Another update . . .

We met with an orthopedic surgeon this morning and he confirmed what we suspected.  The two conditions that Rusty have are not going to get better and will probably just continue to get worse - so surgery is in order.  It will take him 3-4 months to recover enough to keep Alaina again so we will have to work out a temporary arrangement.  The surgery involved screwing some bones together, fusing some others together, drilling some out to make more room for nerves and using donated bone.  Sounds fun, huh?  But they said it should only be an overnight stay and has an 85% success rate.  We have scheduled it for December 20, after our cruise, and will rely on epidural steroid injections until then.  Rusty has one tomorrow and it has a 75% chance of drastically relieving the pain.  Cross your fingers for that one.  He can't remember what it feels like to not have pain.