Exciting News (?)

Linda went to see Dr. Lacin, her neurosurgeon, today. Dr. Lacin seemed quite pleased that such a small dose of steroids had reduced the swelling in her brain, eliminated her headaches, and allowed her to regain all of the mobility she had prior to last week. He drained fluid from the tumor from a reservoir connected by a shunt to the tumor. The fluid was perfectly clear - in the past it was cloudy, discolored. He is sending the fluid for testing. When I asked why, he replied, "To see if there are cancer cells present." We will receive results on Monday.

I probably should wait until we get the lab results, but we are pretty excited and wanted to share this news with you. Is this good news - exceptionally good news, in fact? Could it be that the tumor is actually dying? Even if not, Linda has made remarkable progress. Her setback last week was temporary and easily corrected. Dr. Lacin said today that since the tumor was not surgically removed, she will have to remain on steroids as long as the tumor exists. We are all quite pleased that the amount is so small (4 milligrams per day) and has produced such radical improvement. At a time when Linda was, according to prognosis, supposed to be dying, she is making remarkable progress! PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!