News From Yesterday

First of all, when I showed up yesterday afternoon Karyn woke up and
we were able to spend about a half an hour talking. Though her
responses are few, she is definitely showing me that wonderful person
that she is. Soon afterwards they brought dinner which she completely
gobbled up....this is all good news, the improved cognitive state,
the appetite (which she never lost) and the fact that she is not in
much pain. In fact, yesterday at 4pm she had yet to have any pain
medication and has not complained of headaches in a couple of days.

As some of you may know, Jim and I met with Dr. Parsa at 6 yesterday
to go over the situation and the plan. The bottom line is that we
want to get her infection-free so that she can restart taking the
Temodar chemo while the tumor seems to be slowed. To do this he
intends to install a new drain in the left side of her head which
will alleviate the swelling in the left ventricle. They are not sure
as to the cause of this swelling, be it tumor or infection, but we
are confident here that it will turn out to be infection and we need
you all to think that right along with us. Once the infection is
under control (and the Infectious Diseases doctors take cultures
every day to determine this) then we can stop the IT administering of
antibiotics, close off the drains and begin standard IV delivery of
the treatment.

The most optimistic guesstimates of when she might be released will
be sometime next week though the situation is such that no one can
really predict when she will be cleared to come home. One thing is
for sure though, we do not want her to to come home prematurely---we
want this infection eradicated. Right now she is being overseen by a
whole team of very competent doctors who monitor everything that is
going on and truly are dedicated to helping her through this.

We sure do miss her here though, that's an understatement. Just think
of all the little joys you have. The little things that just slip
into days ---- things we often take for granted. Think of how much
joy Karyn would have to be sitting here helping me type this, the sun
shining in the window and the two kids screaming and asking for
breakfast....I wouldn't miss it for the world.

~Julian