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By Peg Franz

December 28, 1990 forever changed Bonnie Rae Isaacson's life. It was the day she was diagnosed with syringomyelia. At that time, her syrinx ran from T-6 to T-8. In spite of surgery, it continued growing and today runs from C-4 to L-2. Bonnie's syringomyelia is idiopathic; the cause is unknown. 

Shunt insertion was performed on March 5, 1991. Unfortunately, the shunt slipped out of place and was lying on a sensory nerve. A second surgery to repair the shunt occurred on March 21, in spite of strong objections from Bonnie's family. After witnessing the pain and destruction caused by the initial insertion, her family did not want the doctors to operate again; however, Bonnie knew she did not have a choice, and the doctors repaired the shunt.

Surgery was extremely difficult on Bonnie, and recuperation required months of painful physical therapy, including learning to walk all over again. According to Bonnie, syringomyelia causes enough destruction, and in her case, surgery made it worse. Knowing the results today, if she had to do surgery over again, she would not let them touch her. At the time, she felt she had no choice. 

Bonnie has been in and out of the hospital the last two years. Complications involving her heart as well as her intestines, bladder, kidney, stomach and the nerves on her left side have challenged her doctors. 

Some of Bonnie's complications result from her allergic reactions to many types of pain medications. Her body rejects many medicines, including a pump that had to be removed. While she has a very good pain doctor, Bonnie feels that the overall choices for pain medications for this disease are poor. 

Bonnie makes the best of her life with syringomyelia by not complaining. SM and her chronic pain are rarely discussed in front of others; she doesn't like to make other people feel bad.

If the conversation turns to her health or SM, she immediately steers the conversation to a different topic. A strong belief that there is always someone else worse off keeps her going. An incredibly strong faith and a strong spiritual background and upbringing have helped Bonnie adapt to living with syringomyelia. She is not angry; she explains, "Anger is a waste of energy."

A wheelchair helps Bonnie get around when she leaves her house. At home, Bonnie is able to walk with a cane, and through a grant from the Bobby Jones Open, she acquired a chair lift. The ability to get around her house is very important to Bonnie. Twice a month, she has household help, but most of the time she does it alone. Keeping up her home is a source of pride and accomplishment, (even though her husband, Andrew, gets upset with her!) While Bonnie feels she may be hard on herself, this perseverance keeps her going.

One of Bonnie's most cherished assets is her golf cart. This prized possession allows Bonnie to literally stop and smell the roses! It rekindled her passion for gardening by providing Bonnie with the mobility to tend her flower gardens and her numerous pots. These inspire her every year. Bonnie loves to water, tend, weed and nurture her flowers. (Boy, does she love to water!) She adores every type of flower; her favorites include roses, lilies and delphiniums. Lilies blessed her garden for the first time this year, and Bonnie is delighted! Little Pleasant Lake in Underwood, Minnesota is Bonnie's home. Gardening in Minnesota can be a challenge, and in particular, winters are extremely hard on roses. The "Higher Power" always receives a special thank-you when her roses survive.

While the golf cart does alleviate some of the stress and strain of gardening, Bonnie is still in great pain when she's finished - literally pain, blood, sweat and tears. But the sense of pride and accomplishment that Bonnie feels afterward makes it all worthwhile.

In addition to gardening, Bonnie is fond of reading novels, fiction, the great authors, and magazines, especially home decorating magazines. Bird and loon watching occupy much of Bonnie's time. She lives in a very peaceful area at the end of a dead end road. Feeding the birds and keeping their baths clean bring her daily pleasure.

Many people facing surgery have been the lucky recipients of Bonnie's handwritten notes. For several years, Bonnie has shared her upbeat outlook and deep faith through handwritten notes to those facing surgery. Writing notes is Bonnie's way of giving back to ASAP - which she feels is a lifeline. About a year after her diagnosis, Bonnie became acquainted with Patricia and ASAP and was thrilled to finally find people who understood and empathized.

Of all her blessings, Bonnie values her family the most. "A good spouse enables and supports you," declared Bonnie. Bonnie has been blessed with exactly that in her husband, Andrew. They have been married for 35 years - the last 12 dealing with SM. "It is extremely important," Bonnie stated, "that people understand this illness affects your spouse as much as it affects you."

Their lives have taken many turns since her diagnosis, including giving up farming, which they both loved. Andrew now drives a semi-truck for a bread company, and Bonnie looks forward to his days off when they can spend time together. Bonnie is home alone most of the time but has a medical alert system that gives her great peace of mind. She is thrilled she has never had to use it.

She also has two supportive sons and two grandsons who are especially precious to her. Bonnie's initial prognosis indicated she had three to four years at the most. She never dreamed she would live to see grandchildren - what a blessing! With great delight, she relayed that her eight- and five-year-old grandsons "make my life worth living!"

Today, Bonnie is happy to still be here. As a true testament to her faith, she accepts that God has another plan for her. Bonnie feels you can live a good life with SM, in spite of the pain. She strongly believes there's always somebody worse off - and it gives you character! Bonnie lives one day at a time - and as fully as she possibly can.