Time for a little update!

Taking a little break from my elf on the shelf shenanigans (for those following his journey on my facebook!). There is a lot going on these days to say the least! We all know how December is crazy busy with all the Holiday preparations. Throw in the mix a back surgery AND a last minute trip to New-York – perfect recipe for insanity!!!! So to explain what is going on, let me start with the back surgery. I had initially made an appointment with a neurosurgeon at Shands but given his reputation, he was not able to see me for the initial consult until December 21st (so surgery would not have been scheduled before somewhere in January). I decided to meet with two local back doctors who had come highly recommended. With the help of some “contacts”, I was able to get earlier appointments and as a fluke ended up seeing them both on the same day. I really liked them both and they both said that this type of surgery was basically pretty routine for them. I had told my husband that if they said they could do this procedure with their eyes closed then I would it get it done locally. Jokingly they both said they could do the surgery with their eyes closed but promised they would keep them open! The pain has been pretty bad and not improving so I decided I wanted to get the procedure done sooner rather than later…. One of the local doctor’s even said that I must a “tough girl” walking around with this level of disc herniation. This is what the problem is, a herniated disc with a fragment pressing on my nerve, hence the leg pain. I hear the leg pain should be gone soon after the procedure so I am pretty excited about that and from what I gather, the recovery should be pretty smooth. I had not realized that this would be done under general anesthesia but what choice do I have? So as I was getting ready for the surgery, I received a call last week from Mount Sinai in NY about the fruit fly study. I guess they have enough tumor sample to run their tests and this makes me eligible for the study. This means that I need to go back to sign the consent form. I was warned that this would be the case the first time I met with them, I still tried to plead my case with the back surgery being right around the corner but was told it was “study protocol” and did not have the choice if I wanted to be in the study, I had to come sign the consent form in person.

I was actually scheduled for chemo this morning and am leaving late afternoon for NY. I met with my oncologist and tried to see if the infusion could be speeded up since I am a bit on a tight schedule but it turned out that my platelets had tanked again and we made the executive decision to skip this week’s infusion so as to not jeopardize my surgery. I was so psyched to leave there without having the infusion!!! I know this is short and sweet but thought I would post this little update. Lots going on this week and I would love all the prayers, positive thoughts and energy, all the good vibes and mojo and all that good stuff in lieu of flowers! Thanks for all your support and love – I will post an update later this week!

New-York here I come!