Their Going to do What?

Sometime at the beginning of June, dad had taken a pretty bad fall at work.  This fall was bad enough for the ambulance to take him to Grady Hospital to the trauma center.  Needless to say, this scared us all.  The only thing mom could tell us was that he fell, his speech was slurred, and when he didn't have a neck brace on, his extremities would go numb.  Great, is that all?

Mom picked up Sarah from work and headed downtown to Grady, while I was at work waiting for Melissa so we could ride together.  From mom and dad's house, it normally takes about an hour and a half to get to Chattanooga so I figured I would add another 30 minutes to that and Melissa would be at my work.  Man was I wrong!  She made it  to my work in an hour and 20 minutes.  I was glad she made it there fast because I couldn't concentrate at all, but I was completely shocked when she sent me a text and said she was in the parking lot.

So onto Grady it was.  First of all, that place is scary!  From security being inside and outside of the hospital to a girl asking her mom why she was there, basically to just make up a story to get some pain pills, this was quite the experience.  Unfortunately with dad being in the trauma center, only one person could go back at a time.  Are you serious?  We had to sit in the waiting room with all those scary, crazy people.  Poor Sarah had to lean in towards us, hold on to her purse for dear life and keep a conversation going because the teenager sitting beside her looked like he was ready to pounce at any given moment for her purse.  Needless to say, I hope we never have to go back their again and I pray that you don't either.      

After hours of being there and only a few x-rays, dad was released.  However, they didn't even x-ray where he told them it hurt.  Hello?!?!  Doesn't this sound a little odd?  We were completely shocked.  I'm not a doctor, but seriously?  Something has to be wrong.

After a few months and several chiropractor visits, the chiropractor suggested dad get a MRI.  Well guess what?  The MRI shows a fracture exactly where he told Grady it was hurting.  Go figure!

So this morning, dad was scheduled for a balloon kyphoplasty.  As much as I hate blood, hospitals and anything related, this process actually intrigued me.

Here are some pictures of how the procedure went, step by step.  I took these pictures from his brochure with my iPhone so they are not that great, but you get the point.

 
 I can't believe they used cement to make the internal cast in order to hold the vertebra in place.  Pretty cool, huh?

Only two stitches and after 24 hours, he can take his bandage off.  He showed me his bandage, but I was not about to ask if I could look at his incision.  No thank you, the pictures above will do just fine.  I am sure he will be out on the golf course before we know it.