Pain in The Back
May 22, 2007
Grandpa managed to injure is back a week or so ago. The pain has been bad enough that he has been willing to take pain medication. Which is saying something for Grandpa. The worst times the pain can just about leave him breathless.
I think it’s a pinched nerve, which he brought about by twisting his torso to reach for something. It effects him worst sitting down and getting up and lifting his feet. He has got a little better recently. On his worst night he couldn’t make it back to bed every time he came from the bathroom and I had to help him. I have taken the habit of sometimes walking behind him with my hands in his armpits to guide and stabilize him him, and, if necessary, take some of the weight off his feet if his back seizes up. I just about had to carry him to bed this way on the worst night.
Grandpa appreciates the support, though he is a bit nervous at the same time that somehow the assistance might hurt his back more. Even when his back is not bothering him in particular the action is both helpful and supportive when he is simply having a hard time moving his feet and gets “stuck.” If I pick up removing some of the weight from his own feet and then propel him forward he can get unstuck and half walk while I half carry him.
So now he has asked when he gets stuck on the way to the couch, “Will somebody come over here and give me a push.”
Note: This material originally appeared in a blog I wrote while caring for my grandfather as he journeyed through dementia. It ran 2006-2009 and ended at the time of his death. This blog was the incipient material for a book, “The Sea is Wide: A Memoir of Caregiving.” If you have appreciated this writing, please consider purchasing the book and sharing it with others.