Charming

She’s resting comfortably in ICU. Her blood pressure is steadily making its way back to normal and her right leg continues to strengthen. Given all the fear and anxiety we started the day with, we’re feeling very good. Before she dosed off for a nap, she let me take this picture. She has been smiling a lot. She also keeps negotiating with her medical team, trying to convince them she should be allowed to wear her own pajamas and lobbying for a McFlurry from McDonald’s.

When she came up to ICU she traveled with a posse–at least seven nurses, orderlies and doctors. All of them were smitten. She told them about her birthday plans and her dog and her brother and her favorite shows on TV. You would never have guessed that she had just completed a five hour high-risk procedure. It was beautiful to watch. We’ve spent enough time in hospitals to know better than to assume the coast is clear, but it sure feels nice to see her smiling. And I’m breathing easier knowing that the surgical team was able to remove so much of the tumor. It will be a few days before we get the pathology report back, but from the preliminary scan it looks as if this tumor was different from the rest of her disease. We’re not going to worry about that right now. Instead, we’re going to celebrate the great staying power of the lovely young lady who’s charming the crew in the ICU.