The Friday before

The countdown has begun!

The time of the operation was moved earlier to 9:00am on Monday, 24-Sept-07. This means we will have to be there at 6:30am. I am feeling tempted to pitch a tent in the park across from the hospital to make sure we are on time.

This week has been particularly hard for Jan as she struggles with the 7th medication she tries for seizure control. The effects are just overwhelming and the difficulty to access the neurologyst on a short notice makes it more difficult. Her right side has been "emptied", as she describes it; there is little or no sensation, the right hand is totally limp most of the time, and there is a generalized feeling of unwellness all over. She says that her head "is out there" and indicates a point in front of her. She tires easily and is emotionally over-reactive. The quality of life is so low that we wonder what is best, to risk a seizure by not taking the medication or give up a normal life and live like a zombie.

I watched this afternoon struggle on the phone with the insurance company. In bits and pieces, she told them her frustration when she received this morning a letter from them rejecting her application for extended health because she had an aneurysm! We realized that now that she is down and needing coverage for medications, the underwriter let her know in no uncertain terms that she would not receive any coverage, which is the same as telling her that she is not welcomed to apply. Business logic? Discriminative action? At the end, it didn't matter. After talking with 8 people, she received the standard "we will call you later". She was loudly discouraged.

I wonder how could I (we) make her stronger so she goes to her operation rested and strong.

We are stressed even though we know it is a routine surgery.

I will print for her any emails you send. Make them short because she can't read more than 40 or 50 words at a time.

FC