Recreating Your Back

Psalm 38:7 – My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.

Not long ago, my sister had major back surgery recreating her back. She’d been bent over and couldn’t straighten out her back and was constantly in pain.
 
Along came a doctor who thought he could fix her back and eliminate most of her back pain. He seemed confident in what his plan was – He would untwist her spine, fuse together vertebrae and use two titanium rods to hold her back together.
 
It was a lengthy surgery. Six hours and counting. In the end, my sister had nine vertebrae fused together. She was going to face weeks of physical therapy and she had to wear a brace whenever she sat up or got out of bed. The brace was heavy and awkward, but they taught her how to use it.
 
Now, she wishes she never had the surgery. Unfortunately, there’s no going back now.
 
What do you do when you think that it’s worth the risk to have an extensive surgery? You do your research and have a second opinion. Once that is done, you just make a choice.
 
Modern medicine has come a long way with the types of surgeries and treatments there are to help those who have serious conditions.
 
Another member of my family also had a serious surgery done. My son-in-law had already had several back surgeries, but the latest surgery was for his neck. His hand and shoulder had lost most feeling and mobility. So, he chose to have the surgery done. It will be a long hill to walk up, but if he follows the doctor’s orders for recovery, he will have a better chance at a good outcome.
 
Physiciansweekly.com has some ideas on how to have a good outcome after surgery in their article, “Enhancing Recovery After Back Surgery.” In the article, reasons why a back surgeries outcome can be largely be negative because the patient refuses to do home exercises and physical therapy. Thus, the first way you can increase a good outcome is to do the home exercises and participate in physical therapy. One promising suggestion is for the patient to participate in phone intervention. It’s basically a form of counseling with a therapist that is trained in motivational interviewing. With this form of patient participation there was a greater percentage of healing both physically and emotionally. The article also discusses potential barriers for success including fear of movement and concern about pain management.
 
The Bible verse above paints a bleak picture of the one suffering. They even felt the pain throughout their body, and it made it seem that there was no health. Thankfully, God is a god of compassion and will give us wisdom on what we can do on our part to help us heal and emotionally even if the pain still exists.

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