An Unexpected Turn of Events

The past few weeks have been relatively uneventful as far as Michael is concerned, and that’s a good thing. It’s been a blessing to see him feeling good and being able to freely participate in social activities. His ANC and hemoglobin are both in the normal ranges for a healthy teen. The drug that he is on does not negatively affect his blood, immune system, or energy. And apart from being attached to a pump 24/7, it’s been good to see him acting like our normal healthy Michael.

As I think I’ve previously stated, our visits to Ann Arbor tend to be shorter during this course. It’s still about a two-hour drive one way depending on traffic, but we tend to only be in the hospital for an hour or two instead of all day.

Michael recently had his first regular dentist appointment of the year. If memory serves me correctly, this appointment was first scheduled for March. We have had to reschedule multiple times due to Michael’s chemo and a couple of unplanned extended hospital stays. Our doctors at Mott have advised us not to take him to the dentist when his immune system is compromised. That gives us a relatively small window in which he can see the dentist. But we were finally able to get an appointment scheduled when Michael wasn’t in the hospital, and his immune system wasn’t compromised. We were grateful to hear that everything looks good, and that Michael doesn’t need to see the dentist for another six months.

We were recently able to attend “School night” for evangelistic services at Calvary Baptist Church in Midland, MI. This is the church I grew up in and still have many close ties too. The man that I think of as my senior pastor, Pastor Dan Dickerson, is the one who recommended me to the leadership team of First Baptist Church when they were looking for a new pastor. I am indebted to him in many ways. My children attended Calvary Baptist Academy, and accordingly, were a part of “School Night.” Sarah teaches at Hidden Treasures Preschool, which is also a ministry of CBC, so she got to work that evening. The speaker for the evangelistic meetings, Ben Everson, is a good friend whom I have known for the majority of my life. It was a blessing to sit in the service with Michael, hear my kids sing and play their instruments, watch Sarah lead her group of 4-year-olds, and hear a good friend preach.

After the service, there was ice cream in the gym. My kids practically dragged me down the hallway to get there. Sarah had to wait until all the children in her class were picked up before she could join us. After my kids scarfed down their ice cream sandwiches, they quickly dispersed around the gym to find their friends. It was neat to see Michael standing in the bleachers surrounded by several of his classmates.

My youngest child has been very vocal in recommending Ben Everson’s music to her classmates. After she had eaten her ice cream she asked if she could go talk to Him. Ben very graciously gave her a free CD of his latest music and even signed it for her. It absolutely made her evening.

On Wednesday, October 8th, I received a phone call from my doctor’s office. As noted in my last post, I had an MRI on my back on the prior Monday evening. The lady calling from the doctor’s office told me that my doctor wanted to meet with me to go over the results. My experience with this office is that when everything is fine, they just tell you over the phone. The fact that the doctor wanted to see me in person was not encouraging. We scheduled an appointment for Friday morning.

That Friday morning, I walked into my doctor's office, knowing that the report from the MRI was likely worse than I had hoped. I knew from a previous CT scan that I had three bulged discs in my lower back, but I was not prepared for what the doctor would share a few moments later. He shared with me that I had two discs that were mildly to moderately compressed and putting some pressure on nerves on my left side. These were what was causing the pain on the left side of my low back and in my left leg (which has drastically improved within the last two weeks). The third disc between my L4 and L5 vertebrae was moderately to severely compressed and putting pressure on a nerve bundle on my right side. This is what is causing the numbness in my right hip. What I wasn’t prepared for was when he told me that the MRI revealed “something” on my L1 vertebra. He emphasized to me that neither he nor the MRI techs were exactly sure what it was, but that it could be a small mass.

Because of everything that is going on with my spine, I am being referred to a neural surgeon. The surgeon that I am being referred to has an excellent reputation in our area. But it can sometimes take a few months to get in to see him, because he is in high demand. I actually saw him almost twenty years ago for a head injury caused by a bad car accident. But now, it’s just another waiting game.

The news about the possibility of a mass on my spine hit me hard. I held it together in the doctor’s office, but struggled with my emotions when I called Sarah, and then my mom. Your mind automatically goes to worst case scenario: Could it be possible that with everything else going on in our lives, we could be dealing with not one but two cancer patients in our family? It’s impossible for your mind not to go there. And the prospect of not having answers for a few more months is really hard.

I am currently scheduled to see the surgeon in early December and am on a cancellation list that will hopefully allow me to be seen earlier. I will say that my chiropractor informed me that masses in the lumbar spine are extremely common and that they are rarely cancerous. I will also say that after a very emotional day or two, the Lord has settled my heart. While the questions are always in the back of my mind, He has given me the grace to be able to function and live for the most part without worry.

Today we are headed back to Ann Arbor for Michael to get disconnected from his pump, have his pic line removed and get an immunoglobin transfusion. He we be off chemo for a week, before we begin the course known as Delayed Intensification. Over the course of eight weeks, he will get almost every drug that he was on during the first two (and most difficult) courses of his chemo. The one exception to this is that He will not be put back on CALPEG which we are very grateful for. We expect this upcoming course to be challenging. These drugs tend to wreak havoc on Michael’s ANC and hemoglobin. He will likely be pretty wiped out several days a week and will likely not be able to attend church or social events during this time. Thanksgiving will take place right during the middle of this course, and while we have plans to be with my parents, there is a very real possibility that we may be enjoying Thanksgiving with just our immediate family at home. Michael should be done with Delayed Intensification about ten days before Christmas. We have been told that once we are through this particular course, things get significantly easier. We are looking forward to that reality.