Dear Sandy -

Sorry to be late in replying. First, thank you so much for letting us know what's going on. Your sadness is palpable, and I guess when it comes to having major surgery performed on your beautiful children, the fact that Lindsay is (now) getting some of the best care on the planet is almost beside the point.

And if this just seems like yet another stop-gap measure, that's okay. You're now hooked in with the doctors who understand that CRPS - in its avatar as a disrupter of autonomic functions - does so as a thalamocortical dysrhythmia, not all that different from Parkinson's disease or depression (see, e.g. Thalamocortical dysrhythmia and chronic pain, Jones EG, Pain 2010 Jul;150(1):4-5. Epub 2010 Apr 14, ONLINE FULL TEXT @ http://www.rsds.org/pdfsall/JonesEG_Pain_2010.pdf) and when MCS or whatever therapy for the underlining disorder becomes available, Lindsay will be among the first to have access to it.

That said, as a parent of two teenagers, I get it. That all - or so many - or someone's hopes and dreams have to be put on hold for "the duration," to say nothing of the effect of surgeries in their own right on your child's beautiful body, is heartbreaking. (And my boys aren't even that good looking.)

But on this Mother's Day, allow me to say this about that: you have been incredible every step of the way. In my experience, I have never seen a parent more dedicated to the welfare of their child as you are with Lindsay. As exhausted as you must be, there seems to be a deep well from which you can always draw strength, as the circumstances demand. The most recent drive to South Florida being only one example. It's clear, before anything else on an untoward nature gets to her, it will have to go through you first.

So let's get one thing strait, as emotionally wrung out as you may be, you remain World's Greatest Mom. And for it, Lindsay is a lucky young lady.



Mike