Subject: Lesley Update - 5/24/01 Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 09:00:35 -0400 From: David Baldauf Lesley is doing pretty well although they chose to hold her in intensive care overnight last night. When awake, she is quite alert, maintaining a sense of humor, and she looks remarkably good (no black eyes or huge bruises from the surgery). There is internal swelling that they are controlling with drugs; that is the primary reason they want to keep her there to monitor her closely. She had a small seizure Tuesday night (just some twitching) and they found her anti-seizure medication was too low. So they gave her some intravenous anti-seizure medication. Now they think her level is too high (which can contribute to poor coordination and not being totally with it). She had weakness in her right arm that seemed to get somewhat better as the day progressed. At dinner last night she didn't have enough control over her right hand to hold and control a fork, but she could use it to steady a cup of fruit. She has a little bit more word finding difficulty, but that seemed to improve as time went on. Her speech was also a tad slurred. All in all, I believe she has come out of the surgery in better shape than she did for any of her other 4 surgeries. At lunch, she ate a little. They gave her a couple of codeine pills shortly after I showed up at the hospital at 11:45 and she slept from about 12:30 to 4:30. When she awoke she was very alert and conversational (for Lesley!) and with no headache to speak of (she didn't want codeine or Tylenol). I know she was alert because I told her not to worry, I had set the tape recorder to tape the last episode of Star Trek Voyager from 8 to 10 on channel 12. Her eyes immediately went wide and she said, "No! It's channel 14!" I was only teasing her, but she caught me! An unexpected pleasure was when Pastor Criste from Trinity Lutheran Church drove in from Chelmsford just to see Lesley. Although Lesley was not quite at her best when Pastor Criste arrived (she had just awoken), we really appreciated her coming and sharing a prayer with us. She ate a little more for dinner than for lunch - a little chicken, a little mashed potato, a little bagel, lots of watermelon. She was awake from 4:30 until I left at 8:15 and in good spirits the entire time. Everything is functioning well at home thanks primarily to the help of our friend, Paul Gamelin. Paul, along with several other friends, have helped to keep the home life and the children on as even a keel as possible. I really am encouraged by Lesley's progress and status. I'm sure today will be a big day in determining how long she will remain in the hospital and what her condition will be like upon discharge. Thank you again for your prayers and wishes. Dave -- Dave Baldauf, h/o Lesley (45), gbm, dx/srg 8/99, rad 9/99-10/99, debulk srg 10/99, bone flap removal srg due to infection 11/99, 18 rounds of Temodar 12/99 - 4/15/01, MRI on 5/7/01 shows growth and new tumor area near hypothalamus, surgery 5/22, new chemo as soon as possible after surgery mailto:dbaldauf@alumni.brown.edu