Meeting with Spinal Neurosurgeon

We spent the night in Nashville last night at our usual Days Inn, then arrived right on time for our 8 a.m. appointment with Dr. Cheng.

The great news is that surgery is possible, even though the tumor is much more advanced and invasive than my previous spinal tumor. I will be having surgery on Friday, August 24 (barely three months after the NIL surgery). Pre-ops will be on Tuesday, August 7 along with my followup appointment with Dr. Holt.

I'll give more details later, but here are the highlights:

• The surgery will be very complex, and will last approximately 8 hours.
• I will be in hospital approximately 1 week, if all goes well.
• I will need to wear a back brace for a while until everything heals.
• There is some risk of paralysis from the surgery, but guaranteed paralysis -- and possibly other catastrophic damage -- without it.
• Pre-ops on August 7, and surgery at 8:30 a.m. (central time) on August 24.

Please PRAY that I won't end up paralyzed before the surgery can be done.

:-) Sharon