“Ryan,” I began, hoping his eyes was find their way to me. It took him a few moments, but he came to me. “That’s my boy.” He smiled at me. It was a knowing smile. One where he knew that I knew how the neck injury had happened over time.
“It kind of sucks, huh?” he mumbled.
“Yes, but they said they can repair it or at least alleviate the pain. Have you been in a lot of pain?”
“I kind of like pain,” he smirked.
“Not this kind of pain. I even know that, Ryan.”
“Oh yeah? How so?” he playfully asked matter of factly.
“Very simple…you get no relief or release from it. Unlikeotherpain.”
His cheeks grew red and a smile flashed on his face. It wasn’t long before the original doctor came back over with the orthopedist. He spoke to us about the injury and pointed to areas on the lightbox again.
“My opinion for treatment would be the cortisone shots over the surgery. While I have full faith in our surgeons, we’re talking about your spine. You’re fairly young and appear to be in great shape, so chances are that you’d recover quickly and would go through physical therapy. But this isn’t an injury that is preventing you from walking or doing daily functions. If there is something less invasive than surgery that will have the positive effect that we’re looking for, I always suggest that route,” the orthopedist explained.
It made sense. After all, it was his spine. God forbid something didn’t go right in surgery and he’d end up with a different issue. Ryan opted for the shots and the orthopedist said he would handle them himself. I think Ryan started to get cold feet as the orthopedist pointed at the spine on the vertebrae to show where he’d inject the cortisone. There would be three injections…all directly into his spine.
“The shots themselves won’t hurt. We use a heavy numbing medicine on the injection area. It’s absorbed quickly and you won’t feel the needle going in, or the cortisone. The numbing medication is usually the most uncomfortable. People tend not to notice it on small areas, but since we’re going into your spine, we need to use a larger amount.”
Ryan nodded that he understood. Before the doctors left to go get the supplies, the orthopedist told Ryan that he’ll feel some stiffness for a few days in his neck but that the numbness in his arm and hand will be gone. I sat beside him and just looked at him while we waited for the doctors to return.
Before they situated him on his stomach, they injected a muscle relaxer into his I.V. They removed the pillow and from the top of the bed, they pulled out a padded head rest. The doctor guided his head into place so that his spine was straight.
From the tray, the orthopedist took the largest of the three bottles and broke the protective plastic seal around the nozzle. He cleaned the area on Ryan’s neck and upper back, then began to spray the liquid onto his skin. I watched as the cold vapors rose from his skin. He was doing okay until the numbing liquid was almost all emptied from the container.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
Ryan’s fists were both balled up, clutching the sheets. I reached out and covered one of his hands with mine. I desperately wanted to give him comfort. Once the injections were done, they cleaned up the medicine from his neck and put some small bandages over the injection sites. The orthopedist wrote a prescription for a pain medication and told him he could use it as needed but only once a day. I glanced at the name of the pain killer and could tell right away that this was a heavy medication.
“Is there a low dose option for this?” I asked the doctors.
“If that medication bothers him, call us and we can select a lighter one. Or you can use some over the counter ibuprofen. It won’t last him the day though like the prescription will.”
I nodded and pocketed the prescription. I knew from prior conversations with Ryan about medications, I knew it would be a struggle for him to take the pain killer. He had friends from his baseball team in college that got hooked on pain killers. Hopefully he won’t need to use much of it.
By the time we got back to my place, it was going on 10:00 a.m. I took him to my bathroom and sat him down on the edge of the tub. Ryan’s chest, back and arms were sticky from the gels for the electrodes they attached to him, along with tape for the I.V.’s. I wanted to clean him up so he could rest comfortably. I was gentle with him and would be extra cautious with anything involving his hands, arms, neck and head for at least the next week. He had a follow-up appointment next week with the orthopedist, then we would see how much the cortisone had helped.
I put his weary body back in bed and covered him up as he rolled onto his side, facing me. For hours, I sat in bed beside him. I alternated between rubbing his back and very gently stroking the back of his neck at his hairline. Knowing that I needed to care for him thankfully overshadowed the angry thoughts I had towards his vile parents.
