Recovery

This past month can be summed up by Joe's neurosurgeon, "Boy, you've had quite a rough month!"

I know that I've left you hanging a bit on Joe's progress. I apologize for that, but I also know that those of you reading this understand to some extent the possible reasons...

There are two main reasons:

1. Tired... I was just incredibly tired... between hospital visits, worry, and working 
2. As many of you know, I use writing to gain a manageable perspective. Writing has been my best counselor. As things settled down, I was not in immediate need to write to process what was going on.

Thank you for understanding

Catching you up...

Last I wrote, Joe was back in the hospital, and we weren't leaving until we had an acceptable answer to what was causing the issue with the loss of being able to use his facial muscles. After two MRIs (including one very detailed one) and a spinal-tap, the neurologist believes that he has developed  atypical Guillian-Barre syndrome. It's an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks nerves sending signals to muscles. The doctors wonder if when he went into the hospital after collapsing the first time, it was an onset of Guillian-Barre. We'll never really know. While in the hospital he received 5 infusions of IVIG.

He is home, and has been home for the pas couple of weeks.

We met with the Neurosurgeon this past week. Upon reviewing the MRIs, including the most recent taken on the 30th. He said that the swelling and fluid on the brain had gone down and looks stable. When he told the neurologist that he could operate, he was talking about taking out part of the tumor to help with the pressure in the brain caused by the fluid. As he began explaining the risks of surgery (loss of vision, writing, reasoning, and several other losses), we both began to feel like risking surgery to debulk the tumor isn't worth the risks at this time (especially since his system is still recovering from the events in September). The surgeon said that he is always there if and when we are ready for that option.

Current Plan:

In the middle of October- Another round of IVIG treatments
Two weeks after last IVIG infusion begin another round of chemo

We are taking it one day at a time.

Thank you so very much for your love and support.

Gilly