The only times I could take the neck brace off were to bathe and to sleep. Otherwise, the neck brace was to be worn. I could not drive, bend over, or raise my hands above my head. Everything changed in how I did normal activities.

I had a two-week follow-up visit with Dr. Herrera on June 6 and checked my strength in my hands, arms, and legs to check for improvements. He had me walk without the walker and told me that I no longer needed to use it. He asked me if I would do physical therapy if he put in an order for it and I said yes. Only a part of the PT staff is certified to handle spinal injury patients, so my first PT session was on June 19. I had seven PT sessions before my next appointment with Dr. Herrera and I had X-rays done of my neck that morning before the appointment.

On July 12, Dr. Herrera looked at my neck and checked the strength in my arms, hands, and legs for improvements. I asked him if I could quit wearing the neck brace and he said yes that he was releasing me. There is no need for more appointments. I still have PT sessions scheduled through July to help me gain strength in my neck and other parts, but I can drive myself now.

During all those months of not knowing what was causing my pain and each of the delays in getting to see a neurologist, I got frustrated and wanted results. I admit that at times it seemed like nothing was working that I tried to do to move forward. I was praying for solutions and not seeing results. Looking back at those days, as it worked out, everything that happened later was much better than it would have been. I am happy with the surgeon, and the hospital that I used, and the timing was perfect. Jennifer had just finished her teaching year, Kaylee had just graduated from SFA, and Grace had just graduated from high school.

God had a better plan. This is all a reminder to me that God is not finished with me yet. I have been blessed so much and I want to share that message. When you are in that moment (period) when you feel you no longer are in control, take a deep breath because God may be taking you on a journey. I plan to write another article about why the decision to have the surgery was so easy and how that would have been a different decision if it had occurred last year.