Christmas 2007

Some of you are familiar with my husband's history (medically speaking), but even then, not all of you may know what the deal is with the wheel chair that he turned into a road warrior machine for Halloween. The season being upon us again, I thought I'd share the story with you.

It started a few years ago with Dan having problems with his back. He'd had pain before, but it appeared to be stress related as it disappeared when work calmed down. When it returned he didn't think much of it as stress had reared its head again. When the stress died down but the pain didn't, Dan and I got worried. We scheduled an appointment with the doctor and the doctor didn't like what he was seeing. We scheduled an MRI and the truth was revealed. Degenerative Disc Disease. What is it? What causes it? The doctors don't know for sure. In most cases it appears to be triggered by injury or hereditary genetics. In Dan's case neither applies. It is the diagnosis given to people who's discs are degenerating (hence the name). In Dan's case the disc between his L5 and S1 vertebrae is shredded and the pain is caused by the nerves getting pinched and, more recently, by bones rubbing together. The pain is also constant. There is no surgery (covered by insurance) that has been proven effective so the only option is pain management. At first we tried standard physical therapy, but that only seemed to worsen the situation. Next we tried injections which at first appeared to be working. But the one effective treatment was followed by a not-as-effective treatment which was followed by a not-even-effective treatment. Different treatment options were tried with no futher success. When we moved to Albuquerque we thought that a fresh perspective might offer more options. The doctors here, however, didn't have anything new and by that point we were living off of severence and credit (thank heavens for Cobra insurance coverage).

Dan found a new job with his current employer (Thomson Elite, now Thomson Reuters) and we found that trying to set up doctor appointments with a non-flexible schedule nearly impossible. But while the doctor visits stopped, the progression of things didn't. During the course of the day Dan found that simply walking places was putting extreme stress on his back and frequently getting around the house without his cane was unheard of. We started looking at wheelchairs. Primarily for use at work, we still wanted something that he could bring home which meant that we needed something light and collapsable. Though our insurance offered assistance, unfortunately it wouldn't cover what we wanted and we were left with having to pay for it entirely out of pocket.

Dan's employer is very big on giving back. Throughout the several locations around the country, the empoyees are often treated to small treats or lunches (catered or out). It's no surprise that the employees mirror that generousity and that every Christmas season they seek ways to help out a family in need. They gather donations and use it to purchase things that a single family they've selected with help through local organizations have either requested or shown a need for. For 2007, the Albuquerque site decided that they didn't need an organization to find who they wanted to help. They looked at one of their own. Dan was approached by his co-worker who informed him of their desire to help and requested permission to go ahead and purchase the wheelchair for him. With tears in his eyes, Dan accepted the offer. The response from the rest of the site was overwhelming. Not only did they raise enough to buy the model that would work best for us, they actually raised almost $200 more than they needed. As my sister's daughter-in-law put it in her recent blog entry we cannot do it alone. And I would add that we weren't meant to.

Though there may be few who read this from that wonderful site, thank you again for the gift that keeps on giving. God bless you all for your love and kindness to us. And God bless all those who have helped us and continue to help us these last couple of years.

Merry Christmas!