No news is good news...Again.

Mom and I went and saw Dr. Leah Levi today. She is the neuro-opthamologist at the Shiley Eye Center at UCSD. She was absolutely amazing. The good news is that she came up with the same results as all of the doctors at Grossmont Hospital.

So what makes her so amazing? I am sure you are asking that question. She spent close to 2 hours with us, she was inquisitive, kind, easy to talk to, and you can just tell she knows what she is doing. Although she gave the same possible causes...A small stroke in the nerve, which she explained is not like a standard stroke in the brain, but a small momentary circulation problem with the blood supply to the nerve, which unlike a stroke in the brain, can heal over time. The other possibility is the elevated inflammatory response that was in my Mom's spinal fluid.

With the stroke theory, she said it is unusual that with this presentation, for the pupil to be involved, which it is, so that is strange. Usually if the pupil is involved, that signifies an aneurysm, which there is no sign of. If it was a small stroke in the nerve, it is something usually seen in people who have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes, and my Mom has none of those. The good news is, like the other doctors, Dr. Levi said that it will heal in 3 months. She said that not much happens during the first month (which will be next week!), but by the end of the second month, there should be more movement of the eyeball and increased ability of the eyelid. And by the end of the third month, things should be practically back to normal

The inflammation results from the spinal tap are also intriguing to Dr. Levi, and she is going to keep that in the back of her mind. She said that if this was caused by inflammation in the spinal fluid, it could take longer than 3 months to heal, but it will heal. She said that inflammation can cause this, but it is usually gradual over time and it is not characteristic to occur over the period of a few hours.

When we go back to see her in November, if Mom is not healed to the point Dr. Levi thinks she should be, she may prescribe steroids to see if the inflammation is still part of the problem, which would also, in theory, help it to clear up.

She was very impressed with the care Mom received at Grossmont. She was impressed with all the tests, the reports and how thorough everyone was in trying to get to the source of the problem. She said that she would have done exactly the same tests. This makes me feel good about the level of care at Grossmont. I was pleased with the care that both my Dad received and now my Mom, but it still is reassuring to know that it is not just my perception.

We have quite a bit ahead of us with Mom in the next 2 months. She is supposed to go in for the endocardectomy to clean out her carotid artery closer to the end of October, then she goes to see the opthamologist at the end of October, and she hopes she will be scheduled for cataract surgery soon as well.

I didn't make it down to see Dad tonight. I got home around 3:30, and laid down for a nap (in the middle of the day...what a luxury!), and Mom called and woke me me up at 5:30. I guess I needed to catch up a little on sleep. I will go down and see Dad tomorrow.

Looking forward to the weekend. Oktoberfest in La Mesa with friends, spending and doing things with Newman so he is not bored or lonely. Although Tucker and Newman did not play together all the time, he has got to miss having someone else in the house with him. Maybe we will go to the dog park for a little while. And of course, trying to play catch up on laundry and house cleaning/organizing, etc.

Love to all.