Equipment Overhaul...

I know this is going to come to some people as a surprise, since I have not really been telling anyone that I was having more problems with my back since surgery in January. I went to see the neurosurgeon yesterday, for my second post-op, but also to discuss with him some problems I was having. After they removed the rod on the right side of my back, I was doing alright. I could still feel the screws on the other side since my skin and muscle has thinned in my back (due to so many surgeries, radiation, and other treatments), but they seemed secure to the doctor when I was lying on the operating table. I started to have more pain (well I don't remember being completely pain free, but a different pain started) with the one rod that was left. The top screw would pinch, and hurt and the bottom one developed some swelling right around it (I think it was some kind of infection or something) and was discolored. The fluid (or whatever it was) is not there anymore, but you can feel the metal and it is still discolored. I also had pain around that one sometimes. I had an x-ray before my appointment yesterday, and then went to talk to the surgeon. The first look at the x-ray and you could see on and face, and hear in his voice that he was concerned. It turns out that the metal cage in my back, known as a "Telescopic Plate Spacer" or TPS has actually shifted. 

Here is a picture that will hopefully help people understand what I am talking about:

 My family has bugged me about my posture since this whole ordeal started. I tend to roll my shoulders forward because it is more comfortable. Lately I have noticed that I cannot stand straight up. When I feel like I am totally straight, I actually still have a hunch in my back. I thought it was caused from so many years of bad posture, but I was wrong. What has happened is that the lower vertebra that the TPS is connected to is now "compromised", it has been weakened by the cancer, as well as all the surgeries and radiation. The other day, my younger sister Ellyn stood next to me and told me that I was shrinking, and essentially I have. The vertebra (I think it is T-11) is compressing. When this whole thing started I was around 5'6", but now I am like 5'4 1/2" or something. As you can see in the picture above, the TPS is now tilting, so the bottom of it is pushing backwards, causing the curve in my spine. In the X-Ray, you can also see there is a lot of pressure on the one rod that is left, so much it is causing it to start to have a bend to it. The doctor is nervous because the TPS is close to my spinal cord. 

The game plan for surgery actually includes three different surgeons, a neurosurgeon, a thoracic surgeon, and a plastic surgeon. They plan to do it in two stages, since it will be such a long surgery. They want to break it up both for me, and I am sure the surgeons. What they will do is on the first day, April 6, the neurosurgeon and the throacic surgeon will open me up and replace the TPS with a slightly longer one so that they can attach it to stronger bones. They will close me up, and then most likely the next day they will take me back to surgery where a plastic surgeon will somehow "flap" some muscle over my back where they have operated. The reason for this is to create more "padding" over the instrumentation because as I mentioned earlier the skin and muscle in my back have gotten so thin from repeated surgery and radiation. I will probably be in the hospital 7-10 days if all goes as planned. Then I will have to wear a brace for 6 weeks. I had to wear it once before, and it is horrible but I know it is important after such an extensive surgery. 

Since this all happened so fast, I know it has been a real shock to my family. Please pray for them to have peace through this. Especially Josh and my parents. I thank you for your continued prayers through my battle with cancer. Josh and I will try and post updates here when we can.

*I was trying to find a better picture, but you can kind of see how I am hunched forward in this picture. This is a picture of us in Nassau, Bahamas. We went on a four night cruise of the Bahamas with my sister Katie and her husband Josh, and my best friend Becky (Josh's Cockerill's sister) and her husband Mitchell. I am so glad we got to do this before having to have another surgery. It was wonderful and I wish I was still there...