BackAlleve

I found out yesterday that my grandmother has spinal stenosis.

My mother dutily informed me as we were driving out to my grandmother's house in Boston. The holidays were right around the corner and we still had to discuss who was going to buy gifts for whom.My family has picking names out of a hat and doing Christmas "secret-Santa" style for a few years.

My grandmother is 89 years old, a Greek-American.  She is a very proud woman, and her talents include Greek and Italian cooking, sewing, and singing. For as long as I can remember, she has always harmonized, in a great big voice, on the last two notes of "Happy Birthday" when we sing it at family parties.

Her vision has been steadily deteriorating over the past few years.  We bought her a fairly expensive projector machine that magnifies documents to five or ten times so she can read the fine print on her bank statements and bills. Even with her eyesight as it is, my grandmother's handwriting is still impeccable. In fact, it's orders of magnitude better than mine.

I was really worried when I heard about her spinal stenosis.  Since I'd already done a fair amount of research on the internet regarding spinal stenosis, I knew that it is commonly associated with old age and often occurs naturally. The spinal column contracts resulting in pressure on the nerves, which causes pain. People with spinal stenosis are often characterized by a "hunchback" look, because bending over causes less stress to the spine than standing up straight. For a more technical description, check this out.

To date, here is no guaranteed cure short of surgery. And surgery isn't something she necessarily wants to forgo at 89 years old, unless it's absolutely necessary.

So, I mentally prepared myself for a bent-over, hunchbacked version of my grandmother as I rang her doorbell. As the door swung open, however, I was shocked to see that she looked no different than the last time I saw her. She greeted me with a warm smile and led my mother and me into the house. It was amazing, as if her back problem was a myth.

I watched her perplexed as she walked down stairs into the basement to get some onions to cook us a meal. Of course I offered to go downstairs in her stead, but she waved me away. She didn't seem any different than three years before she had been diagnosed with stenosis of the spine.

I thought spinal stenosis means you can't walk or standup straight, but apparently I was wrong. There are many different levels of spinal degeneration, ranging from what my grandmother is experiencing to people who can no longer perform basic daily tasks due to extreme back pain.

My grandmother has always been an active woman, and still is. I think this combined with pride is what keeps her going in spite of the back pain she must be experiencing. Although it would seem that there's no cure for spinal stenosis now, I plan on doing everything I can to make my grandmother's life even if just a little more comfortable.