Livin' and Lovin' in A-town

This Should Make for an Interesting Story

Most of you now know, as mentioned a few entries ago, I have been diagnosed with a tumor on my spine. First, let me say thank you to all of you who have showed your love and support through comments, email, and phone calls. Most of you know I like to keep my blog lite...don't weigh it down too much with personal details, sad stuff, etc. But, I felt like this was a pretty important thing happening in my life. I also thought on the off chance I seem preoccupied in the next few months, this might explain a little bit.

I went to the neurosurgeon Tuesday. I'm going to have a pretty invasive surgery on June 1st. I'll be in the hospital for 3-4 days and out of work for 6-8 weeks and won't return to my full working capacity for approx. 2 and a half to 3 months after the surgery. It's pretty insane. The tumor is attached to a pretty important nerve (my left leg sensory nerve) and is really close to another important nerve (motor skills of left leg), so there's some risk involved. The tumor is growing on the outside of my spine and on the inside of my spinal column. It's grown inside my spinal sack, so they'll have to slice that open, operate, then sew it back. He's compared the consistency of the spinal sack to a piece of wet tissue paper. Can you imagine having to sew that up?! With this kind of surgery there's also a risk that I could end up leaking spinal fluid...in that case they'd have to go back in and repair the spinal sack. They have to take out a section of bone from one of my vertebra to get to the whole tumor. Having to remove this piece of bone will leave my lower back very weak for some time.

For my first two days in the hospital I'll be laying on my stomach at all times. Once I'm able to go home, the doctor said he expects me to do very little...basically nothing but laying down. I'm not allowed to lift anything over a gallon of milk during those first 2 weeks. After that, I can slowly start building up my back strength again. After about 3-4 weeks I'll be able to go back to work...but only for a few hours a day and only to do paperwork or computer work. No lifting, setting up events, etc. So, I'll basically be at home all of June. Then slowly go back to work in July and hope to be up and going full speed by middle of August...in time for Opening Assembly, Welcome Week, etc!

So, that's pretty much the readers digest version. I'm finally coming to grips with the whole process. I honestly didn't expect this to be a big deal at all. I think I was pretty naive in thinking this was going to be a simple, nearly pain-free process that would hardly interfere with my life! Obviously I was wrong. This week I was pretty much just letting the news sink in.

Anyway...it's set for June 1st! It will be convenient to have the whole summer! 2009 will be the summer I laid around! I figure the smart thing will be to lay outside as much as possible. If I'm laying around, might as well catch some sun while doing it!

Again, thanks to all of you for your kind words, love and support. I continue to covet your prayers...and expect you to come to me this summer. Not sure I'll be traveling to see very many of you! Love to you all!