Medical Update

Latest reality: Dad is going HOME TODAY. That's the order from neurosurgery. He's doing so well that there's no reason to keep him here for four days prior to surgery on Monday morning. Will be so good for him to see his big yard, the woods, his cats.

His neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert Weil, visited with us this morning. I have dealt with neurosurgeons before. This man is not only brilliant but also has the best bedside manner of any doctor I have ever met (doctor friends excluded of course!). Step by step, he walked us through with honesty and a bit of humor. As he said, "I just love doing this!" I think he does 300 brain surgeries each year. Dr Weil said they will put dad to sleep for the incision and then he will be awake (I know!) during the procedure. They do this because the surgery is in a critical part of the brain -- language and speech area. So they send electrical signals in an area before they cut to see if dad can still talk when that area is compromised. Dad, of course, is thrilled to be awake and asking if he can have a mirror to watch the surgery. (No, he can not.) Typical engineer ...

It IS brain surgery. There's is a 1-2 percent chance of a very bad outcome. Dr. Weil seemed very optimistic, so we are as well. Don't get me wrong, I am so scared and saw the damage brain surgery did to my mom. But what do we have if we don't have hope?