To recap the insanity of the last six days:
Early last week, my Dad was having severe back pain that he was attributing to the compressed discs he has in his spine. However, on Tuesday the pain went away and suddenly his left leg was numb from the knee down. His doctor, becoming concerned, sent him for an MRI.
Wednesday afternoon, the doctor called a few hours after the MRI had been taken and asked my parents to come back to his office. On the MRI they found two tumors on my dad's spinal column. Thank goodness, the doctor immediately got them an appointment with the top neurosurgeon at Penn Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
At this point, I had sent out my initial prayer request as well as posting on Facebook and emailing the members of our parish. The phone calls and emails and text messages immediately started pouring in. Our pastor immediately organized an Forty Hours' Devotion, friends came to watch the small children so that my sister and I could travel to Philadelphia to be with our parents, hundreds of rosaries were offered by people around the world, Masses were said by many priests, my teachers and colleagues took over my students and excused me from classes, and everyone just generally went out of their way to make this difficult time as easy as they could for us.
Thursday morning, my parents made it to Philadelphia, and had their appointment with the doctor, which they assumed was just a consultation. The neurosurgeon said that my Dad had to go in for immediate surgery in order to prevent any other nerve damage.
Friday morning, my Dad went in for surgery. My sister and I raced to Philadelphia to be with my mother, who was taking all of this very hard. The last time I spoke to Dad before the surgery, he told me that I had to be strong for Mom. He was fine and we weren't to worry about him, but we had to help Mom keep it together.
Dad was in surgery for 15 hours. It was the longest day of my life.
Friday night, after he got out, we were permitted to see him in the ICU ward. He was awake and lucid and already joking around. When we told him about all of the prayers and help, he was very touched (one of the few times I'm seen him teary eyed) and he said that he felt like George Bailey, and that he hoped he deserved it.
Although they caused nerve damage and filled his spinal cavity, the tumors were not cancerous, which was the biggest concern. They weren't able to remove all of the tumor, because some of it was on nerves that were too dangerous to touch, but the neurosurgeon assured us that they were able to remove 90 or more percent of it.
Saturday, Dad was required to lay on his back for 24 hours, but he was awake, and they already had him eating regular food again. Sunday morning, they had him up on his feet and walking around. The speed of his recovery is really amazing!
Dad still has no feeling in his left leg, and the paralysis has moved up to his hip. He's going to have a limp and probably have to use a cane, but we're all so happy that that's the only negative outcome of this ordeal.
We just got the results of his full spinal MRI and there isn't any sign of tumors anywhere else, which is making us all deliriously happy. I'm confident that things only have gone so well because of everyone's prayers and kindness!
Dad will be released to go home tomorrow afternoon, and I think he'll be more than happy to be home. Already, he's on the phone- business as usual!
We feel so incredibly blessed, and my Dad thanks everyone from the bottom of his heart.
God has been very good to us and the power of the Rosary has triumphed!
Thank you all again, so very much!!!
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Here are some photos from Philadelphia. My sister and I coaxed my mom out of the hospital for a bit to try and help her take her mind off of things:
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| The inscription from the cornerstone of Pennsylvania Hospital. I find it kind of ironic that Benjamin Franklin is who wrote this, especially considering the first, third, and fourth lines. |
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| City Hall- Philadelphia, PA |
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| The beautiful Bed & Breakfast in which we stayed. It was 1/2 a block from the hospital and the innkeeper, Kathy, was so incredibly helpful and compassionate. |
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| My cocktail at lunch to help clear up my laryngitis. LOL. |
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| When we stepped out for Mass on Sunday morning- Check out St. Paul's Parish in Philadelphia, PA! The church is lovely and the priest says a beautiful Latin Mass!- we saw this nice old Corvette on our way. We took pictures to show Dad, although I think Mom wants it more than he does! ;) |
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| Ritz-Carlton, Downtown Philadelphia |
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| A bit of nerdiness on my part- Darth Vader helmet in the window of a very awesome comic book shop. :D |
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| They had Boba Fett, too! I would have taken a pic of the TIE Fighter Pilot helmet, but my battery went dead. |
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| And finally, but most importantly, my Dad (love him SO much), as of this afternoon (only three days after major surgery!) He's already back to work!! |
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