Deanne - not out of the woods yet

[Guest guest]

Dear Crew,

Deanne was discharged from hospital on Friday morning, but she took a

drastic downturn again on Friday night. Her symptoms abated some though, to

the point where it stopped me from rushing her back to hospital.

Her Mom and Dad have been on hand at all times, helping us through this. I

simply don't know how we could have managed without them.

Saturday morning started with our GP arranging a neuro to come in from leave

and meet us at his rooms. He apparently has a good reputation and we have

heard about him in the past, but this was our first consultation with him.

He took some time to get the history, before examining Deanne and sending

her for an MR immediately. He was the first neuro I heard say that he

doesn't feel he is the best man for surgery on Deanne and offered to get us

in touch with a surgical team down in Cape Town - one that does the types of

removals he feels that Deanne needs.

The MR confirmed that there had been some growth in the tumour along two of

the axes - inward and outward (slight - about 6mm) and about 9-10mm on the

vertical axes.

The large schwannoma on the left has nearly worked its way AROUND the

brainstem. It is still pressing on the carotid artery as well as several

other nerves (considering her symptoms), not to mention displacing the brain

stem. His opinion was that debulking is not an option. To quote his words

" You have to go for broke here " . Helen (Deanne's Mom) queried the risks and

his reponse was " the risks are massive - death, total paralysis or what we

call a 'persistent vegetative state' " .

Through all this I was typing for Deanne what he was saying. I found out on

Sunday evening that Deanne remained under the impression that he was talking

about the risks of debulking. To say she was terrified does not begin to

describe what she's been through.

This neuro has accomodated us to a large extent, but he has frightened us

away. He is not hiding any risks for us though - as he rightly should not.

What he and this Dr Kieck from Cape Town would like to do is use the team

they have at the Palotti hospital to remove the entire bone

structure in order to gain maximum exposure. Their intent is a total removal

and to leave the absolute minimum behind if they have no other choice. " At

least " we will know if she is completely paralysed immediately after the

surgery. " At least " . " At least " .

In his opinion debulking will not relieve the pressure.

" Our neuro " Dr de Klerk will be back early on in January. Deanne is on

cortisone (Celestone) and high schedule pain killers (Lentogesic) in the

meantime. The medication she is on should buy us the time for us to see Dr

de Klerk again. Unless his opinion changes, we are still going for debulking

- a decision guided by the risks as we have them explained to us thus far.

If we get lucky, she might be a candidate for FSR afterward.

Deanne was adamant on attending a gathering of the SA Teckel Club yesterday.

As expected, the trip didn't do her much good, but I have to say we all had

a good time - the dogs in particular. Was good to feel " normal " and talk

about " normal " things again - if only for a short while.

When I left for work this morning, Deanne was looking much better and she

told me that the pain had subsided to a manageable level to the point where

she felt fine again. I told her to use that to get rest, not an excuse to

push herself. As my ally, I'm sure her mom will make sure she does !

We are quite literally just taking this a day at a time. Lord knows we've

been through a tough time of late and holding up hope is a thing we do on an

hourly basis. That has to be enough to keep us going.

My mom phones regularly to hear how it's going. She is aware of the fact

that Deanne is very ill, but I don't see how I can " break " the news from

Saturday to her. I don't think I will until this becomes " reality " .

Today is my last day at work before I go on leave. I will be re-routing my

Crew mail through yahoo to another address, but we will remain in touch with

the Crew.

Thanks,

Emile

********************************************************************************\

*******

This message contains information intended solely for the addressee,

which is confidential or private in nature and subject to legal privilege.

If you are not the intended recipient, you may not peruse, use,

disseminate, distribute or copy this message or any file attached to this

message. Any such unauthorised use is prohibited and may be unlawful. If

you have received this message in error, please notify the sender

immediately by e-mail, facsimile or telephone and thereafter delete the

original message from your machine.

Furthermore, the information contained in this message, and any

attachments thereto, is for information purposes only and may contain the

personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the

views and opinions of Dimension Data (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited

or its subsidiaries and associated companies ( " Dimension Data " ). Dimension

Data therefore does not accept liability for any claims, loss or damages

of whatsoever nature, arising as a result of the reliance on such

information by anyone.

Whilst all reasonable steps are taken to ensure the accuracy and

integrity of information transmitted electronically and to preserve the

confidentiality thereof, Dimension Data accepts no liability or

responsibility whatsoever if information or data is, for whatsoever

reason, incorrect, corrupted or does not reach its intended destination.

********************************************************************************\

*****