Dee Blackburn

Hello all.  

Well, here we are again, and though we'd rather be pretty much anywhere else, we're eternally grateful you're here with us.... 

After 2 years of clean scans Dee was diagnosed with a recurrence of the seriously annoying  tumor that's made a home inside her spinal cord three times before – first in 2007, again in 2009 and again 2014.  Along the way, other complications have arisen. In all, this upcoming surgery will be the seventh in 9 years.

BUT... challenges have been met, and life has gone on after every surgery – a Masters degree in Scene Design, a 3-month theatre internship in NYC, Peru, Belize, Cuba and skiing (yes, skiing!) at Snowshoe. As a matter of fact it was last year, almost to the day, that we and a bunch of our friends completed the Dirty Dozen Obstacle Trail  at the Whitewater Center.  

This is not to say that we aren't scared. Really scared. It's just to say we know there will be a time when we're on the 'other side' of this latest incarnation. We'll be back in the world – maybe a whole new world –  but we'll get there. 
 
Logistics: The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 7am and is expected to last 4-5 hours.  After that, there will be waking-up time in recovery. And after that, she'll be in a room. I'll try to post an update tomorrow after the surgery to let you know how things went. (We'll use this CaringBridge site for 1-stop-shopping regarding her progress as we go forward. This will allow us to keep everyone updated AND to hear from you, which we love.)

If you plan to stop by the surgery waiting room, wear something very warm. The nurse told us this morning that it's freezinf in there. (Go figure.) And if you want to visit Dee in the late afternoon or evening, you might want to text me first to make sure she's up for that (she almost always is).

We don't know what's ahead, but we know we'll meet it with your love and prayers and powerful mojo at our back, and we can't even express how much that means. 


Dee & Betsy