Hi Everyone.

Thought I'd better write an entry to bring you up to speed on Laurie's condition. 

She's been back in Harborview for the past two weeks.  She's been losing strength and coordination over the past couple of months, and an MRI showed increased size of the fourth ventricle in her brain.  That was putting pressure on her cerebelum and brain stem.  Dr. Sekhar and his colleagues discussed the issue and how to deal with it for days before deciding to install another shunt in the back of her head to drain fluid from that ventricle.  Of course, we're sure hoping that will be the fix for what has become a troubling trend.

She has been getting steadily better since the operation and we're hoping she can get out of ICU today, and out of Harborview soon.

Laurie's been incredibly strong through all of this.  She doesn't complain or wonder "why me."  She just seems to see it as another challenge she has to meet to get her life back.  It is so hard to see her back in ICU in a post-operative state.  Seems like we took a ride in the way-back machine to a year and four months ago.