[Cheryl0331]

Originally Posted by LauraB

Cheryl, This has been the most difficult decision I've made for quite some time. I've let my situation go for five years because I didn't have confidence in the alternatives offered by US surgeons. I really have very little time left before permanent damage can occur - so I basically am not allowed to do anything around my house so as not exasperate my condition.

I had to look at my life in a completely different way. I've never spent anything on myself, raised my kids, and our date nights are trips to Home Depot (oooooh). People spend more on a car for five years than they would on their body. This was something I had to keep repeating as a mantra to consider myself as an asset.

I have taken out a home equity loan, cashed out my IRA, emptied my savings, and talked to a few relatives about assisting with some travel. It has been a very humbling experience, but I plan on going back to work full-time with my new neck. We've changed the spending attitudes around our home and our kids (adults) have new responsibilities. This situation has had some silver linings too.

My car is $22,500, why not spend $32,000 or so on myself. Wow, what a shocking eye-opener! Now I have sheltered my husband from most of this. I need to arm myself with my final facts and show it to him. I need to know how to move forward with a loan or 2nd mtg. and I can't do that without his support. He has lost faith since every surgery has only made things worse. It the fusion that caused the adjacent level ddd. The 3/4 was doing fine before the fusion at 4/5.