I didn't post before we left, but my mom, myself and my two sisters left Wednesday evening for Cleveland for the weekend, as my sister had an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic.
It is a long story, but to try to sum it up quickly - my sister has a severe, rapidly advancing case of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and was sent to see the world's leading specialist (Dr. Stanton-Hicks) to see if he might be able to help. The news is not good and he is only offering one possible surgery to retain what functionality she has in her arms and legs. The surgery involves implanting a device into her brain stem and will not help with the extreme pain at all only to halt the progression of the RSD (hopefully).
But, the good news is the four of us had a wonderful weekend together without any nastiness or fighting of any kind (a major miracle) probably because we are all thinking this might be the only opportunity we have to do this.
Anyway, I wanted to share a few photos. The first is our view of sunrise from the window of the condo we stayed in (friends of my sister's) and the 2nd is me and my sisters (Susan, left; Jeannie, right). It is Jeannie that has the RSD - she is 40 years old. I didn't get one of all 4 of us with my camera.
Any thoughts and prayers for Jeannie would be appreciated. She will be meeting with her Dr.'s at UofM Hospital in Michigan next week to make a decision how to proceed. If she decides to have the surgery, we may very well be in Cleveland again soon. If you wish to learn about RSD, go to
www.rsds.org