In early February into early March, Lisa was attending weekly physical therapy sessions. She was just beginning to practice walking with walking sticks instead of a walker. She did miss a couple of sessions due to sinus issues. Then, on March 27th, she suffered a fall at home.

We were preparing to leave the house for a procedure; as Lisa moved from the walker to her power chair, her right knee gave way. Micah and I had both stepped away from her and she fell on her buttocks, which landed hard on the chair's footrests, and her lower and mid-back hit the edge of our brick fireplace hearth. She was in some pain, but managed to go on to the procedure. In the ensuing weeks, the pain did not significantly ease, and recently it has gotten worse. After getting a referral from her primary care physician, yesterday Lisa had her first appointment with the UNC Spine Center. She had been treated there several years ago for both lumbar and cervical problems, and had a cervical fusion nearly six years ago.

Lisa now has an MRI set for late May. In the meantime, she is taking things as easy as possible. Her palliative care doctor increased the dosage of her buprenorphine patch to help manage the pain.