Evening

This is sort of like whisper down the lane. By the time the information that the doctor gave me gets translated by me to you it may sound nothing like what he told us originally and probably with a lot of inconsistencies. But here goes: They proceeded very conservatively today. Instead of the major operation they originally planed they went through the original hole in his head and put in a ventriculostomy drain (like the procedure they performed that first night-which isn’t as invasive as it sounds). The pressure was only 10, which was very very good. So, that didn't seem to be his problem. Then they injected dye into this tube to see if it would spread to all four quadrants. And it didn't, but it did spread from the front to the back on that one side. So, tomorrow they will go in again and perform the same operation he’s had twice before, which is breaking up the locculations (scar tissue that’s preventing the fluid from draining all four quadrants as one unit) and maybe some fancy plumbing. We know that his shunt isn’t working and they may need to place another on the other side, or they may just run another tube and Y connect it to the present shunt. But first they need to replace the original shunt since it’s clogged. Got that?

I thought he’d be sound asleep tonight after getting anesthesia for his procedure, but when we went in to see him, his eyes were half open. I can always tell (yes I can, Dick) when he is focusing and can see and hear me as he was doing briefly tonight. I told him all was well and that we’re fixing the problem and he’ll be on his way soon. I told him how all his friends have been asking about him and how that you all are out there reading this and that it makes me feel less alone, and keeps me going.

My boss has decided that she can no longer be flexible with my hours and by the end of the week I will have more time to spend with Mark. This will eliminate a lot of stress and I look forward to sleeping in!