Kevin

I've decided to move my Kevin updates to blogspot to be able to give more information and for the people not on Facebook.

November 11th
In the beginning of September Kevin started having back pain/leg pain. He often gets leg tightness or discomfort when he has an MS flare up so this wasn't surprising. After a couple of weeks of this pain, Kevin saw our chiropractor. The chiropractor did an xray and said that Kevin had a pinched nerve. At that point Kevin's pain had moved down into his leg which we knew was impacting the sciatic nerve. Kevin had 7-8 sessions with the chiropractor and would have some relief but then he would worsen.
Because Kevin was also experience some numbness he consulted his neurologist and they decided to try oral steroids. It was difficult to tell if Kevin was just having severe back pain or if he was in an "episode." Kevin didn't feel any better with the oral steroids and it was determined that Kevin would go on IV steroids after he finished the oral meds.

On Halloween, Kevin couldn't take the pain anymore and went to the ER at St. Francis Hospital here in Shakopee. The doctor couldn't do much since Kevin was already on the oral steroids and was planning the IV treatments the following week. The ER doctor did give Kevin a shot of prednisone and sent him on his way.

Kevin (and the kids and I) endured 5 days of 1 hour IV steroid treatments at Methodist Hospital. Kevin usually felt really good after the 2nd or 3rd steroid treatment and is like his old self by the end of the week. This time, Kevin felt a little better on day 3 but then got worse each day after that. The nurses were surprised because they said he should feel better each day.

On Monday, November 8th, Kevin again went to the ER and this time they did an MRI. It was revealed that he had a bulging disc. The ER doctor consulted with Dr. Schenk, Kevin's neurologist, and Kevin was put on a leave from his work for two weeks until Kevin was scheduled to see Dr. Schenk. He was given dilaudid through and IV and then was sent home with percoset.

Kevin was in tremendous pain and the percoset didn't do much for him. We set up physical therapy to start on Wednesday to help get some relief for Kevin's pain. When I took Kevin to the PT I knew something was not right. He could not get in the car without help, couldn't sit, walk, stand, etc. without great effort and obvious pain. The PT gave Kevin's some suggestions of things to try and scheduled several appointments over the next few weeks.

On Thursday, Kevin was on the phone with Dr. Schenk's office trying to figure out how he was supposed to get through until this magical 11/22 appt. Finally, Thursday afternoon Kevin just couldn't take it anymore and we went back to the ER. The same ER doctor was working and he basically said, I can either give you the same meds you had before and send you home but once they wear off you will be back in the same pain or I can admit you to the hospital and we can try to get you comfortable and go from there. We, of course, opted for Kevin to be in the hospital. It was such a relief to know that Kevin wasn't going to have to maneuver through this big house and be in so much pain!