Two Days Out

I am writing this post in Cleveland; we are here hanging out with Megan's family and having various Christmas celebrations. I hope this blog will provide all information on what is going on with the family and me (yes, that is proper grammar:-) throughout the surgery and recovery period. Megan will post for me when I cannot, but I hope to be able to post again not too long after the surgery.

So, why am I having surgery? I have a "mass" inside my spine, and it has to be removed. The doctors are almost certain that it is benign, but there are no guarantees until they see it in person and analyze it. The doctors in Louisville called it an Ependymoma, but the doctors in Cleveland are not sold on that idea. They say it could be any of several types of benign masses. Dr. Benzel at the Cleveland Clinic says it has likely been inside my spine for over a decade, slowly growing. Surgery is the only option; if I were to leave it in there, it would ultimately paralyze me from the waist down. This would not happen immediately, but they said perhaps within 5 years. The doctors told us that the surgery is not urgent, but we wanted to get this over with as soon as we could. The best predictor of post-surgery outcome with this type of surgery is pre-surgery condition, so the sooner the better.

Some of you know that I had been having trouble with my legs recently, specifically my left calf muscle. For over a year I had been having serious leg cramps, some of which would wake me up at night and send me to the floor in pain. I wrote these off as runners cramps, but they got much worse in the fall of this year during soccer season. I noticed that I could not run as far or nearly as fast as I had been, and my leg muscles were really tight almost all the time. On November 2nd I went for a run and had excruciating pain behind my knees. Some of you saw the after effects of that run, as I limped around school for the next week or so. When I noticed about a week later that my left calf muscle simply wasn't working, I went to see my doctor. That visit started me on the road that led to my having an MRI of my back, which revealed the mass in my spine.

I was initially scheduled for surgery on January 2nd in Louisville, but after many, many consultations with a wide array of doctor friends within the KCD community (what an awesome benefit of my job!), I elected to pursue a specialist out of town. The Cleveland Clinic is a world-renowned research hospital, and they have a spine center that is top 5 in the country. Since Megan's family lives here as well, it was a natural fit.

It was only through the unbelievably humbling kindness of a friend, however, that this worked out the way it has. Dr. Paul Rychwalski, a KCD parent and friend of mine, recently took a job at the Clinic and is in the process of moving his family here to Cleveland. When I called him to ask for his advice, he went FAR above and beyond the call of duty. He immediately made myriad inquiries on my behalf, both within the Louisville medical community and with his brand-new colleagues at the Clinic. Over the course of a couple of days, he made a connection for me and immediately got me an appointment with with the head of neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic's Spine Center. I was simply floored by this display of friendship and caring, and I will forever owe Paul a HUGE debt that I will likely never get to repay fully. Regardless of the outcome of the surgery, Paul single-handedly got me in with the best surgeon at the Clinic, and Megan and I are very comfortable having him perform the procedure. THANK YOU, PAUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks also to the many other KCD parents and friends who quietly helped me with advice in the week or so before the holiday break. I contacted you, you helped, and you kept a lid on the information. Thanks especially Dr. Richard Paulsen, who took time out of his evening to look over my MRI in his HOME and offer his advice. Dr. Karla Guess, Dr. Kurt Liebman, Dr. Andy Laurel, and Dr. Steve Cawood also provided me with invaluable counsel. One final shout out to my cousin and friend Tim Teague, who spoke more fiercely than I have ever heard him speak (if you know Tim, you know how soft-spoken he is!) and told me I needed to look for the BEST surgeon I could find! Thanks, Tim, for all you did for me.

I am two days away from surgery now. Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to the Clinic for all sorts of tests, x-rays, more MRIs, and another meeting with Dr. Benzel and his team. My parents are coming in town to coordinate with Megan's family and take Alex and Lily into their care for a few days. This will allow Megan to be with me and oversee what happens in the hospital. She and I will stay together tomorrow night, and Tuesday morning I will head to the Clinic very early for surgery.

After that...who knows! The outcomes of this surgery range widely, from great to very poor. If you are interested in the details of specific outcomes, just google Ependymoma. Megan and I remain optimisitic that I will come through it well and be back on my feet soon. My plan right now is to be back at work after winter break, but that will have to be amended based on the outcome. If I am able, I will be back sooner, and I really hope that happens. I have a personal goal to be back by February 1st. If you know me, you know I HATE sitting around. Several people have told me that my impatience will be my worst enemy in the recovery process. I know that it is going to take a while, perhaps a long while.

Megan and I would ask that you PLEASE visit this blog whenever you are curious about what is up with us, rather than asking her or the children about it. This has been a rather stressful time for our family, and we are requesting that everyone treat the children as though nothing were out of the ordinary. They will be back in school when it resumes on the 6th. They know VERY generally what is happening, but they have been sheltered from most all the details for obvious reasons. Megan also needs to get back to work in as normal an atmosphere as possible when she comes back. She will have been under considerable stress, and it will be healthy for her to get back into a normal, humdrum work routine, without a lot of questions. Thanks for your quiet support of her and Alex and Lily. I know everyone will be looking out for them, because we work with great people and great friends.

Everyone is welcome to send questions or greetings via this site, and we will respond. I look forward to hearing from all my friends and family, as it has been you who have gotten me through this up to this point.

I guess that is all for now. By the time most of you read this I will be out of surgery and hopefully on the road to a complete recovery. More news later.