Day 8 - Part 1

Hi everyone,

It will be impossible for me to get the blog caught up in time for surgery, so I'm going to pick up with today and add other entries in later and pre-date them.  Surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, November 10, 2010 at 7:30 am.  Our hospital check-in time is 5:30 am.
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Today is the eighth day of our trip.  In some ways it feels it like it has been much longer.  Perhaps that is because when you go on a vacation you're having so much fun that you are constantly counting how many days you have left.  That certainly isn't the case here.  In fact, our hospital days have been so long and our nights so short that it all sort of runs together.  This isn't to say that we haven't had any fun, because we have.  We've also met a lot of nice people.  And we've learned a lot!  Not just in terms of moyamoya, but about California too.

We got up early this morning, got ready for the day, and went downstairs to breakfast for our usual oatmeal.  It's not the instant kind, it's the plain kind that they have to cook up and you ladle into your bowl.  They have these tiny little brown sugar packets and boxes of raisins to decorate it with.  Mom and I bought some dried cherries and cranberries to add in as well.  If I were to say something that we've found comfort in it might be the oatmeal.  Sure, they have other stuff, but we always get the oatmeal.  It's the only thing that stays the same from day-to-day.  Well that and our awesome team.  Sandy the research coordinator has been a huge blessing and I love cutting up with Bob, the program director,

After a quick trip back to the room to brush teeth, we left for our 8:30 am appointment in the neurodiagnostic area of the hospital.  A psychologist came and got mom and dad for a brief interview after which dad had about four hours of cognitive testing.  He says it wasn't too bad, lots of questions and brain teasers.  They want to get an idea of whether or not the reduction in blood flow to the left side of his brain has disrupted his thinking.  It's interesting because weeks ago they called and he had to tell them about his highest level of education, etc.  I guess this was so they could cater the testing to what his mental abilities should be.  After surgery and at followup appointments we'll do this again to measure any changes.  They also want to know if it has caused any personality changes and mom has had to fill out lots of paperwork about this.

Anyways, mom and I sat in the cafeteria on the first floor while dad was busy.  I worked on the blog and she worked on stuff for school.  On our way down we stopped by neurology to say hi.  They have a TV that continuously plays a DVD lecture by our surgeon about the moyamoya surgery.  I'm trying to get a copy or some video to share with you.  In the meantime Bob gave me a really nice book that has all of the information. We grabbed a quick lunch here when dad was done and now the two of them have gone down the hall to the lab so that dad can do an extra blood draw for research purposes.  That was nice of him.  Last week alone he had three IVs and another blood draw.  That's a lot of (big) needles.

When they come back we're going to pack up and probably drive to Muir Woods again.  Dad really wants mom to see it and he wants to see it with her.  He says it is almost a spiritual experience.  I have to agree.  There is a trail you can hike that leads to Muir beach - it's about three miles.  I think we might do that as he wants to get some exercise in before tomorrow.  We might try to eat dinner at Fisherman's Wharf.  I guess it will depend on the time and stuff.

As surgery time gets closer it's definitely a mix of thoughts and emotions.  On one hand our doctor here does surgery a couple of times a week.  This is his everyday.  On the other hand, when he's doing the surgery on someone you love it is different.  I think we're all trying to be upbeat and avoid that frantic feeling.  I know dad is nervous.  He was telling mom after the testing this morning that the psychologist offered to prescribe something to help him sleep tonight and also said that if he needed to talk he could call her.  He was trying not to cry.  I could tell.

I'll add more to this and edit later.