I'm a firm believer that God gives you gifts large and small every day and you just need to be mindful to realize what they are and be grateful. That was certainly the case yesterday. We were sitting in the wonderful little house we are calling our Houston home around 9:00 am when Brenda's phone rang and it was MD Anderson saying that they had moved up our Neurosurgeon appointment to that day at noon!!!! Holy Cow! Remember that that appointment wasn't supposed to happen until the 21st so this was absolutely fantastic news. 

We jumped in the shower, got all our paperwork together and were out the door by 11. Needless to say we were nervous and exciting to get some advice on the tumors and how to deal with Brenda's horrible, disabling pain. Thank you God!! We were off to see Dr. Claudio Tatsui.

After giving a full rundown to Dr. Tatsui's nurse, Dr. Wolf, his medical fellow, came in to begin the appointment. She immediately said that the best course of action was to WAIT!!! No surgery should be done at this stage of the game. Immediately both Brenda and I thought,"How is Brenda going to deal with this pain?" She went on to say that the tumors were a little reduced and appeared stable. She showed us the MRI's from September 2018 and the one recently done in January. 

Dr Tatsui came in and confirmed what Dr. Wolf had already said. The tumors were stable and small and surgery just wasn't called for at this stage of the game. It could potentially cause more problems. Brenda was in so much pain that she just got weepy thinking that she would have to live with this. You know the hell that chronic pain causes...Brenda was totally into that hell and the medicine that she was on just wasn't helping. Dr. Tatsui did say that he thought that the tumors were NOT responsible for all the pain that Brenda was experiencing. He said that it was a combination of a lot of factors...the past surgery to remove the broken catheter, the radiation, muscle issues and bone issues. He said that he wanted us to see Dr. Christina Le, a pain specialist and he would arrange to get us in that day!!! Amazing! Another of Gods gifts.

Dr. Tatsui did say that it was possible for Brenda to use a pain pump which was implanted to deliver pain medicine directly to her spine. We were going to explore options with Dr. Le. So off we went to that appointment. This is the wonderful thing about MD Anderson...it's all under one roof so to speak with comprehensive communication. He had already communicated his advice and the particulars to Dr. Le.  Amazing! Why can't they do this in Phoenix???

So once again, we talked to Dr. Le's medical fellow before we saw her. She clarified what pain meds Brenda was currently on and where her most intense pain was. When Dr. Le arrived she did the same thing...poor Brenda, after sitting in hard chairs most of the afternoon was really hurting and I think the point was clearly made to Dr. Le that she just couldn't live this way. Dr. Le was wonderfully understanding and began her suggestions. First they would totally change Brenda's pain medicines to ones that might work better. Any adjustments could be made to those as needed through Dr. Le's office. She also talked about using a pain pump to deliver medicine directly to the affected site in Brenda's spine. When we said that we lived in the metro Phoenix area, Dr. Le said that she had a great referral for us there. She knew Dr. Lisa Sterns at the Arizona Center for Pain and Support and said that we should definitely make an appointment with her. She was very experienced with cancer pain and pain pumps. So God just gave us another gift! 

So we picked up part of the new medicine order at the MD Anderson pharmacy and we go get the other 2 meds today. We changed our flight and WE GO HOME TOMORROW!!!! That's another HUGE gift from God!! 

The other piece I forgot to mention was that we saw the resident in radiology with just one question...if it became necessary...could additional radiation be given to Brenda's spine?  The answer was yes but that would potentially cause additional problems with nerve damage and bone weakening. But the question was asked and answered. 

By the time we got home last night we were totally exhausted mentally and physically. What a wild ride that day was but all in all...good news and solutions on the horizon. All the prayers and good thoughts you all have put out into the universe have definitely helped us find answers. We will forever be grateful for all the angels that have come into our lives to help us alone this journey. 

Time to clean the house and get packed to GO HOME!!!!

Nurse Dee...and the sun is finally shining in Houston!!! Another gift from God!