Managing Pain

Before we even made it to Aalesund last night, cousin Odd was on the phone with Kory asking him about his symptoms and how he injured his back. Kory told him all the details and what the doctors said in Denmark. Odd told Kory that they didn’t do a thorough enough exam, as he suspected Kory had a compression fracture in his spine and they should have taken an x-ray. Once we got to Odd’s house last night and Odd took one look at the pain on Kory’s face, he said he was sure he had a compression fracture. So this morning Odd kicked into “solve it” mode and took Kory down to the hospital for a second opinion. He wrote up the papers requesting an x-ray and worked his magic so it was done right away. He then schmoozed with some of the medical staff there and got it read immediately so we didn’t have to wait until Monday morning to know the results. Sure enough, he was right. Kory has a compression fracture to his L3. They examined him further and felt a CT Scan was prudent to rule out any nerve damage. If he had nerve damage, he’d need back surgery, so I was really praying THAT wasn’t the case. The CT Scan again came at lightning speed and after about an hour of waiting we knew he had no nerve damage. Hallelujah! But, according to the ER doc, he had “enough damage” that they wanted to admit him to the hospital immediately. He needed to be immobile and his pain needed a bit more managing.

I had just begun taking everything out of the car to get it cleaned, sort through things and figure out what is coming home with us and what is staying here, when Odd said we needed to get Kory to the hospital. Now, as it turns out, I’ll have a lot of time for cleaning the van because we can’t travel home on Friday as planned. The ER doctor thought it might be two or three weeks before Kory can fly, and a good two months for a full recovery. But the good news is, there WILL be a full recovery and by October 1st he will be back to his OLD self again. HALLELUJAH! (Now I just hope we don’t wear out our welcome at Odd and Turid’s.)

Kaleb left early this morning to go play with friends so he didn’t even know our day was spent at the hospital. I drove by and told him the news because he is having a sleep over and I thought he might want to pray for Kory’s quick recovery. The look of horror on his face when I told him Kory's condition turned to a look of glee when I told him we can’t fly home on Friday. He worked hard at not getting downright giddy as he knew it was a serious situation with Kory, but he couldn’t be happier he will have a little more time with his friends before we head home. I’m thankful for that.

I laid in bed this morning and thought through my agenda for this day, had it down to a science, and then it all went out the window when we headed to the hospital. I had told My Pal Vestina I would come over for a visit at noon today and I didn’t make it until after seven this evening. Stuff happens. But after I got Kory all settled in his hospital room, I couldn’t wait to go find out all that’s new in Vestina’s world (see photo). It’s like I’m in high school again, only WAY smarter. We talked about “boys” and I was able to give her some advice I wish I would have had when I was her age. She is such a hoot to be around. Her relationship with Kim was going along well and blossoming into something quite hopeful when the bubble burst. She wanted him to spend ten more minutes with her one day when he had to leave to go to a party with his friends. When he wouldn’t spend the extra time with her, she swore at him and got very angry. That did it. He didn’t call her or see her for four days and at the end of the four days he said he just wanted to be friends – he pulled the plug on their relationship. So Vestina and I had a long talk about what all that meant and how they both blew it. She just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t give her ten more minutes. Then I had to explain that if he’d told his friends he’d be there at a certain time, keeping his word to someone was more important than just sitting around for ten more minutes with her. I told her today I almost didn’t take Kory to the hospital JUST BECAUSE I had told her I’d be at her house by noon. It was so important for me to keep my commitment to her that I was going to let Kory continue in his suffering because his back problem wasn’t on my agenda today. She finally understood, so it was good we had a chance to talk. I missed her and I’m so going to miss our friendship. I don’t really have anyone in my life like her, so I’m thankful now I might get a little more time with her before we leave.

I feel badly for Kory though, as the hospital he’s in is pretty basic with no frills - he doesn’t even have a TV in his room. It kind of feels like a prison (except they have TVs there). And they don’t cater to “special diets”– everyone gets what the cook makes, so Kory had rice porridge for dinner and loved it, as he hasn’t had cream for years. And I couldn’t believe how vacant that place was. Not many people work on Saturdays so the hospital had empty corridors and many locked doors. It was a strange sensation walking around entire wings with nobody in them. Odd said it’s where they keep the dead bodies, but I’m hoping that was just a joke.