I would start a new blog, but "Dorth on the Rocks" doesn't have the same ring to it...

Today was a rough day. Another day without seeing Dad...My Aunt had "Dad duty" tonight. He still thinks Mom is home in bed with a bad cold...And that is the way we want to keep it for now. And we really don't know much more about Mom today than we did yesterday.

I have gotten several interpretations from the MRI they did last night. The first one was from a Dr. Soumekh, one of the neurosurgeons. From what I understand, he is an excellent surgeon, but he has a terrible bedside manner. He had recommended a spinal tap, and when I asked the nurse why, she said "to rule out meningitis." Well, I am no doctor, but I know she doesn't have meningitis, so I said I wanted to talk to the doctor before agreeing to the test. Well, he seemed (my perception, and I am a little on edge as you can imagine) to be irritated that I was second guessing his test. He said that on the MRI from last night, they found an abnormality where the nerve "pops out" of the brain. He said "it could be a cancer cell, and we want to check the spinal fluid." I was still not convinced. I tried to call Dr. Hardy, but he was in surgery all day. So, I went to talk to the neurologist that had helped me before. I went back toward her room to wait, and was approached by another doctor, Dr. Terramani, and he proceeded to tell me that they saw on the angiogram results, that Mom's right carotid artery is 80% blocked. This has nothing to do with the eye issue, but once we get that resolved, we may want to have that looked at.

The opthamologist that had talked to me on the phone yesterday morning came by to see how she was. I told him they wanted to do the spinal tap, and he said that it is the most logical step, and should be done. So, I consented to it.

The results to the spinal tap were abnormal, and I am supposed to meet with another neurologist in the morning to go over those results. He also wants to consult with an infectious disease doctor...I am not sure what that is going to mean. I will let you know.

It was a rough day for Mom. She is so frustrated, and with all of these tests, she keeps being required to lay flat on her back, very still for extended periods of time after the test. She has such a bad back, that is the worst thing for her. So, the pain, on top of the confusion, on top of the feeling like she is being held hostage, compounded with not seeing my Dad, she is just miserable. I also think a huge part of it is that she hasn't had a smoke in 2 days.

Smokers out there...Do yourself and your family a favor...Quit now! Not only is it disgusting, and really bad for you and those around you, it plays hell when you can't smoke...For instance, oh I don't know...When you are in the hospital? It just makes whatever you are in there for that much worse with the nicotine withdrawals. I know, you are blowing me off right now...And so would my Mom, even though she is experiencing it now....I'm just sayin'.

I will write some more tomorrow. I hope to go to the hospital in the morning to meet with the doctors, and then go see my Dad, and then probably back to the hospital. I am not sure what all this means, but I am doing my darndest to get to the bottom of it all.

Enjoy your weekend!

Much love.