Sunday we crested the one month mark past surgery. Amidst the celebration I realized I had not blogged explicitly about his final diagnosis. Richard entered surgery with a tentative diagnosis of a colloid cyst in the 3rd ventricle of the brain. After surgery the diagnosis had changed to read “intraventicular vascular malformation.” Rather than finding a colloid cyst which would resemble a gooseberry they met with a “mulberry type appearing lesion” with evidence of past bleeding. My personal speculation is that Richard may have experience that bleeding on December 28 when we first went to the emergency room and discovered the little lesion on his CT scan.
Regarding his rehabilitation, to measure Richard’s improvement I need look no further than his e-mail sent box. He has only sent three e-mails. On February 7 he sent a four word note with a major misspelling. On February 23 he sent an 80+ word message with clear grammar and perfect spelling.
Remaining challenge? Fatigue and thinking are top of the list right next to getting Richard to see that he is making progress. He sees taking several minutes to write that 80+ e-mail as insufficient improvement to call progress. He gets fatigued just thinking, so he easily gets upset with simple tasks. Making choices wears him out. “Honey, do you want a burrito or a frittata for supper?” That’s enough to bring on the desire for a nap. We keep trying. We keep praying. We keep working. That adds up to perseverance as only the Lord can grant.
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