Broken Neck: the Saga

[JupiterSkies]

The short of it:
Mom broke her neck back in May, and after wearing a brace most of the summer, she just got the news that it's surgery with some serious risks and no guarantee of success, or wearing the brace the rest of her life.

The full story:
In 2011, Mom and Dad got a divorce.  Mom moved to TN and started fixing up the family farm.
In 2017, Mom decided she wanted to raise cows for beef.  She got two sweet heifers, and named them Thelma and Louise. 
In 2018, Mom decided to breed Thelma and Louise, so she got a bull (Bullregard), and a few weeks later, a donkey (Penelope).

Mom is a rather small woman, has osteoporosis and pretty severe scoliosis, lives alone on the family farm, and hasn't dealt with cattle since she was 15, back in the mid-1960's.

While getting a mineral supplement to Penelope (only seven months old, still growing), Bullregard looked over and thought, "Well, I want some of that" and headbutted my mother.  Urgent Care in Middle-Nowhere took an x-ray, said she had a neck sprain, and put her in PT.

Four weeks later, she started going numb, and drove to Medium Sized City to see an actual doctor in an actual hospital, who found a fracture in her C2.  Google "hangman's fracture."  They put her in a brace immediately and set up a CT scan... which revealed that it was an OLD fracture she somehow re-fractured. Cue Dad and I (with about thirty combined years of Mom-knowledge) trying to figure out when the HECK Mom broke her neck the first time (hydroplaning off an interstate at night at 70mph into a retaining wall, our best guess) because she's never had any indication of a first fracture, ever.

Anyways, after a summer in the brace, she was hoping she could finally take it off.  But the news from orthopedics was not good.  A piece of bone is floating around in there, obviously not healing and not doing anything productive.

Option 1: Wear neck brace the rest of your life.  Make sure not to get jostled about, or lurch around, or whiplash your neck, or look down, or... yeah.
Option 2: Surgery... going in the back of the occipital plate by a major artery, to fish out the floating bone fragment and fuse C2 to C4.  There's a not insignificant chance of stroke either, according to the surgeon, and his exact wording was that "this is such a weird fracture."  Not the most reassuring thing to hear?

Bonus complication: Mom decided earlier this year she was going to do what her mom did... visit the Holy Land.  So she's got reservations made for November to go to Israel, a life long dream of hers.  And since she's already paid for the whole trip, she's going, in the brace. 

Requests for energy:
-For Mom to make it to Israel and back safely, and that her conscious is clear and informed about whatever decision she makes.
-For my nerves take a deep breath and relax.  Mom is a free spirit and loves to be active on her farm.  She lives alone.  If something happens and she paralyzes herself, she could just be... alone.  For days.  I support her decision, and we've discussed her affairs, but... yeah. 

This whole summer has been an emotional roller coaster. She was supposed to come up at the end of September, but I will obviously be going down to see her.  I need to get some time in.  She is not taking any long drives anymore.

[Hariti]

Requests for energy:

I'm so sorry to hear about this. I will pray for your mother's safe journey and return from Israel, and for her general safety and comfort.

[Uneryx]

The short of it:

woof. That's a lot to carry around and deal with. Good vibes and peace to you and for your mother's safety and healing.

[JupiterSkies]

This whole summer has been an emotional roller coaster. She was supposed to come up at the end of September, but I will obviously be going down to see her.  I need to get some time in.  She is not taking any long drives anymore.

Thank you for the energy, everyone.  Mom is upbeat, and has decided to take an overall "screw it" approach to things.  She's been out bailing hay, out fixing the barn and the electric fence, and she drove a friend to a doctor's appointment in Nashville last week (Six hours round trip).  "I told him if he could be my neck, I would be his eyes."  I bet that was a heckuva time.

I'm now laid up with a sprained ankle, which I'm hoping gets better for the drive next week. I've never sprained my ankle before, and I did it somehow at work.  We're so short staffed I can't really take a day off to rest it, so all my co-workers have been mom-friending me to get it elevated and stay off of it, leading to some fun improvisation while on desk and back in the sorting room.  I've been zooming around trying to make sure we keep running smoothly while the boss is on vacation, and now I'm trying to remind myself to relax some.  And I was wondering why 4 of Swords kept coming up in all my readings lately.