Day 448: A silly millimeter longer

Sunday, November 30, 2008 - Two posts ago, I wrote about Mady's pretty-horrific post-lumbar puncture headache. It lasted for over a week, and was debilitating since she had to remain near-horizontal to avoid pain and nausea. As I understand it, it was probably caused by slight spinal fluid leakage, which is apparently sometimes unavoidable after an LP.

Last Tuesday, she had another scheduled lumbar puncture, and we were all dreading the possibility of a second bad one. The doctors often have a tough time piercing Mady's spine and require multiple stabs, which kind of beats her up. Last week, they tried something a little different... changing the puncture location by a little more than a millimeter (these procedures are very precise I guess). Success!

This was probably the shortest LP that she's ever had. A faster procedure means less anesthesia and much quicker recovery. Plus, no post-LP headache and nausea this time! Let's hope the rest of them (she will get lots more LPs) go this well.

Mady, and all of us, had a happy and bountiful Thanksgiving with family down in Marion. We hope you did too!

Since Mady and Julia are still vegetarians, they especially liked the smashed potatoes...

-tk

[ps: To the Philippines dad whose daughter is in early treatment for ALL and can't find CANCER SUCKS bracelets down there: Please email me off-blog with your postal address--I bet I can find you some! ehkiii@yahoo.com]