May 12

Hi,

Today I attended a staffing at Mercy Medical Center/rehab unit. Present were Dr. Gu, who heads the unit, another neurologist, Den's nurse for today, and his physical, occupational, and speech therapists. A social worker with whom I had spoken to prior to the staffing was also there. Denny and I listened to their observations, assessments, concerns, and plans going forward. After they spoke, we could ask any questions we had and they listened. Everyone there agreed that there are obvious inconsistencies in Denny's abilities and general demeanor. They allowed me to explain the chronological sequence of how things have come to be. It appeared that they found Denny's history with adverse reactions to medicines believable and already one step toward reducing what I believe to be the culprit in all of this has been ordered. Dr. Gu has reduced the amount of anti-seizure medicine, starting tonight, and it won't be a surprise to me if Den is less confused, etc., by tomorrow night or Thursday.

Tomorrow I have to pick him up and bring him to Appleton to see Dr. Meena because it's time for his chemo again. Hopefully, this will be the only time I have to do this, because everyone is hopeful that Denny will be home in a couple of weeks. Again, please keep praying for him. He is so frustrated by his impaired communication skills and the short term memory black-outs -- my heart literally aches for him. I know that a person shouldn't ask "why?" but I can't deny that I do.

His rehab program is like a boot camp, so I'm hoping to see improvement daily. I'll keep you posted!

Good night,
Carla