email update: surgery scheduled, more info

So, I'll try to reconstruct some of what I accidentally deleted last night.

First, a clarification: [Loopy] is staying in the hospital for another week at least. She is not moving to rehab tomorrow (today) but rather, *next* Monday, four days after the surgery.

And, minor news: a bed opened in the neurology unit so [Loopy] has been moved (she was parked in cardiac over the weekend); the new room number is ____, but I don't know if there's any point in trying to keep up with the numbers, since she'll be in one to two more different beds after the surgery. The room is slightly smaller but laid out better (i.e., you don't have to move every single piece of furniture in order to allow a person with walker and IV to get from the bathroom to the sink). Plus, [Loopy] says it's less tiring to not have to walk so far [to the bathroom and sink], so that's good.

People have asked how I'm holding up (thank you for your kind support!) Well, I had a bit of a meltdown yesterday (Sat) because the surgeon listed all the terrible things that could possibly go wrong and it was just a bit overwhelming; this morning, we pressed him for estimates of the likelihood of each of these terrible things and were reassured that all of them are pretty unlikely, so I've regained some semblance of rationality. :-)

The only negative thing that's likely post-surgery is a continuation--and perhaps temporary worsening--of her current problems with using and feeling her legs, to be addressed by lots o' PT. During the surgery they have to manipulate the spinal cord somewhat and it can become bruised, and while it's recovering her legs could be weaker or even paralyzed, for a period of weeks to a month or more. So we all should prepare ourselves for that possibility.

It's also possible that there will be some permanent deficits, but those are more likely to be sensory rather than motor, so PT will involve not so much learning to walk, but rather, learning how to walk without tripping over numb feet.

The PT person advised that when [Loopy] first comes home she should not try to go up and down stairs, so we will be setting up the upstairs of our house so she can basically live there. (We have considered and rejected the main level and the basement for various reasons, primarily that she wants to sleep in her own bed). We hope that visitors will be willing to trek out here, since she will undoubtedly start to get a little stir crazy in the winter months!

(With all that in mind I am trying very hard to take the advice of people who are urging me to rest a lot now, because I will be working hard once she comes home. It's hard to let go of wanting to take care of her myself all the time, but I'm doing my best - sleeping at home tonight, for example.)

So overall, there is a balance of promising and disappointing information. On the "plus" side, the long-term prognosis is very good, as I described yesterday, and very importantly, the pain should be gone immediately as soon as the tumor is removed (there will be pain from the surgery itself, but that should not be anywhere near as bad as what she's been going through). On the other hand, recovery will be a slow process and a lot of hard work.

The other thing I think I described in yesterday's deleted mail is that the surgeon, Dr. K___, is the top tumor neurosurgeon at the UW hospitals. He has his BA and MD from Harvard, a PhD from MIT, and spent a number of years teaching at USC; he's now the head of the brain tumor program at the UW and a prof of neurosurgery. (He also was a pre-med tutor in Lowell House when we were there! He actually looks pretty familiar, which is slightly odd but also irrationally comforting).

And I'll close on a humorous note... here in smallish-town midwest, nobody can pronounce the name "Dr. K____" [Chinese surname]. He has been referred to as "Dr. Cow" and "Dr. Coo," for example. For a while we actually thought that [Loopy] had two doctors named Dr. [real name] and Dr. Cow, but that highly amusing situation did not turn out to be the case.

[Loopy] greatly appreciates calls and visits. Don't be surprised to find her a bit groggy, but otherwise she's generally in fine spirits.

Love to all
[me]