Saturday Surgery

Yesterday's surgery is now scheduled for today at 2pm. We had a brief
meeting with Dr. Parsa to discuss what was going to happen and there
is not much new news there. He intends to install a titanium mesh to
replace the missing bone flap which he will make slightly smaller
than the bone he is replacing. This is to relieve the tension on the
skin in an effort to aid in the healing. Up to this point the wound,
due to her irradiated skin, has had a lot of trouble healing.

He will also be converting the drain that is currently in her head
into the shunt as it is in the perfect location right now. This will
route all the fluid into her abdomen and should eliminate all the
seepage problems that have been plaguing us. One new bit of news is
that the lack of communication between the two ventricles is no
longer an issue as once believed. This is good news because it means
that she will not need to do this procedure in the future.

Aside from discussing the surgery, Dr. Parsa did begin talking about
the next step---essentially to get her on the chemo as soon as
possible. This will depend on the ID (Infectious Diseases) team
giving the "all clear" for infection. The biggest risk of taking
chemo is that your immune system gets compromised and puts you at
risk for infection.

The fact that she has lost her speech is still a mystery and we are
hoping that the shunt will have a positive effect on this. The plain
reality of the situation is that it could also be being caused by
microscopic tumor cells effecting certain parts of the brain.
Unfortunately we can only speculate right now until she is able to
have another MRI in the near future.

I should add that Dr. Parsa also reminded us what a serious disease
she has and how critical her condition is. Karyn has perhaps the
biggest fight in front of her and we are hanging everything on the
chemo because there will not be another surgery---there simply cannot
be another surgery to remove tumor as her system would not be able to
tolerate it.

Once the surgery is done the plan is to watch her in ICU for a few
days, then move her downstairs to the 8th floor for a bit more
recovery before being released. There is still some debate as to
where we will release her----either a skilled nursing facility or
home. Obviously I am going to do everything in my power to get her
home as we have sadly become quite skilled nurses.

So here's to Karyn and all she represents in our lives....and here's
to a complete and full recovery.

~Julian