almost ready for launch

I have relatively little to prep for tomorrow's trip back up to New York, so I'm taking it slow tonight. I'll do some laundry, pack some items up, then head off to bed early so I can wake up at a decent hour (we have to leave home by 10AM).

The weather forecasts for both Virginia and New York are looking good; Virginia might see snow on Saturday, the day we're driving back, but since we won't be in a rush to get home, we can afford to mosey along cautiously if we do encounter the white stuff.

I've already written about my mixed feelings regarding the upcoming surgery: excitement and trepidation. I focused more on the trepidation last time around, so let me balance that out with a couple more reasons to be excited about Mom's upcoming procedure.

1. I asked Dad to find out whether the team would be blasting all the tumors in Mom's head, or just one (the specter of the one trial patient who died-- his tumor infiltrated his brain stem-- continues to haunt me). Today (Wednesday), it was confirmed that, yes, the NYP/WC team's purpose is to eliminate everything they can find.

2. Earlier on, Dad asked the team another burning question we had regarding tumor shrinkage and subsequent reduction in swelling. With Dr. Benson's dire words in our minds (long-term edema can lead to permanent brain damage), we were worried about the timetable for edema reduction. Would it take a while to happen after the tumors had shrunk? The NYP/WC team replied that the shrinkage of the edemas would occur right alongside the shrinkage of the tumors. That, to me, is fantastic news.

So yes, I'm excited to see what this newfangled intra-arterial Avastin delivery system can do. My fervent wish is that Mom will pop out of surgery with no complications, and will be ready to head back home on Saturday-- already showing small signs of cognitive (and maybe even physical) improvement.

Like Red says at the end of the movie "The Shawshank Redemption":

I hope.


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