Lovely Or-Tho-Pedics

I love my poor abused spine.
Born with a bent out of shape
design that started blasting
pain signals at 14
Enter the era of Milwaukee Brace
Wore it for one month
Maybe two - my spine remained
crooked but the torture chamber
I was spared.
Enough was enough, you know.
My life wasn't normal by any
leap of the imagination.
Endured so much before 11
Then after 11 the floodgates
to Gehenom just flew
wide open.
But I move beyond myself here
When all I wanted to convey

is The Final Straw
that eventually broke this camel's
back in 1992 post-war is now
rendering
me incapacitated.

The surgery in Israel
The year of recouping
The move to America to get help
and Dr.Leary, Patrick,
bless his soul Hashem,
who saw me way back
in the 90's pro-bono because
he is/was an angel
said it was a complicated case
and he hand picks his patients
according to the hopelessness
and difficulty factor
the challenged, the smashed,
the deformed and the immobile.

I ranked pretty high even then
in those departments,
though I was always faking it
with maneuvers on my bike
which got me around when
my legs couldn't.

You know you've got
an *interesting* case
when the CT technician
says - *wow*.
Seems that with my scoliosis
and lamenoctomy I developed
the stenosis and degeneration
and a collapse of the spine
yeah
collapse.

And the success rate back then
was 60% for the bone implant
and cage and bolts that would
make the floppy puppet stand
He wanted to do the surgery,
but I panicked,
who would take care of me,
more cutting open,
the pain was too intense,
couldn't take more,

SO
I opted for Woodstock instead
tie-dye
to heal my ruptures
and to get giddy
for once.

I took my chances
and 10 years later
it's hard
hard
hard
to walk
or stand.

In the desert this will get you
dead very quickly without a car
or a shoulder to lean on.

I have neither,
(pragmatically speaking)

and

Even if I have the procedure done
Where would I live in proximity
to the best hospital?

So

I spend my days alternating
between bed and chores.

Getting really tired out
from the stenosis closing off my artery
a main one
in my trunk.

Must figure out how to get through
this without collapsing completely.
Would be good to have no pain
no weakness
no need to rest
every few minutes.
Would be good indeed.

Yes.

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