Pain in her Back - July 21st

The only thing noteworthy to mention today regarding Beth’s health is that she hurt her back getting out of bed today. Her body is very frail and weak and as she used the bedpost to help lift herself out of the bed this afternoon she felt a sharp pain in her lower back. I was immediately worried that she might have fractured another bone in her spine. The cancer in her bones causes them to weaken and has led to five fractures in the last year or so, three of which required surgery. Needing to have surgery at this point would be devastating to Beth mentally and physically.

We are not sure the extent of her injury and hope it is a just a pulled muscle. The last time she fractured her back she walked around with it for almost a week before the doctors found it during an MRI, so the fact that Beth was able to hobble out of bed and join the adults for dinner tonight can’t be a reason to dismiss her injury.  

I would not be surprised if Beth has lost even more weight since her last doctor's visit where she lost six pounds in two weeks. You can definitely see it in her neck, arms and legs. Her legs are like twigs and I worry that they won’t be able to support her. Eating for Beth is more of a chore than a necessity at this point. We have to remind her to eat and drink as she simply does not have an appetite. My mom has been great with this as she make sure Beth drinks her protein shake each morning and she is eating throughout the day, no matter how little the serving sizes are.

As mentioned, Beth wanted to have all of the adults (my brother and sister in-law, my mom and dad and my sister in-law’s parents) all get together and go out for dinner. Beth battled through the fatigue and newly found back pain as was able to make it to dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was great to have her out of the house.