Ramona Epperson

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On Sept. 3, Ramona was busy planting mums and pulling weeds to prepare her yard for fall. The bending and twisting aggravated her back, and x-rays and an MRI showed a compression fracture in her T-12 vertebra. After weeks of pain meds and no improvement, she consulted a spine specialist in hopes that she would be a candidate for kyphoplasty, a relatively simple procedure to repair the fracture. Unfortunately due to her advanced osteoporosis and the nature of the fracture, she was not a candidate for this procedure or back surgery. Only time would heal her fracture. 


During her weeks of pain management, she wasn't eating properly. The sequence of pain meds on an empty stomach took a toll. On Wednesday, Oct. 17, only eight days after her 80th birthday, her family found her on the floor of her bedroom. A large ulcer had eroded into her duodenal artery and was bleeding into her stomach. She was taken by ambulance to Methodist Germantown and a GI doctor successfully repaired the ruptured artery. After three days in ICU, she moved to a regular room, where she remained for 17 more days. On Monday night, Nov. 5, she was transferred to rehab at the Allen Morgan Health Center on the Trezevant Campus on Highland Avenue. 


Throughout this entire process, she has not been eating. Her family, friends and medical staff have tried everything to encourage her to eat enough to sustain her body and build her strength. So that's where we are now - a new room in rehab with the hopes that a change of scenery and new routine might inspire her to eat, regain strength and return to the joys of everyday living. Please keep her in your prayers.