As the younger children were arriving home from school, David came to hearing a soft whining sound. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes to find his wife lying on her back with her knees drawn up. She was sobbing silently with her face drawn in pain again. “What’s the matter, babe?” he asked as he came to wake up.
“Why is it that after pain killers wear off it hurts worse than before?” she asked on her verge of tears. She started taking slow deep breaths to breathe through the pain.
“How bad is it, baby?”
“Scale of one to ten, I’m gonna say it’s about a fifty”, she said as she continued to try to breathe through the pain radiating up her spine.
“Do you think you can stand and come with me downstairs?”
“Not without taking a muscle relaxer or something.”
“Do you want me to call for the doctor?”
She laughed a little, then sobbed audibly. “Yes, get Jake. I know he’s a neurologist, but he still has general medical knowledge as a basis for the specialized knowledge.”
David pulled his phone out and sent Jake a text. When he got a response, he looked back at his wife. “He’s on his way up, baby. He’ll be here in a moment of two.”
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Jake palpated his mother’s lower back. Every time he touched her she fought not to jump off of the bed. “OWWW!” she howled as she squeezed her husband’s hand. “JACOB MICAH, I’M GOING TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU!!” she cried.
“Mom, chill for me, please. Remember, this is my field we’re dealing with.”
“You must have a theory because my vertebrae fusing is an orthopedist’s field of expertise.”
“As a matter of fact, I do have a theory. I can’t be sure without X-rays and an MRI of your lumbar spine, but I can theorize.”
“Ok, why do you think my back is in nonstop pain?”
“I believe that as your vertebra are fusing together, the transverse foramen are impinging on the sacral plexus.”
“Oh, JUST FUCKING LOVELY!”
“Jake, can you put that in English for me please?” David asked.
“As the spine fuses together, the spaces between them where the nerves come off of the spinal cord are fusing and pinching the nerve bundle that feeds everything below the waist.” He looked back to his mother. “If you don’t get in to see that orthopedic surgeon within the next week you’re going to be sorry.”
“I have an appointment with Dr. Morgan next week” Brie said after taking a deep breath to fight off the pain.
“Next week, I’m afraid won’t been soon enough. Is this the Christian you were talking to earlier?”
“Yes.”
“Let me talk to him. I remember him from when we thought I was going to need knee surgery from that soccer injury in middle school.”
“His number is in my rolodex on my desk.” She was in supreme control of her emotions but he could tell in the way she held herself that she was in pain. He could see the pain in her eyes.
“I’ll be back shortly. If you’re not in here, I’ll know you’re downstairs. Mom, you need to take it easy until we can get that fusion corrected. And I mean that not as your son, but as your doctor. I’m pulling rank. Limited physical activity until after you’ve had the surgery and you’ve gone through everything you need to do to recover.”
She wasn’t going to fight. She just nodded. She knew that if Jake was pulling rank then there was something seriously wrong. “Ok, Jake. Could you and Delilah do me a HUGE favor and help your father with your brothers and sisters?”
“In whatever way we can, Mom. You can come down the stairs to sit, but you need to stay on the couch. Delilah can make dinner. She’s actually a pretty good cook. Not QUITE up to you and Dad’s standard, but she’s pretty good.”
“Ok, Delilah can cook.” She looked at David. “Help me get downstairs, baby. I can’t stay up here alone.”
David nodded solemnly. “You weren’t going to, but I know what you meant. Come on. Let’s go deal with our children.”
---------------
“Dr. Morgan, this is Jake Draiman, remember me?” Jake said when he called his fellow doctor answered the phone.
“Jacob Draiman. How’s the knee?” Dr. Morgan asked.
“Not bad. Still aches a little every now and then, but such is life.”
“That’s good. By the way, you’re Mom told me about medical school, Doctor. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. Speaking of my mother, you need to see her sooner.”
“Just like your father, gotta cut right to the chase. Why do you think I need to see her sooner?”
“Because upon examining her MYSELF, I believe that the fusion is causing severe nerve impingement. She woke up this afternoon and she was nearly in tears from what my father told me.”
“But you can’t be sure that’s what’s going on.”
“Not without seeing the X-rays and an MRI of her back, no.”
“Well, let me see if I have an opening for sooner than Wednesday next week. You know, Jacob, this is usually my receptionist’s job.”
“Yeah, I know, but we can call this a professional courtesy and you can schedule it yourself. By the way, when you open up my mother’s back- and believe you me, you will after you take a look at her back- I’m scrubbing in with you. I will be in the suite- NOT the viewing room, the suite itself- when you open up my mother’s back. Don’t like it? Kiss my ass. That’s my mother you’re cutting open.”
“I was going to invite you in ANYWAY, Dr. Draiman. I know it’s your mother.”
“Ok, as long as we’ve got an understanding.”
----------------
Jake headed down the stairs with a new appointment date for his mother to see the orthopedic surgeon. She’d be seeing him in two days. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw his mother holding his daughter and bouncing her. He couldn’t help but smile. “I can’t get over how cute you and Dad when you play with Miri. It’s just fucking adorable”, he said when he sat down on the couch with his mother.
“At least I’ll admit I’m cute. Your father says the he hasn’t been cute since he was Eli’s age”, Brie said with a laugh.
“I just got off the phone with Christian Morgan. He managed to squeeze you in the day after tomorrow. I’m going with you and Dad for this appointment. I want to see the test results when he looks over them. He’s having your records sent over to his office as we speak so that he can get a look at everything that’s going on. When we get there, I’m going back to his office to see the tests. I have a feeling what I’m going to see is going to piss me off.”
“I’m sure it will too, Jake. And you might want to start having yourself screened for this yearly. I’m going to recommend the same to Jordan, Malachai, and Madison and I’m going to start taking your younger brothers and sisters to have them screened. The sooner shit like this is caught, the sooner something can be done to correct it.”
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“Exactly.”
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