Part 4 of 5

KYPHOPLASTY

     Kyphoplasty is a procedure in which medical cement is injected into the painful spinal compression fracture. It often helps to reduce pain level and get you moving again.  Kyphoplasty is usually performed in the operating room under general anesthesia. Live x-rays are used to guide a needle to the location of the fracture in the spine. A special balloon is then inflated to create a small space near the fracture. Then the medical cement is inserted and hardens quickly. The pain relief from kyphoplasty is usually immediate because it lifts the vertebra off the nerves.
     I had to have two vertebrae repaired plus they shot radiation droplets into several of the tumors, using the same needles. It's an undaunting thing to have surgery during the pandemic. Someone drops you off at this big cold building with strangers waiting inside with drugs, knives, and needles. You are completely at their mercy as in the early morning dawn you walk alone into the abyss. 

Brooke journaled: I guess the biggest thing we had going on this week was mom’s surgery/procedure.  It was interesting because we were further away but in some ways felt like we knew more because we were able to be a part of the Zoom meeting with her doctors. We got to see the scans and images and hear exactly what they were going to do and the warnings about fragments of the spine possibly pushing against the spinal cord and causing more pain or the small possibility that it could lead to paralysis weren’t that encouraging but mom decided to go through with it anyway. Even though it turned out to be a long day for her (she had to be in SLC at 7 and didn’t get home until 3) when we talked to her later that day it was the best day she had had in several months.  She later called it a gift because she could walk and move and sit without pain.  She was smiling and laughing and feeling really good.  It was nice to see. We got some great pictures of her and Verla laughing as we talked over FaceTime.  Verla has a procedure next week and we were trying to see if we could help. The next day she was just a little worse but she still felt better.  I think it was a reminder that she needs to stay ahead of the pain so she can function but we also hope that the glue or cement they pumped into her spine will have a longer lasting effect and much of the pain she has been experiencing.