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My 83 year old husband fell again. Full hip replacement 1.5 years ago. Has peripheral neuropathy in legs, feet and hands (caused by post-polio from childhood or long term use of Dilantin medicine for seizures). Bad experience at 2 rehab facilities prefer to stay home but I'm doing everything and I'm exhausted (and to be honest a little resentful)

I had kyphoplasty on my thoracic spine in May of 23 due to broken vertebrae from a cancerous tumor dissolving. First of all, it requires general anesthesia. So while it's "minimally invasive" it's also real surgery. One slip and the spinal cord is injured, rendering the patient paralyzed. Anyway, I'm in more pain NOW than before I had the surgery. Every time I sneeze I have to brace myself. When I walk for awhile, I have to stop and give my back a rest due to aching. Ibuprofen and the heating pad are my BFFs. I was 65 at the time of the kyphoplasty surgery. Recovery was 3 to 4 weeks of no bending, twisting or lifting, and lots of discomfort.

Straight from the horse's mouth.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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My Mom had one of the procedures Willie talks about. She fractured her L1 in a fall. All she had was some needle holes in her back. They actually put a filler into the fracture. As said immediate pain relief. She did not go to rehab. Home health came in to do PT and OT. Taught her how to use a walker. She had to sit up in her recliner. Was told what to do and not to do. Shecwas 83 and recuperated well.

If your husband ends up in the hospital and rehab is recommended, send him. While there ask for a 24/7 evaluation. If its said he needs 24/7 care, then this is the time to place him. Some rehabs have LTC, makes for an easy transition from rehab to the LTC. Then you see an elder lawyer to have your assets split. His split goes to his care. When almost gone you apply for Medicaid. At that time, you remain in ur home, have a car and enough or all of your monthly income to live on.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Old retired Ortho nurse here (before I moved on to Cardiac) and as Burnt would remind you, my experience is at LEAST two decades old, hee hee ). AND orthopedic work has come a long long way since I was in it.
Your major question is one that only a GOOD ortho doc who is very in the know about hubby's entire history can guess at.
The real thing here is that it is unlikely either way to result, due to the chronic history with polio and neuropathy, which ISN'T going to get better, what concerns me as much here is any relief for YOU.
Backs are awful. Sometimes a fix is semi-miraculous. Other times it falls into "not everything can BE fixed".

You may be looking at leaving this in the hands of hubby's and doc's choice and you considering how much longer you yourself can go on.

Sorry. But I think that's a real question here. You are a human. Not a Saint. And the latter has a real bad job description attached.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Mom, 89, had reasonably good results at first with first kyphoplasty followed by two weeks of rehab. However, about a month later she had another fracture adjacent to the repaired one. While pain relief was almost immediate with both procedures, she experienced horrible delirium after the second surgery that resulted in a couple of months in hospitals and nursing homes. Didn't get back to baseline....some times worse than others with dementia/delirium. Talk to surgeon about kyphoplasty increasing risk to adjacent vertebrae. It's like putting a brick in between glass in my opinion...increases pressure on adjacent bones. With Mom's third fracture, she just used opioids to control pain for about a week along with lidocaine pain patches.
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Reply to Rapunzel10
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ShirleyDot Jan 13, 2025
Same happened to my MIL. Everything below the Kyphoplasty just shattered and she was in terrible pain again. Pain meds (fentanyl patch) and a back brace were the only solution.
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I have zero personal experience with this but I have heard great things about vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty which are minimally invasive procedures. Of course they may not be appropriate for her fracture but it may be worth investigating.
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Reply to cwillie
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Since you end your post with saying that you're "doing everything" and that you're "exhausted (and to be honest a little resentful)" it may be time to get your husband placed in the appropriate facility(regardless of which way you decide to go with his treatment)so you can get back to just being his wife and advocate and not his exhausted and resentful caregiver, as you matter too in this situation.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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My Mom has pretty bad kyphosis (curvature of the spine due to osteoarthritis). She's 95 and has tried everything but is too old for surgery. She insisted on a brace so we consulted with her PT. A proper brace was too difficult for her to put on by herself, and cumbersome so she gave it up. He can't have just any brace -- he needs one that will actually solve his problem.

I agree with waytomisery to talk to his ortho and explore other options.
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Reply to Geaton777
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What does his doctor say is best ?
The best option could be different for each individual . For example does he have very bad osteoporosis ?

My sister had a fracture and had extensive back surgery about 25 months ago . The surgeon did a lot of other work besides the one fracture because he said her spine was on the verge of collapsing from bad osteoporosis .

3 months ago she fell again and broke her hip . She also made some of the hardware in her back loose . Just had another check on that and it’s worse , with more loose hardware , her bones are just Swiss cheese and the screws are getting loose . Her spine is deteriorating more quickly than the doctor anticipated .

Did your doctor offer less invasive bone cement ?
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Reply to waytomisery
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waytomisery Jan 12, 2025
Edit .
Back surgery was 15 months ago not 25.
She also had a bad case of delerium afterwards .

Also the first surgeon she saw told her surgery would not fix it . The second surgeon said she needed it because her spine was going to collapse and be paralyzed, which looks like it will happen anyway .
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