To ER for hydrocephalus

Our caregiver Jackie alerted me this morning that Susan was quite weak on her right side and having trouble with speech and responsiveness among other things. After speaking with her neuro-oncologist, I arranged to leave work and bring Susan to the ER at UCLA. Dr Nghiemphu conferred with Dr Bergsneider, the neurosurgeon who planted her L-P shunt in 2007. He's ready to replace it today if necessary. 

It seems we've been leading up to this. While we were here in clinic for chemo on Wednesday, Dr Nghiemphu arranged for a CT scan of the brain to check the status of hydrocephalus we'd observed the prior week along with her tumor growth. It appeared stable (not worse) on the CT, but seemed troublesome enough to be causing Susan's recent symptoms. We then scheduled to see Dr Bergsneider next week so he could evaluate the shunt - but that timetable has definitely advanced. It's possible her tumor growth triggered the hydrocephalus and the shunt isn't draining the excess fluid like it should. It's also possible the tumor or something else is at work, a more complicated idea. 

For now, we're in the familiar ER holding pattern after having an initial evaluation and another CT scan. Susan is very tired and is sort of a rag-doll on her right side. She can barely lift her arm and can't grip anything. Her right leg is similarly weak, while a slightly drooping mouth completes the affect. Words are hard to come by for her right now - but responses like "I love you too, honey bunny" trail off as sweetly as ever. She's in good spirits and peaceful; and right now, sleeping. I'll post more as things proceed.