Christmas 2007

The last week has added complexity to an already complex situation, and just in time for the holidays. On Wednesday afternoon, Sandy’s oncologist called—the results of the MRI she had gotten the day before were in, and they weren’t good. The pain in her back was not from a pinched nerve, as Sandy had tried to assure herself. The pain resulted from the spread of the cancer to her spine. One vertebra in the thoracic region (T2) appears overwhelmed with the cancer and is assaulting her spinal cord. The interpretation was that this is an unstable situation and serious enough to warrant immediate hospitalization. The expectation was that they would administer IV steroids to reduce swelling and likely perform surgery on the vertebra that night.

We waited for the girls to come home from school so that we could spend some time with them and explain what was going on. Both girls handled it bravely and remained their steadfastly supportive selves. After some time, both girls got themselves ready for their practices (Hannah for swimming and Haley for gymnastics), and packed an overnight bag to take with them to different friends’ houses. Naturally, I talked with them a few times later during the night to keep them informed. I continue to be impressed by their strength and positive natures.

A few things seemed to work in Sandy’s favor, once admitted that Wednesday evening. First and foremost, the rest of the spine was clear. No evidence of cancer in any other vertebrae, except for the one noted above. Fortunately, the situation proved to be more stable than the images suggested. Next, the steroids were successful in reducing the inflammation around the spinal cord, which in turn marginalized the pain. The pain meds helped a little more, making the discomfort manageable. The surgeons agreed that things were stable enough for her to go home and we could consider postponing the surgery until after Christmas. It took all night and most of the morning to get to this point, but that is indeed what we decided to do. Sandy came home on Thursday afternoon, functioning no differently than she was before the doctors called, but with a little less pain.

It was very important to Sandy to be able to be home during Christmas. The idea of the surgery does not seem to intimidate her, nor does the prospect of rehabilitation from the procedure. However, the idea of spending Christmas in a hospital room instead of at home with her daughters was unacceptable to her. This made the decision to postpone the surgery an easy one. We have scheduled it for December 31st, to keep it under this year’s insurance coverage. As many of you know, insurance plans “reset” on January 1st, requiring new co-pays, deductibles, and so on. There is no sense throwing away money if we don’t have to, right?

The surgeons will remove all or most of the diseased vertebra on the 31st, fuse a number of remaining joints, and then reconstruct the part of the spine that has been compromised. I would think that we could get away with calling her the bionic woman now, given the use of titanium rods to reinforce the spine. That is a tough procedure for any of us to tolerate, and I am saddened that she will have to endure this one. It just doesn’t seem to get any easier. Fortunately, it should make her much more comfortable right away.

On a much more positive note, the houseful of people we expected for Christmas materialized as planned. Sandy’s parents arrived first, followed by her brother, Bob, and his wife, Amy, on Christmas Eve. We all made it to an early evening Christmas Eve service, followed by one great party with the Young’s (mmm…pome-tinis!). I was glad that I did not have to assemble any complex toys that night. The greatest surprise came on the afternoon of Christmas Day when Sandy’s sister, Beth, and her entire family, including Chris, Ryan, Lauren, and Lindsay, arrived. Of course, everyone knew they were coming except Sandy. The girls were thrilled to have their cousins here and Sandy was overwhelmed to have her sister with her for Christmas. Amazingly, this was the first Christmas they have spent together as adults (let’s just call it family pressures).

There is plenty more to write, but I'll quit now to get this posted. You'll have to check back to learn about Hannah's new, purple turf shoes from Northwestern's lacrosse team or Haley's new pet snake, a jeuvenile ball python named Slick.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all!