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5 pm…

OK, I guess I jumped the gun a little yesterday, and left some details out. I was too elated just to see Sandy.

She had a rough, sleepless night in the intensive care unit - a loud, bustling and intense place full of pain and tragic stories unfolding. She was in a quite a bit of pain and was nauseous. She retracted her statement that brain surgery the 2nd time was easier. About the same, I’d say. I also had a rough night - because the ICU was busy, so was the waiting area for it - also full of pain and tragic stories. I basically didn’t sleep, despite setting up my favorite chair-and-two-ottomans makeshift bed.

And today has been rough also, for different reasons. Her surgeon told me yesterday that though they were able to remove most of the tumor, there is a apparently a new area of growth that showed up on the pre-op MRI. They can’t say for sure yet until her post-op MRI happens (maybe tonight) and they get the pathology report back. But clearly, as we expected, this fight is not over just because the surgery is. The news of possible new tumor growth is still devastating. But she and I are starting to “put our Lance faces on” again after an intense and tear-filled day. More later tonight, the hospital health library is closing….

9:30 pm…

OK team… Sometimes a not so good day can turn into a great day…. all you need is a little help… and an upgrade. Literally. In the time it took me to walk down the hall to the health library, write the post above and get back to Sandy, a small but wonderful thing happened. The hospital bed that they had moved her in from the ICU to her room around noon had not worked since the move - she could not adjust the tilt etc to get comfortable, an important consideration since she cannot lay on the incision site. They couldn’t fix the bed or replace it, so they moved her into a private room (she was sharing a room with a nice woman, in fact the same room she had in October). But the private room is larger, very quiet, and - best of all for you folks (Babs) worried I might be making a sequel to Castaway - there is room for a cot on the floor next to Sandy. OK, maybe the sequel is still in the works, stay tuned. I’ve still got the volleyball just in case.

But what really turned the day around… is a little turn toward the light…

To see more photos of Sandy, just 24 hours after brain surgery, CLICK HERE

The photos say far more than I ever could.

Good Night,
Dan