Thursday, March 5, 2009

Another Trip to Boston

We returned from Boston yesterday after a long day full of appointments. We met with Sammy's surgeon Dr. Smith for her post op appointment first. All went well there, her scar is healing nicely and he was happy to see such drastic improvements in her physical abilities. He is really wonderful and we had the opportunity to thank him for his wonderful work. He was pretty modest and gave Sammy all the credit, but he is truly amazing! The last time he saw her was when we were in the hospital after her surgery. We then headed over to the Jimmy Fund clinic to meet with her oncologists so that they could evaluate her recovery as well, they last saw her three weeks ago. They also indicated that in the three weeks that had past since our last meeting she had made huge strides in her physical abilities. Finally we met with the opthamologists to see if any damage had been done to her vision by either the tumor or the surgery and I am happy to report that her vision is perfect! She can see very well, and has no limitations to her peripheral vision and no nerve damage. They were very surprised given the type of tumor she had as well as the the type of surgery she went through. They were really very pleased and couldn't stop smiling! Let me tell you there is nothing better than smiling doctors! Sammy really is such a miracle!

For the past couple of days Zach and I have both been pretty nervous. It is really hard to evaluate someones physical abilities when you see them every day. I got myself into a bit of a panic watching her walk and talk wondering if it was actually getting worse. Her walk continually changes as she gains muscle strength, so it never looks the same and it is hard to know if it is getting better or worse. It is kind of like when you live with someone that is gaining weight, it is hard to notice weight gain when you see them every day, but if you didn't see them for a month it would be more obvious. Before her diagnosis, her physical abilities slowly declined and I always had a way to justify why she couldn't do somthing, so I have been really determined not to let that happen again. Unfortunately, that has caused me to watch her too closely and I had convinced myself that she was actually getting worse out of fear. It is amazing what your mind can create when you are scared! This visit was really comforting to both of us as it was clear to the doctors that she was getting better!

So, if all goes well, we won't have to go back to Boston until the end of April/beginning of May when she will have her first MRI. That meeting will be scary, but I really think everything will be okay. Everything has gone better than any of us could have hoped so far, and I have faith that she will continue to do well and amaze everyone!

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