Why can she not walk?

[Stavroulla]

This is about my mom, for a year now she has been bed ridden. And we just cannot figure out why. She was absolutely fine, very active and then began experience severe pain in her left leg. Within a week she could no longer stand due to the excruciating pain. It was so horrific to the point she asked to die. She cried in pain for months. The doctors said it was osteoporosis but we thought surely she would have felt gradual pain not a sudden gush of pain. She then started swelling up really fast and really big around her pelvic area, around where her ovary would be on her left side. This filled with pus, had a terrible smell, and exploded to the point where the entire bed was drenched. The doctors said this was an abscess and needed draining. It was drained continuously, in and out of surgery and it was still leaking. They then informed us that it had been drained completely, performed skin grafting and it still leaks through a whole of what looks like a pimple. This might even be where it was drained from. The doctors have no answers and she is so scared to go through yet another surgery. My mother had been on warfarin for over a decade, when the doctors came to find this out they said that could be the underlying cause of all the damage as she should have never been on it for that long. Every time we go to a doctor it is just a different story every time. I know it is really difficult to help but maybe these symptoms sound familiar to someone? She is not paralysed, has complete feeling in both her legs. One of the doctors said her lower spine was too weak to support her body another doctor said her bones are perfectly normal for a woman of her age (64 next month) she complains of absolutely no pain in her back or anywhere else except her left leg the same leg where the abscess was. She is now off of Warfarin, she has been for a year. Her blood is fine.  Her xrays are fine, ct scan was fine, we are waiting for an MRI scan to be done as they cannot find her first results. I do need to add she lives in a small town in South Africa. We do not have many facilities or good ones at least. Someone please help... please.

[specialmom]

Wow, I'm heartbroken to read about your mother. That is so much to go through.  She is probably feeling so depressed.  And it is so hard for a loved one to watch their parent suffer like that!  I'm sure this has been overwhelming for her with the pain and life change but also for you in terms of caregiving.  And to have no answers.

I do know things atrophy from not being used.  A friend of mine had foot surgery and couldn't put weight on it for many weeks. She could hardly walk after that period of time of being immobile for her muscles had atrophied and it felt like she couldn't support herself on them.  No idea if this is part of it.

but I'd imagine she suffers great fear and anxiety which contributes to.

Do they have physical therapists or what may be called physiotherapists where you are? This is a specialty that would work with her to get strength back, to overcome pain situations, to help her get back on her feet.  Is that a specialty they have near you?