One of the most agonizing decisions my husband has ever made was to have his spine operated on.
He’s been dealing with a nagging pain in his lower back for three years. There were good days and bad days, but in recent months, the pain had worsened, preventing him from doing the thing he enjoyed most, golf.
Our apo has gotten bigger, now 3 years old, and of course, heavier. Another baby is arriving in two weeks, and Wowo is looking forward to have a strong back to carry this second apo and when necessary, he can still lift Theo.
A big hope for a better quality of life. Simply put.
That brought him to different hospitals and doctors. He consulted with a doctor at the University of California in San Francisco, a spine specialist at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, and with an American doctor at the St. Mary’s Medical Center in Daly City. He also went to Philippine General Hospital, Cardinal Santos Hospital, St. Luke’s Medical Center in BGC, and two weeks ago he consulted with two specialists at the Mount Elizabeth in Singapore. He also had tests done there including MRI.
He was encouraged to seek treatment here at Wooridul Spine Health by his friend, Carlos Yao, who had a similar back problem as Edmund. Carlos’ surgery was in March of this year and he is now back to his normal routine including playing golf.
With that information, he was emboldened to immediately schedule the surgery after our short meeting with Dr. Junseok Bae, who is an orthopedic surgeon.
Wooridul Spine Hospital specializes in less invasive surgeries and spine treatments. This gave my husband high expectations and hope that this was a good choice to have the surgery done. The other hospitals and doctors he consulted before were also specialists in this field. But siguro napagod na rin ang husband ko kaya narito na kami, let’s just get this done and over with.
What frustrates me is the language barrier. It’s so difficult to communicate with everyone around here. There’s an English speaking interpreter and concierge assigned to international or English-speaking patients. Dr. Bae also speaks English, but even then, a lot of things get lost in translation.
We are in a foreign country and I feel so alone with no family here. I spent the night staring at the clock while my tears flowed. I couldn’t help but worry. I just prayed to God to touch the hands of all the doctors and nurses here so that they’ll be guided while doing surgery on my husband’s spine. I don’t want anything to happen to him. I want him to be liberated from this chronic pain.
I hope everything will turn out well. We want to go home the soonest, with a big smile on my husband’s face. We’re itching to go home. Our daughter is giving birth in two weeks and she and Theo need us there.
I would like to express my appreciation to all those who have sent messages of support and prayers.
Thank you for your genuine concern.
