Good Vibes Needed for Mara on January 26

On very short notice, we are asking Team Mike to send out your strongest good vibes tomorrow to our 18-year old niece, Mara Canning. After a migraine headache that started on Saturday, a MRI on Monday showed that she has a tumor on the back of her brain, where the brain stem meets her skull. The tumor is about the size of a ping pong ball.

The encouraging news at this time is that the doctors are fairly sure that the rumor is not cancerous, but they won't know without conducting surgery. The surgery will last anywhere from 8-10 hours, in an attempt to extract the tumor without doing damage to the vital nerves it is attached to.

The prognosis is upbeat going into the surgery--but that could all change if the tumor turns out to be cancerous, and/or it can't be totally extracted.

You should also know that Mara is an all-state runner in the 800-meter event. She was training hard for her upcoming senior season, and has been recruited by several colleges and universities. She had to pass up an official visit this past weekend, due to the onset of the migraine that started this series of events.

While secondary to her immediate medical needs, the surgery and necessary recovery time will cause Mara to miss her last track season, and not let her pursue her goal to be a State Champion--something that was well within her reach.

We visited Mara and her parents, Marie and John, this evening at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital, one of the very best places in the country for this kind of surgery. Mara's kid sister, Madison, was on her way to the hospital, and understandably worried for Mara. Despite their obvious worry, they are optimistic about the outcome and looking ahead to getting back on schedule for Mara to graduate from high school in May. Mara showed incredible strength and maturity during our visit--well beyond what you'd expect from an 18-year old kid whose biggest worry last week was whether her I-Phone's text function was working properly.

So, we need Team Mike to become Team Mara until she is safe and sound and her family is on the other side of this. We'll provide an update as soon as we have one.

mike and terry