Armed police swarm on Allenton address
ASHBURTON
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
No help for Marj’s pain BY TONI WILLIAMS
TONI.W@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Marj Greenaway is in constant pain but can’t get any help. The active 82-year-old needs stenosis surgery but has been bumped off the waiting list three times. Mrs Greenaway is distressed and her frustrated doctor even suggested to seek public attention through the Guardian, as a desperate last resort.
“I’m just sick of it,” she said, obviously distressed. “I don’t feel I’ve got a quality life the way I am.” Spinal stenosis is a narrowing in the lumbar spine where bones come together and press on the nerves of the spine, causing shooting pain from her lower back and down her leg. She has discomfort sleeping and walking is difficult. But Mrs Greenaway is a battler. At 82 years, she wonders if age is the reason she is being brushed aside. But she lives independently, still has a driver’s licence
and is active in the community – a Meals on Wheels volunteer, a member of Ashburton Ladies Probus Club and supporter of MSA Bowling Club, often found in the kitchen making sandwiches. In recent years she nursed her husband before he died, and before that bowled and line danced. “What, they think I’m old and in the pit?” Ashburton general practitioner Dr Penny Holdaway is frustrated by the plight of
Mrs Greenaway, and others facing similar problems in the health system. The original diagnosis was for surgery. “If she doesn’t get help she will end up in a rest home, will not be able to manage and need taxpayer help, but with surgery she could maintain her independence.” She has been given medical relief but there are “limits to what doses we can do”. “Personally, it’s horrible to see people in awful pain, and you know they are in awful pain and you’re doing everything you can. “We are trying to get her pain under control but what is going on there is a pretty tall order.” Dr Holdaway said the way to relieve some pain would be to take the pressure off the nerves. “I certainly wouldn’t be sending a lady in her eighties for surgery if I had something else up my sleeve. “There would be no way, but we have tried all the other methods.”
Marj Greenaway’s independent lifestyle is under threat as she battles the health system. PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 120214-TM-037
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