Finally Unloading...

I had started to write a post from my smartphone while sitting outside of Brakes Plus, waiting for them to evaluate the problems with my car's AC, and/or at least, to get an infusion of Freon for as long as it lasts, until it leaks out again--which it will; because there is a leak, and the AC needs major repairs, totaling hundreds of dollars.

But I couldn't complete that post, my heart was just not in it.  I have something much more important which has been weighing on my mind for months now, and which I wasn't going to write about but I've now changed my mind.  I guess I just need to talk about it and maybe release some of my stress and tension and worry.

On February 22nd my youngest daughter, Rambo, while on the job as a security guard for Modi'in Ezrachi was walking across the lane at her checkpoint, when a car which had just been checked by another guard accelerated and hit her.  The driver was looking down, putting away his license which had just been returned to him by the security guard who checked him, while his foot was on the accelerator.  There's an Israeli driver for you.

Doctors couldn't at first figure out what was wrong, because her injuries did not seem to warrant her complaints of constant severe pain, and they at first did not believe her complaints that her leg felt 'frozen' and turned bright purple, from her toes to her thigh.  Within a month she was diagnosed with RSD/CRPS, a chronic neurological disease, not fully understood, which can be caused by trauma to an area of the body (hand, foot, etc.) which may in itself not be severe, but which results in pain disproportionate to the (possible) inciting event, and also other symptoms such as impairment of mobility, abnormal skin blood flow, etc.  In general, abnormal function of the sympathetic nervous system.

Often medical personnel cannot figure out what the problem is: the patient complains of severe temperature changes in the affected limb.  In our daughter's case, her leg turned purple and felt icy cold, but not during her initial visits with the orthopedists.  They saw nothing, and didn't know why she was complaining.  After various tests they recommended physical therapy, and she was blessed with a physical therapist who actually listened to her and referred her to the chief neurologist at the hospital.  I guess I should say, 'thank goodness' that her leg turned purple and icy cold while she was seeing him, because he was the first medical professional who saw the symptoms she was complaining about, and he was the doctor who diagnosed her with RSD/CRPS.
I am too exhausted emotionally to write much more.  At first, she was on crutches, but later, she was unable to even use them and is now mainly prone, or in a wheel chair.  After being referred to a pain clinic in Jerusalem where she has been for a week already, she just underwent a nerve block today, which we hope is helping somewhat.  Too early to know the outcome.

She cannot stay by herself--is giving up her little apartment in Baka (which she loved), and will need to sell and/or store her furniture.  She has spent the last 2 months with her eldest brother, who has an eleven-month-old baby and his wife is pregnant with their second (b'sha'ah tovah), and now, after she leaves the clinic--we don't know what the arrangements will be, whether she can stay there for weekly treatments or will need to be on an outpatient basis--she will have to live with her younger-older brother, who has a small apartment, a wife and two toddlers, and is between jobs.

And here we are, her parents--unable to be there to help her, to find her a ground-floor apartment or an apartment in a building with an elevator, and stay with her for what would probably be months, at least--until we know what the treatments are doing and what the prognosis is.  At this point, the disease is not known as 'curable,' although it sometimes goes into remission.

This is a tremendous burden on her brothers, who are the only ones there from the immediate family to help--and they have families of their own who need their attention, and this is a tremendous stress.

My D. H. is appealing his VA disability rating, he is still looking for work although has started receiving social security, and I have full-time work which salary is being put away for our return to Israel--which cannot be for at least a year or two.

Truth is, I don't feel any better having written this.  The problem is still there--and I don't have any solutions, and can't even fly to Israel to be with my daughter for a month or two: can't afford the airfare, can't leave myself without a salary and job for even a month, and have no place to stay with her.

Am open to any ideas.  Don't have the heshek to blog, but at least I finally let it spill out in this post.

Comments

Refuah shlemah!! I don't have any practical ideas, except to make sure she gets full amount from the army or bituah leumi or whatever, since the accident happened while she was on the job.
Hostess with the mostess said…
Lady....I don't have any suggestions....but am sending you a hug....I hope that someone her or in Israel can come through for you and Rambo......((((((((((hugs)))))))))
Batya said…
Darling, refuah shleimah! How awful. I was wondering why you hadn't updated.

If you have the fb share button on your blog, I'll share to my fb page to spread the word. If you don't, then set the blog up with it. It doesn't reveal who you are if you have facebook, it just makes it possible for those with a page to add your posts.
Lady-Light said…
Mother in Israel: Thank you. We were very worried at first, because it was months without any shekels, but she has just started getting Bituach Leumi payments. It just took time to process. She also has an attorney...

Hostess: Thank you--all prayers, well-wishes and hugs are gratefully accepted!

Batya: I didn't have the share button, but do now. Please feel free to share it everywhere. Tehillim would be good, too...
Laya said…
Oy, that really stinks. I wish I had that magic wand I'm always dreaming of. My neighbor's son in in renal failure and he needs a kidney to stay in this world with us! (He's O blood type if you know any one feeling altruistic.) I pray for your sweet Rambo to have a refuah SHLEMAH.
Tons of (((((HUGS))))) for you all.
<3
Norma said…
I too have never heard of this condition, but as a mother of adult children, I do know your pain is great. I will pray for you, your daughter, and particularly your sons and daughters-in-law who will need to step up to the plate to offer love, kindness and assistance to their sister.
Anonymous said…
Just to make a few corrections Ma. The accident was on the 26 of february. And I feel like my legs burn although to the touch the skin itself is ice cold. However it's painful for anyone to touch me so sometimes I don't know what the actual tempurature is. Also, that's only the tip of the iceberg if symptoms. I apparantly have siatica now in my back. Either that or the rsd spread. But I'm happy to report that my first nerve block relieved something like 10% of the pain and I can bend my toes and knees a little better. Although my back hurts from the epidural.
Ps. I got an ear infection :) but don't worry! That one has a cure.
Lady-Light said…
Aunt Laya: Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Maybe you could give her a call, too? I feel for your young neighbor and his family, and pray he finds a donor. Send me an email...

Norma: Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as well. Our sons are showing their true character in this crisis. They are exemplary human beings (in Yiddish we call it "mentch").

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Debate: Is it Itsy Bitsy, or Inky Dinky, of Spider Fame?

The End. Is there a Beginning...?

Some Recent Israeli Accomplishments in her 67 Years: Independence Day 2015