ASKING FOR PRAYERS...

As many of you know, Dear Hubby has been having Orthopaedic problems since a fall down two steps in October of 2011.  After a lack of examination and incorrect diagnosis in the ER, he was finally diagnosed two days later with a 95% tear of the left quad tendon and sent urgently into surgery.  The doctor fixed his quad tendon, but he has been left with additional problems not addressed at the time of the fall due to the severity of the quad injury discovered.  At this point we have been to seven, yes...SEVEN, different orthopedic specialists.  None of the first five have been looking at the "total picture" and as a result, Dear Hubby has been suffering for almost 3 full years.  Because of extreme compartmentalization in medicine, doctors now "specialize" in specific body areas.  But, ummm..., isn't the whole body connected???  Shouldn't issues in multiple areas, that all started after a fall, ring a bell that MAYBE the problems are interconnected?  Since that fall he has been going steadily downhill in terms of motion, pain and swelling, etc.  Shouldn't somebody have listened?

We have told at least five out of the 7 doctors seen that since the accident Dear Hubby can no longer get up on his toes.  We have questioned "why" he is having this difficulty and all but the last two specialists have totally ignored us.  They have simply looked us right in the eye and IGNORED the question and moved on.  Can you now see why we are on our SEVENTH doctor?

Dear Hubby played catcher in baseball/softball for 21 years!  And if you picture a catcher, he spent ALL of that time in a squat position...ON HIS TOES!  He is probably as comfortable on his toes as any ballerina!  But, since the fall he cannot get up on his toes AT ALL.  It isn't pain or weakness that stops him...his body will not do it!  Which means he is walking flatfooted like Frankenstein.  Picture doing that up and down steps!  Not only is it incredibly difficult, it is incredibly painful!  His gait is totally different than it was before the fall and no matter how many times we have stated such, it has been ignored.   

Fortunately a month or so ago a friend of Hubby's suggested a doctor that he had seen for an ankle injury.  We set up an appointment to see the man and he is the FIRST doctor who really EXAMINED more than one body part.  He immediately suggested an appointment with one of his partners to have an EMG done.  We saw his partner who suggested Hubby have an MRI of his pelvis and when we came in to review the MRI results an EMG would be done.  Of course our insurance refused to authorize the MRI until AFTER the EMG is done!

So yesterday we went to the doctor and he had an EMG...which was REALLY abnormal!!!!  Because of my walking difficulties I have had at least 5 EMGs.  I know what the little screen is supposed to look like, how the body is supposed to react, and how it is supposed to sound during the test.  As the test was going on I was getting more and more nervous because none of the "expected" was happening.  Adding to my upset, the doctor was OBVIOUSLY concerned.  Twice he got up from his seat and went to the computer to look at Hubby's records.  The look on his face was worried. 

When the test was over the doctor told us that Hubby's EMG is abnormal.  He wants Hubby to have the MRI to see if he could have injured his pelvis (he landed on his butt on a metal threshold) in a way that could have pinched the nerves, or if he could have actually stretched or torn the nerves themselves.  If the MRI is not helpful he wants Dear Hubby to go to a neurologist. 

I know after so many years of working in the medical field that I automatically jump to conclusions when people I love are sick or injured.  It's in my nature, I can't help it.  But I, personally, am the one who recognized Hubby's diabetes, my diabetes, my mom's sleep apnea, hubby's sleep apnea, and my dad's lymphoma/leukemia.  Not the doctors...ME.  It was only because I asked, nagged or down right "fought" with the doctors to have tests done that the diagnoses were ever made and treatment begun.  I am scared to death that the issues Dear Hubby has been dealing with for almost three years now have caused permanent nerve damage as a result of lack of diagnosis and/or treatment.  And if there is permanent nerve damage, or could be even more progression, what is it going to mean for Hubby and his future?  We have always looked forward to when it was "fixed".  But what if it is too late to fix it?  Or it can't be fixed?  Obviously, we will do whatever it takes to make things easier for him.  I will sell this house in a minute to get him away from steps, but what about work?  It has been harder and harder for him to handle working in such a large building.  And, if we do decide to move sooner rather than later....how are we going to be able to do it?  Neither one of us is worth diddly from a physical standpoint!

Sorry to be venting here, but my mind is whirling in 30 different directions.  What we really need are prayers.  So, if you pray...please include him in your prayers.  If you don't pray...if you could send healing vibes his way I would really appreciate it.  I know we will get through no matter what it is...together.  But, a little help along the way would be appreciated.