8.2.11

AYNSLEY:
Today was better than yesterday. Mom slept a lot, but when she was awake, she wasn't in as much pain. Dr. L, our fantastic neurosurgeon, removed the lumbar drain this afternoon. He said that everything looked good, that less fluid was draining over time and he was very pleased with the results of the surgery. We are ALL hoping that this is the end of the seeping head wound and Mom's cerebral spinal fluid stays inside her body from now on.

My parents may stay in the ICU again this evening if there aren't adequate accommodations on the regular floor. But if there are, they are able to check out of ICU. The plan is to go back to the Kline tomorrow at some point, which they're both looking forward to. And they're hoping to be back in the original room, which is even better-it's about 20% bigger than the room they were in while construction was going on and Mom knows the layout much better.

Dr. C stopped by yesterday to deliver a bit of bizarre news: there's a Doxil (the chemotherapy drug Mom takes) shortage in the United States. We aren't sure yet what this means for Mom's treatment, but it will likely interfere in some way. My parents have an appointment set up for next Monday to discuss with him and will obviously have more information then. According to my google search, it won't be available again until late August, and then in intermittent amounts. In my mind, the good news is that Mom only takes it once a month and she just had it last week. So she's not even scheduled for treatment until end of August. But we'll see what Dr. C says-I can imagine many people nationwide are terrified by this prospect. Mom feels like we're in a better place than many others and feels fortunate for that. In classic Flynne mentality, she takes bad news and sees it in a positive light.