Posted 9/9/2015 1:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hello-
This may not be a common forum thread, but I thought I would post as I didn't see other forums helping with family providing advocacy and care to post surgery family members. Sorry for the long post!
My Father went in for a C3- C4 spacer and plate to stop a quickly degenerative issues. He was playing golf, always active, very good shape man at 73 in April. In may he started having balance issues and numbness in his right hand. That progressed a bit but was still walking around but not playing golf.
In June/ July he saw a few specialists who said surgery was necessary to stop the issues from continuing- they did not say things would return to normal, just that it should stop.
On August 27 he had the surgery. He came home the next day and was walking eating normally and all was well. On Aug 30 he awoke to severe debilitation of his arms and legs. He went to the emergency room and had a hematoma behind the plate where they did the surgery. Had surgery that night. Next day, he had limited movement of arms and legs which was fairly good. After an xray, he started losing sensation in right arm and leg. We don;t know if xray was rough handling of him and it is the cause, but he had to go into surgery number 3. He still had a breathing tube in from the second surgery which made it easy on the surgery team, but meant he would have it in for 4 days.
He came out of surgery with limited movement of all limbs. He was discharged to a facility that was a hospital and rehab center on Sep 4.
It is like he has been paralyzed. He can move the left limbs a bit better than the right limbs, but nothing is really working.
He started rehab therapy today and was very dejected due to his limited ability to do anything. I feel so badly for him and want to stay super positive that things will get better. He is discouraged. I know this will take a very long time, but my father is an active guy that wants this to happen quickly.
I am beside myself thinking how horrible this is for him and want to find ways to make him see that he will walk again, but it may be 6 or 9 weeks from now. And he should know that it is a good thing. I have no idea how to handle this or what to say to him to make him feel better. He has been 100% set in his mind on getting better and will do whatever it takes. But today, he was frustrated.
If anyone went through this experience as a patient, or was a family member dealing with this, I would love any feedback. I appreciate those in this forum community helping others gain knowledge. This has opened my eyes and I hope to provide the same to others in the future when my Dad gets mobile again.
Thank you- Steve