Eric’s 5th acupuncture appointment

Today, Eric had a procedure called “cupping” done at his acupuncture appointment. This picture is just what I found online to show what it looks like. His looked much worse! She said that it would suck out the stagnation in his deep muscles. I’m thinking a bit more scientifically – it just encourages blood flow from deep tissue to the outer tissue. Still not sure if that’s a good thing.

Yesterday, Eric’s day was as though he had gone backwards several weeks. Very discouraging. He was in so much pain he was struggling just to even think clearly. He spent most of his day on the couch being depressed from so much limitation.

Today, he woke up feeling a good bit better, but still has no stamina or strength to walk very far or do very much. He is not in as much pain as he was yesterday, but the pain has changed. He is now, once again, having nerve pain shooting down his left leg into his foot. It seems like with every little advancement, there seems to be more facets of difficulty and struggle.

I am going to try to encourage him to do more reading, rather than online stuff, so that he can try to stimulate his brain in more productive ways. Hopefully, that will keep his mind busy and positive and he can actually get the books read that he’s always wanted to read.

Second Acupuncture Visit

Eric had his second visit to the acupuncturist, this afternoon. His first visit had him in just as much pain as when he started, but this afternoon, after he was finished, he was actually able to slowly stand up straight! Moving in the right direction! It didn’t last, and he was bent over and in pain again by the time we got home, but it was just nice to see him stand tall. The acupuncturist agreed with our chiropractor that we may very likely need a second opinion from a different neurosurgeon. Once I get all the insurance stuff figured out, we can start pursuing that direction.

The chiropractor believes that there may be a possibility that there is something really wrong, and that something happened during surgery. We don’t know how long the acupuncture benefits will last, especially if there really is something wrong. Another MRI is the next thing that needs to be done after the insurance is figured out.

This afternoon, Eric and I were remembering the difference from a week ago to today. Last week, he came home from work very tired and in quite a bit of pain, and this week, he can’t stand up and has trouble getting dressed. Whatever this is, it’s happening very fast for him. Hopefully, the acupuncture will slow the decline down and maybe even make the pain more manageable, but we both feel like we have to have some answers. So far, from the surgeon and others, we have heard only a sympathetic nod and a comment about just having to deal with the pain and work through it and strengthen the core.

As I was praying during class tonight, I was reminded that God allows these trials into our lives not to destroy us, but to sanctify us. Sometimes as we seek God’s will for our lives and endeavor to do it with all our hearts, we find that the road to God’s will is not what we expected it to be. I think that we often think God’s will for us is not difficulty, pain, or persecution, or even death. But sometimes, it is. If we are truly willing to give our whole lives to God, we must remember not to take it back when it no longer suits us or does not bring about the results we wish for. Eric and I are learning about surrender. Not just surrendering our goals and dreams, but also our independence, our talents, and even our physical bodies. Allowing God to take everything away without complaint. I’m still struggling with that. We’ve been reading the book of Job in church as part of our scripture reading, and a few times I have nearly cried in hearing the frustration in Job’s voice with the pain and suffering he was going through, and the hopelessness in his heart. Yet, God had a bigger plan for Job, and, although the path was hard and painful, Job came face to face with God speaking to him, and Job came through the trial. Trials come, and we shouldn’t ask for an ending. We need to ask for strength to go through them. It’s not the destination or the end of a long road. It’s the journey and what we learn along the way. May God be glorified in our lives as we walk this journey that He has chosen for us.

Eric’s journey in back pain

Our journey through back pain started many years ago, but became substantially worse in November of 2016. We’re pretty sure it was due to our recent move to the farm in August. Anyway, we had an MRI done in February after our chiropractor said that there was very little left that he could do for him, as he just continued to get worse even with adjustments, supplements, massage, stretching, etc. The MRI showed a substantial amount of damage to his L5/S1 disc, and some damage throughout all of his lower back. His symptoms rapidly declined daily, but he was able to manage a trip to California for the Shepherd’s Conference. He got back on March 4, and continued to decline, and March 7, we took him into the hospital due to severe pain. His first surgery was incredibly successful on March 9, and all of his pain was gone!

One week later, on March 16, he was back in the hospital for a spinal fluid leak repair. Again, surgery was incredibly successful, but his pain after surgery was intense. He healed well, although sore, and gradually was able to get back on his feet to some degree.

April 3, he was again back in the hospital for severe muscle spasms that had his back badly contorted like a pretzel. We were told to go into physical therapy and walk off the pain. Physical therapy did not do anything for him, and the pain, while it went away for a while, was always in the background.

May saw his nearly completely back on his feet and working almost as before, although with some pain. However, in mid-May, his back began worsening. On Monday, May 15, he said his back and his hip began to hurt and he went back to our chiropractor for an adjustment. The adjustment was gentle and successful, but his muscles were beginning to worsen. Wednesday, he had a deep massage, but felt even worse. By the end of that week, he was hurting so badly that he could no longer walk without help or extreme pain.

Monday, May 22, I took Eric in to see our family doctor, as he was just in so much pain that he could not bear it any longer. We had to find a solution. Nothing was working. Our doctor referred us to an acupuncture specialist he knew that was very experienced with Eric’s type of pain.

Tuesday, May 23, Eric had his first acupuncture appointment. The specialist was loudly horrified at the condition of Eric’s back when he took off his shirt for her to see. I could see in her eyes that she was extremely concerned. Later, while Eric was resting with the needles, the specialist spoke with me and told me that he was in much worse condition than she expected. Her facial expressions and the way she spoke told me more. Her eyes were worried and she looked almost as if she didn’t know if she could help him. He was in no better condition when we left than when we had gotten there. He has 2 more appointments this week, so my hope is that we can start breaking apart the muscle structure to get it to relax and he can start gaining relief from the intense pain.

Our family is doing whatever we can to encourage him, and we don’t really talk about the future, as we’re really not sure what that is going to look like, this summer.

I will update as things progress. Thank you all for praying. God is in control, and I am praying that He will make it plain what we need to do, and that we would glorify Him through this time.