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Not Diabetic Related. Anybody any ideas?

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Austin Mini

Austin Mini

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
My brother (58) lives in Napier, New Zealand. A few weeks ago he hurt his back. He was slowly getting better but on Saturday he lost the use of his legs. He was taken to the hospital where they placed him in a pool but he still cant use his legs, cant stand or walk. Its 9.0pm here in UK now and its Monday morning in NZ so the hospital main staff will be back to work again for the week perhaps hear some more from his wife Monday morning. Has anybody ever heard of this happening and what to expect? I dont fancy (or can afford) a trip to NZ before Christmas but if needs be then I will have to go. I am keeping in touch with his wife by email. Theres no NHS in NZ.
 
Hi Austin, so sorry to hear about your brothers problems. Can't offer any advice but wishing your brother well and hope he is soon on his feet again.
 
Hope it turns out to be something very temporary Austin, I'm afraid I have no idea what it might be.
 
Clueless, sorry.

Hope it IS temporary.
 
So sorry to hear about your brother AM. Hope he gets well soon.
 
I would think this needs hospital tests to found the cause. If you want to worry yourself try this site:
http://symptoms.rightdiagnosis.com/cosymptoms/leg-paralysis/lower-back-pain.htm
but it's a bit like looking up a medical dictionary to find out what you've got from your symptoms and finding out you've got the plague! Alternatively you might understand some of the jargon the medics use.

Good luck.
 
I am sorry to hear about your brother and hope he makes a full recovery. It is probably only temporary, the body has many ways to getthe rest it needs and this is probably one of them.
 
Sorry, I'm as clueless as the rest. My own brother's car was hit side-on by a speeding motorist and he escaped without injury, but the investigations he had uncovered a condition called scoliosis that would have crippled him without treatment. Sometimes apparently bad things can be a blessing in disguise - let's hope this is one of those situations.
 
I'm not going to try to guess the causes of your brother's problems, but hope that he can see a doctor as soon as possible for the necessary investigations and treatment. Given the time difference, he should be on his way by now.

As far as I know, there's no hospital in Napier, but there are others in Hawke's Bay Area eg Hastings. While there is no NHS in New Zealand, there is a public healthcare system, plus private insurance, with Southern Cross the biggest company in the field. Plus volunteer bodies such as Red Cross and St John Ambulance play important roles in supporting people with health problems eg helping with transport and providing accommodation near hospitals for visitors and people having outpatient treatment.
 
Thanks everybpdy. He is in Hospital in Napier, NZ where he lives. I havnt heard anything this morning where in NZ its tonight. Will keep you posted.
 
My brother had an MRI scan last night (our time) which showed a prolapsed disc. He is now on 'Nil by Mouth' and surgery may be tonight (our time).
 
Austin Mini said:
My brother had an MRI scan last night (our time) which showed a prolapsed disc. He is now on 'Nil by Mouth' and surgery may be tonight (our time).
Click to expand...

good wishes to you time difference is a nightmare ...my dad 79yrs is in USA and that bad enough
 
Austin Mini said:
My brother had an MRI scan last night (our time) which showed a prolapsed disc. He is now on 'Nil by Mouth' and surgery may be tonight (our time).
Click to expand...

Sending good wishes to your brother. I hope he has a speedy recovery as well 🙂
 
Hope it all goes well for him. A prolapsed or ruptured disc can trap or apply pressure to a nerve(s) and potentially cause the problems he has been experiencing.
 
Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I expect the recovery period will be long. They have their house up for sale as they want to move back to Auckland, but perhaps they will return home, who knows? He told me its a strange place to live as its always shaking about! His bungalow is timber construction with galvanised roof would you believe. Where they live its on a large rock so pretty safe from earthquakes but you never know. Volcanoes just happen eek.
 
By bro-in-law started off from school as an apprentice bricklayer. He can do all the things a structural engineer can do, except he hasn't got letters after his name.

Nothing he ever built or shopfitted or refurbished from several swimming pools in their houses to a 3 storey doctor's surgery/office block has fallen down yet.

I'm telling you this because they went to live in Oz in 1998 and their first owned house was a really old Queenslander they did up and turned into a boutique B&B; finally they retired again and their latest one is too except he built the new one. What's a QLDer? - it's a wooden house built on wooden stilts with a balcony on most sides, and a wriggly tin roof.

Why wriggly tin? Have you SEEN the size of their hailstones? Seriously. They regularly smash through tiles and slates on roofs. They just dent the tin a bit more and then roll off.

My first husband had to have a laminectomy (removal of disc) and it's always tricky because of the spinal cord and all the risks surrounding that, but hey his left leg had nearly died from the sciatic nerve being trapped and the blood supply wasn't doing v well - so it was Hobson's choice. 3 - 4 month's recovery. And nowt ever wrong with him again for 20+ years until his thyroid went on holiday. PS he was self-employed so he did go back the minute he could, he never stretched it out or anything.

Grumpy as hell LOL - warn your sister in law!

I'm very relieved it's something relatively simple.
 
If it's the building bit LOL when they build brick etc houses on a concrete raft - you know how we have to get the 'slump' right and leave it ages and ages to dry out cos if you dry it too quick it cracks and you want your building to last longer than 5 minutes? Well they can't actually avoid that really in OZ so they do cover it up and put the sprinklers on anyway, but they also design cracks in.

Why? - because (newbuild) houses are only sposed to last approx. 25 years..........

None of us have got our heads round that yet. And BiL has completely given up on that score! Standard of workmanship is appalling too, don't start any of us on that one. Anyway - you can buy any new house you want pre-fab and have it delivered to your site, couple of weeks and you're in ...... none of this first fix and second fix business!

Or was it the back bit you found interesting? LOL
 
Sounds like it could be a prolapsed disc, my uncle had one years ago and couldn't walk for a while (had to be pushed around in a wheelchair) and was in severe pain with it.
 
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