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BB needs Back Surgery

April 29th, 2010 at 10:34 pm

BB needs back surgery. Major back surgery.

He ruptured 2 disks about 5-6 years ago preparing for spring training and has been gimping along since. He never went in for treatment because no team would take him and the liability of his injury if they suspected they would have to pay for surgery/rehab and maybe disability. So he pretended nothing hurt and downplayed his back injury whenever a team asked about his MRI results.

Now that he is no longer playing, BB went in and had a cartilage shot put in to relieve some of the pain. The shot worked for about 3 days and the pain returned.

This made BB even more sensitive to the pain and now he is almost in agony. He went to a Back Specialist who diagnosed it as Degenerative Disk disease and said there is no option other than surgery. They need to put rods and bungee cords in the back to lift the disks that are crushing each other.

So...this leaves so many questions. BB does not want to get surgery during the baseball season. He is open to the idea of getting it done in the off season but he is very concerned about still getting The Impulsive Purchase renovated in September. I told him to decide what he wants to do with his back and then we will schedule everything around that- but he is still prioritizing The Impulsive Purchase.

I am very confused. I dont know what we should do.
Here are the facts:
If BB gets back surgery- he will be in the hospital for about a month lying flat on his back. The Back Specialist is in FL and that's the guy we would use. He's the Back Specialist for all the baseball teams up and down the east coast. BB's father has offered to come down to FL to be there for BB because his Dad works from home and can work from FL.

I would still be in GA working and use my vacation days to travel to see him. There might be a possibility I could go on some sort of Disability? to care for him? I don't know if that is an option. There is also a possibility I could work from FL because everything I do is through the computer and phone anyways. That would be complicated and I don't think my work would like that idea. More than likely I would have to stay in GA if I wanted to keep my job.

After a month- BB would go through 3-4 months of rehab. He can do that here in GA. He would need to travel flat on his back which would be a little complicated but we could manage. During the 3-4 months BB would not be working obviously. Not a big deal as long as his MLB team renews his coaching contract. His contracts are only a year long. As long as they renew his contract he will continue to get paid year round. If they do not renew it then his paychecks will run out in December and we would have to rely on pitching lesson money- which would be difficult to get since he only had 1 client last year. He was planning to build up his client base this off season- but that wouldn't work out with the surgery.

And now we come to The Impulsive Purchase. We were planning to start renovations in September. That means we would ask the tenants to leave and we would carry the mortgage ourself. BB still wants to do the renovations even if he has back surgery. I don't feel comfortable taking on the additional $1300 a month debt plus $40k renovation debt when he is getting surgery and we don't know how it will turn out. (I forgot to mention that the doctor told BB its a 50/50 chance that the surgery will help relieve his pain.)

We could put off the renovations till after BB is back from Surgery...in October. I just don't really want to take on all of this at once. I don't want to work 40 hrs a week, care for BB and monitor a renovation. And BB knows this- so he is saying that he wants to come home in September to start the renovation. He wants to oversee the project and then get the back surgery. But that's not really enough time for him to complete rehab before the next baseball season starts in February (Assuming his contract will be renewed).

I feel like this is a tricky situation. We are going to have to be delicate in the decisions we make so that we don't get into financial trouble.



5 Responses to “BB needs Back Surgery”

  1. NJDebbie Says:
    1272583759

    I'm so sorry that your hubby has to get back surgery. If I were you I'd put off renovating the impulse purchase until BB is fully recovered.

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1272586394

    I am sorry, too. I know a few people with the same thing, lately. Excruiatingly painful from what I understand. But the surgery was helpful.

    I'd put off the renovation, too.

  3. Analise Says:
    1272590618

    So sorry to hear about BB. Back pain can really impact one's quality of life, and surgery could help him. You really have no choice.

    Ditto on the renovation... put it off for now.

  4. LittleMsMom Says:
    1272639151

    Sorry I agree put off the renovation for the time being (at least until you see how he is recovering from the surgery AND how the contract works out).

    Can you touch on WHY he is so set on still doing the renovation in September?

  5. Homebody Says:
    1272660407

    I am sorry Game. I used to work for a back surgeon and I have some degenerative disks too, it is so painful. I believe there is family leave available for taking care of sick family members, but I am not sure you can get paid, just supposedly guarantees you keep your job, but not sure on that. Hang in there.

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