Good morning... it's Day 377, and Lee remains in ICU, still unresponsive as of last night; I haven't yet left to drive to the city to see her today. Her vitals are stable, the infection seems to be abating, and she is awake a lot more, but still not fully conscious. We know that antibiotics have done this to her in the past, as have infections and pressure, so we aren't super worried yet, but it's hard to not be concerned - I need to hear her voice, to see her smile, to feel her squeeze my hand again... this has happened more than a few times through the last year, and every time, the waiting is hard.
What we're seeing has the Doctors intrigued, though; Lee appears to be experiencing a rare form of Hydrocephalus in which the intracranial pressures aren't elevated... in fact, they are negative. (?WTF?) This necessitates a considerably different treatment regimen, which challenges the mindset of the doctors and nurses, and changes the potential timelines of treatment. To their credit, the Surgeons here are collaborating and reaching out to specialists in other centers who might know more about this relatively new condition; Lee is a wonderful teacher - she is happiest pushing other people to learn. Even now, she is providing a reason for that.
It's possible we won't know more until the infection (and the antibiotics) are eliminated, and she has time to get the metabolites out of her system. In the meantime, the new treatment regimen will give her poor brain time to recover and for the fluid balance to normalize. She *seems* more focused, and *appears* to be more animated, but it's hard to tell, empirically... those observations might just be my version of wishful thinking. Still, we are hopeful, as she continues to recover, that she will return to us.
Sigh. All through this, she has felt a need to be atypical... the girl always has been unique.
Thanks for keeping her in your thoughts.
Gerry
