Here we go...........

Greetings from Deb........

Met with the surgeon today, and accomplished A LOT!!!! Surgery is set for Tuesday, 5/27 at 10:30am. We've been asked to arrive at 6am for a special Stealth Scan - this is where they insert a sphere looking head halo into/onto Bill's head. They take a scan and compare to the MRIs he's recently done. They watch all of these scans while they insert the instruments into the brain, through the halo and operate. Crazy thing here that we learned, Dr. Welsh actually needs to "unscrew" the existing plate and screws to get back into Bill's head - the skull doesn't heal over a craniotomy. Bill also gave a lot of blood today, took an EKG and a chest x-ray. The surgeon is consulting with a hematologist regarding the blood clots Bill had 3 months after his first surgery, to head anything off at the pass. We picked up a cd of all of Bill's MRIs, really interesting to see, if you know what the heck you're looking at!!!! :)

Sadly, for Bill, but good for the brain, he'll start the steroids on Sunday to manage any swelling of the brain. We'll register at the hospital this Friday and go through the all of the delights and laughs of insurance, documents, etc. The surgeon believes Bill will be out for around 6 weeks, but as the parents at last nights Cubs game said, they'd actually expect to see him out at the following baseball game, strategizing for post season play.

We'll be consulting with Dr. Tai regarding chemotherapy after surgery, I believe that a few different options will be available to him because he's categorized as a recurrent case. We'll see.

Bill's doing awesome, wrapping up stuff at work, managing his mini-cubbies, trying to manage our Tivo in order to have plenty to watch on TV when he gets home. We're excited to have Jane coming in a few days. Huge props to all of our friends and family that have thrown love/support/prayers our way - makes us feel like we're not alone with this.

Lastly, yes, we've heard about Ted Kennedy. Sen. Kennedy is still in the process of being leveled (3 or 4), Billy is a 4. Location of the tumor is different, where Bill's vision is the key area, surgery may or may not be an option for Sen. Kennedy due to his location. Sadly, it takes a famous person to bring this wicked disease into the forefront, but we're happy people are paying attention to it and hopefully getting the attention/resources it deserves.

I'm doing the best I can, we all are. There's an amazing song out right now by a band called 3 Doors Down, called, "It's Not My Time". If you get a chance, the YouTube video link is in the upper right. The videos keep changing, the only one that is music only is the video at the top. This speaks to Bill, he really heard the words the other day and said, they wrote the song just for him. Lyrics are here http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/3doorsdown/itsnotmytime.html. I'm scared, I don't say that out loud much, too damn busy, but it comes in waves. Our boys are doing the best they can, getting excited to wrap up school for the year! Per Bill's request, Logan just finished learning Interstate Love Song by STP, plays it nicely. Connor drove half way home from his baseball practice yesterday - he's doing really well and loves driving his little Honda vs. Bill's big rig.

Hopefully you'll see an update from Bill prior to surgery, otherwise, I'll be updating.

Peace out,

Deb