Tues. Apr.29th Update

Thanks to all who prayed for the injection yesterday. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The Dr. injected some dye into the spinal canal right at the base of the spine. He wanted to make sure the medication he was going to inject in this area would radiate up into my lumbar and thoracic cavities. But the dye stayed clogged into a very small space as the scar tissue from past surgeries and radiation prevented it from going further up.

So we had a long consultation and looked at my recent MRI's. I once again got to see those bad boys of cancer up and down the spine but he did found a space between the areas of surgeries I have had. (If you remember, I have had sections of vertebrae taken out and cancer removed from the spinal cord twice in my lower lumbar/sacrum [your hip down to the tail bone] and once in my thoracic area [right in the middle of my back] as well as twice in my neck and lower brain)

He said he could inject some of the medication in this space. However, this would involve the needle actually penetrating the spinal sack and to going into the spinal fluid. Basically, it is just like a spinal tap I had a week ago - but instead of drawing out spinal fluid, he wants to inject medication into it. He hopes that the medication - a mixer of Novocain and anti-inflammatories - would then spread both downward into my lumbar/sacrum area and upward to my thoracic. Whenever you compromise or break into this sack - there is potential risks of infection, nerve damage and the danger of the hole not healing up which would create a spinal fluid leak - which is an awful experience. It has happened to me only once - but the headache is tremendous and you must remain totally flat for days until it heals up. Any move to a vertical position makes the headache unbearable.

We decided to go ahead and give it a try and set it for tomorrow (this Wednesday) at 8:15am. So, once again, you can pray for this very sensitive procedure on my spine. I don't like to keep poking around making holes into my spine but this may be a way to overcome this upsurge in my symptoms - so I'm willing to take the risks.

Thank you so much for your prayers. I know they keep me from harm and the Lord uses them and the Dr.'s skill in this whole healing process. Will let you know how it goes.