Morning

I haven't called the hospital yet. Seems every time I do I head right down there even though I can't see Mark till noon. Today I'm restraining myself and will call later, if at all. But I do have some realizations to share with you today. And I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn last night.

Early in the blog, a man named Kirk left a message about the Angioma Alliance website - you can see his post a couple of nights ago. This website is definitely lay person friendly. Kirk has the same thing that Mark has but he didn't go into his own history. There's no way for me to reach him but if he reads this again, I want him to know that I found more information there than through all of the staff at the hospital. Here goes my take on the whole thing.

I do know that Mark had a bleed in his mid brain which is part of the brain stem. This type usually bleeds into the tissue, not the skull, which takes longer to dissipate. Bleeding here is responsible for certain symptoms, of which Mark seems to have them all. I've copied a couple of paragraphs here, but if you want to know more, go to http://www.angiomaalliance.org/cainfo.html

Brainstem – The brainstem is the lower extension of the brain, located in front of the cerebellum and connected to the spinal cord. It consists of three structures: the midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata. It serves as a relay station, passing messages back and forth between various parts of the body and the cerebral cortex. Many simple or primitive functions that are essential for survival are located here.The midbrain is an important center for ocular motion while the pons is involved with coordinating eye and facial movements, facial sensation, hearing and balance.
The reticular activating system is found in the midbrain, pons, medulla and part of the thalamus. It controls levels of wakefulness, enables people to pay attention to their environments, and is involved in sleep patterns.

If anyone out there has a digital picture of Mark, please email it to castellano@proofmark.com. And if anyone else can tell me how to post it here, it would be most appreciated.

One last note. I created this blog for all of his friends to keep updated and post notes to him. All of your kind posts about me are extremely touching, but this should be all about Mark. Thank you all for keeping up the posts. MARK WILL JUST LOVE READING THEM SO DON'T HESITATE TO POST EVERY DAY!!! I want someday for all of you to have a chance to meet each other.

Chris