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Eosinophilic Granuloma

My parents were young University of Alabama students in 1970 when they noticed that I was beginning to have trouble standing on my own. I was only two years old and my parents took me to different specialists and got different diagnosis before finally getting to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I’ve had to piece the experiences together from stories over the years and reading my medical records. There are no pictures or videos only a long scar and a few early memories of walking up the steps to Children’s for checkups after my surgery. After the surgery I spent a number of months in a body cast. The tumor they removed from my spine never came back. The delicate procedure and radiation treatments the surgeons, nurses and staff successfully did was incredible and my recovery was probably aided from the two lucky pennies a nurse placed in my cast. Now 40 years later, with young children of my own, I can contemplate the emotions my parents felt during that journey to Children’s. Thank you for saving my life.