Suesjoy Doing Well!

Reports from her husband, Sujoy. :D

7/31/07
DAY ONE
#1 Sue-Friends,Last night, over her Panang Duck Sue decided to name her tumor. She calls it Fred. She hopes to take back Fred in a glass jar once the surgery is done.She is in good spirits. She is feeling confident and is not scared at all. She amazes me.We are now at the hospital and the surgery is about to begin. The Surgeon's will provide regular updates that I will post.Thanks for all the love and good wishes all of you have sent.
Sujoy
5:05 AM

#2 Hello Sue-Friends,The surgery is being done in 3 phases.Phase 1 is an incision into the skull. This part is done. Her vital signs are good. Phase 2 has just begun and will last for 3-4 hours. In this phase they will cut through the mastoid bone and free up the portion that houses the tumor "Fred".Phase 3 is the partial removal of Fred. The main reason to do a partial removal of a 4.5cm tumor is to ensure that the facial nerves do not get effected. I am holding up OK. Was a little worried, but Susan's optimism and strength before she went in for Pre-Op has filled me with courage.Thanks for the good vibes, prayers and the encouragement.
Love
Sujoy
12:58 PM

#3 Hello everyone,Stage two is over and Fred is being cut to tiny little pieces. Sue is doing good.After phase 3 ends the clean up begins and then we will get a full report. After the surgery, they will move her to the ICU for a couple of days to monitor her progress and then she will be on the general floor for maybe 4 days. After that she is ready to go home. HOME! currently we are officially homeless so we will be staying with Cousin Anne who has graciously opened her home to us.Anjoli and I will monitor Sue's progress for the next 10 days before making a decision. If she is recovering well we will leave her in the capable hands of Anne and fly to Taipei. Anjoli's school begins on Aug 17th and we are hoping that she will be able to start school in time.Anjoli is currently in NY with her friend. She knows everything and I keep her updated on Sue's progress. She is being very strong. I am so proud of her.Someone asked Anjoli if the removal of Fred is going to make her Mom less weird and she rolls her eyes and says that it will take the removal of some other part of the Brain to even come close. I love my weird Sue and based on all the comments so do you guys.
Love you all
Sujoy
3:00 PM

Friends,Its done.The operation is complete and is a SUCCESS. The Dr. said that they were able to remove Fred completely. Also they are quite certain that they have not effected the facial nerves. They can see some movement there already. That's bloody great news. And yes I will echo the thought "Fred is dead, Long live Sue".We are now waiting for her to wake up so that they can move her to the ICU. Once she is admitted to the ICU we will be able to go and visit with her.The next 2 days are of course crucial. There are still a few major concerns-infections, spinal fluid flow etc. But everything right now looks very good.Will post again tomorrow. Maybe ask Sue what she would like me to say.
Love you all
Sujoy
6:19 PM

8/1/07
DAY TWO
Dear Friends, Sue is awake. She is talking and she is looking good. She asked me tell all of you "I love you, all".The most amazing thing is that she can still can hear with her left ear. Before the surgery the Doc's had told us that the chances of left ear hearing was slim to nothing, but low and behold she can still hear.She truly believes that all the love and good vibes from all our friends has made her strong and fearless.On the walls of room we have pasted pictures of Virgin Mary, Anjoli, me, The Who, Rufus Wainwright, her lat mother(when she was a 6 years old) and her sister. She likes that.I just went and got her a set of small speakers so that she can hear music while she is still in ICU. Have not had a chance to turn them on yet, but I will be doing so in the next few minutes. Will ask her what she would like to hear-any guesses? My money is on Rufus Wainwright.Love you all. Never thought cyber friends could be so close and so loving and wonderful.
Love
Sujoy
12:23 PM

DAY TWO AND 1/2
Hello Friends,Day 2 & 2.5-Some ups and downs. Beginning of day 2 they removed the spinal fluid drain tap (hole on right side of head). They had monitored it for 24 hrs and felt that there won't be a build up. They put 8 stitches around it.All was going well till the end of the day; Sue felt some moisture in her nostrils and to be safe the Drs. did a test to see if there was still some spinal fluid leakage. The result was positive; so to reduce the pressure in her head due to spinal fluid buildup they did a lumbar tap (like spinal tap but the tap remains there for 3 days). Ouch-Very painful.As a result of the lumbar tap, when Sue moves she gets acute mind numbing headaches. But Sue is a trooper and she continues to be positive.Spoke to the Drs., and they are very happy with her progress. They have some minor concerns- 1)Spinal fluid build up (may require minor surgery if lumbar tap does not work after 72 hrs) 2)Eye lid movementAfter speaking to the specialist, who came by this morning, both of us are quite relieved. In spite of these bumps on the road to recovery we feel that everything is going well.Anjoli is coming back from NY tomorrow afternoon and both of us will be glad or see our baby. We missed her a lot.Sue is now out of the ICU and on the general floor- excellent sign.So please keep sending those positive thoughts, vibes, love and prayers Susan's way.If you need to contact me you can email me at sujoy.d.guha@gmail.com orcall me at 858 922 3877
Love
Sujoy