About Susan Ann Meade

I am a baby boomer born into a military family where I breathed pride for my country, and was shown the meaning of honor, and loyalty. My mother taught me to be fiercely independent. That quality did not always work out for me, but in the long run my heart was at least free.

I have a husband Bill who has saved my life. He is funny. He keeps me grounded and I love him more every day. Together we have seven children, four girls and three boys. The boys we actually raised all the way up together. Only one is left at home now and he is in High School. He was three when I was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor in the thoracic part of my spinal cord.

Spinal cord tumors are very rare and when I was diagnosed in 2001, very little information was available for the average person to look up. My tumor was even rare for tumors; it is a Lipoma, a fatty tissue tumor that actually sticks to the cord itself. Even today when I research "lipoma" it tries to change the spelling on me! Lipomas make up only 2% of all spinal cord tumors. Although lipomas are congenital, they are not heredity. Recovering and understanding what happens after surgery is where we need some education. I am still recovering. I have MRI's every two years to see if my tumor is growing. I am grateful for each morning that. I wake up and can still walk. I am almost used to this new body (I don't want to jinx it), and I am able to stay mostly okay now.