It'* really great to hear some positive progress! She'* such a strong lady. I just can't imagine going through everything she has encountered. Just goes to show that willpower and mindset can be very strong.

I had a doctor visit with my family doctor in Brookings on Friday. I told him I have lots of pain in my head these days. I wake up every morning in pain and often use the heating pad and Tylenol. I thought he would suggest we go with more steroids but he said no. He does not want me to go back to the way I was with so many problems like high blood sugars and weakness. I am going to wait till next week to do anything. I than have a Dr. Asfora visit in Sioux Falls. I hope to get some more answers but don't believe I will. If I don't then I will be asking to be referred to the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Hieb thinks that would be a good idea as I am not getting the help I need. I has been 6 months now since I started with all this. The problem is that my insurance doesn't like to pay for Minnesota doctors. But I have been told now that if I can get Dr. Asfora to refer me then it should go through.

I am much stronger than I was a month ago. The steroids I am on now are not so hard on me. I walked 8 blocks the other day which was great for me. I can get up from a chair by myself now too. That was tough a month ago. I do have some balance problems yet though. It seems like the door frames like to jump out at me when I go through them.

Tomorrow I get out of the house for a trip to the IRS man in Sioux Falls. Lee and I are being audited for the year 2006. Fun, eh?

Good to hear she'* getting around better. I hope that she continues to improve...
Hopefully the Mayo can figure things out and get her on track to full recovery.

BTW, how much does anyone want to bet the IRS audit is over medical deductions? Nice...

Yesterday she was having major head pain again, so they went to the ER. An MRI was ordered and it looked as if there was more swelling than last time, but there was nothing they could do said the doctor.

Today the pain got worse and they went in again, this time they finally sent here somewhere else. She was transported by ambulance (non-emergency) to Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD, hopefully to get to the bottom of this. That'* all I know for right now, I haven't heard back from my dad.

...we need a normal Friendly Hug smiley face.
I wish I could do/say something more... prayers will continue.

Andrew, I feel the same way as Tracy, and I also wish there is more that we could do for you and your family. Know this, we are all behind you, and if you need us, we will be there for you in anyway we can.

Take care, you are always in our hearts and prayers.

Andrew, sorry to hear this. I can't imagine how this has effected the family.
I just got through an Aunt getting cleared up of a major colon cancer. I still have another aunt with a cancer ridden body, another with breast cancer, and an uncle with Leukemia. Their illnesses haven't effected me the way I expected them too considering it'* been two years since their illnesses started showing up. Now if it was an immediate family member I know I'd probably be going batty.
You have kept your head high through this all and we know it'* a sad experience for you and the rest of the family.
Like everyone said, we're all hear for you and if there is anything we can do we're gonna do our damned best to make sure your request/needs get taken care of.
Best wishes for your mom and may the cure come soon.

Just a email to let you all know I am back home after being hospitalized this week. Last week I got really sick with head pain, super tired and not able to keep anything down. I had an MRI done on Monday which showed the swelling is increasing instead of decreasing on my brain. I asked to be referred to Mayo Clinic as he was not sure what to do for me anymore except keep going with the steroids. He gave me ant nausea pills and I went home. The pills did not help. So that meant I was not able to take my other meds for the diabetes, high blood pressure, or the steroids. Everything was snowballing so Lee took me to the ER on Tuesday afternoon. They spent me by ambulance to Avera Hospital in Sioux Falls. It was quite a bumpy ride for my head. I was doctored up so I could eat again. Tried many meds to help me with the pain in my head and neck. Morphine was the only thing to touch it. The next day I saw several specialist including another very helpful neurosurgeon. He said he would help me get in at Mayo if I wanted to for the next day if that is what I wanted. But he agrees with me that Dr. Asfora is an excellent surgeon and he would personally want him. But we both know Dr. Asfora PR lacks. At the same time as I was talking to this neurosurgeon Dr. Asfora office called to say that they had held a special session with all their doctor staff that morning about my case. This is the 2nd one that was been called. They talked about a PET scan being done. The neurosurgeon in my room had just talked about this also. It would tell them if the tissue was dead or alive that is in the swelling area. If it was this it means awful steroids for 6 more months or so. However, it is alive then I could have them go in and scrap it out. I was to go in and talk with Dr. Asfora when I got out of the hospital that next morning. I was starting to feel better at this point but tired. I was looking forward to a good night sleep. But that never happened! They pumped me so full of steroids to get rid of the pain but it makes you hyper! Plus they came in every hour or so for something or another. It is good to be back home now and be able to sleep in my own quite bedroom so I can really get better. I also saw an endoc ( sp?) who deals with the glands. She asked if my pitaray gland had been looked at. It had been discussed in the past. She is going to study my case also. It is not something that it is pointing to strongly but I am glad to know they are looking at several things so we can find some answers soon.

So anyway, the next day I was at Dr. Asfora'* office and got lots of discussion time with him as he did not usually see patient'* that day. What surprised me is that we did not talk much about this PET scan that I thought was going to be the next test. He said it wouldn't tell him much more than he knows already. Instead, he started to talk about putting in a shunt. It would take and drain the area where the swelling is with a plastic tube that would run from my brain and be inside me draining into my stomach. Lee has talked about this before but I really don't know much it. I want time to study and learn more before I go with this. I do know it means having them cut a flap in the back of my head. It scares me some but I really am ready to move on as the steroids are not helping. I am thinking I will spend a week or so weighing this out and then probably go for it. I went to the library today to do some research but didn't find much. I think I will be online doing more but we have a little computer glitch right now. When I am done typing this we are going to try to fix it. Hopefully, we don't mess it up more but if you don't hear more from me than that is what happened. Today, I did get out for awhile which was nice to be a normal world again. I got my haircut shorter in the back so that if I do have surgery and they shave some back there it will not be as uneven. I guess it a way it was one of the first steps in moving on with the surgery. On by the way, my hair is falling out a lot these days. It is not growing and breaking off. Good thing I always have had such hair.

So many of you have written how you are praying for me. Thank you so much! It is wonderful to have people like you in my life. The past month it has been harder to keep my chin up as it has been 7 months since this started. But now I feel some hope again. The doctors all say that my case is not the usual thing at all. I guess I like to be different.

Sorry to hear abouth your mother. I hope everything turns out alright.

Tell her she is in all of our prayers. If she goes with this surgery, I hope all goes well.