since monday.

On Monday Papa went to the neurologist to have some body imaging and brain scans completed to see if they could find anything. As it turns out, the radiologist (I think) said that it looks like he has Adult On Set Hydroencephalitis. Basically, this means that the vessels in his brain have swelled with liquid and won't release that liquid like they are supposed to. Since, as we all know, the brain controls the functions of the rest of the body, this affects the rest of his bodily functions. Based on what I/we have been told, this condition is fixable via placing a shunt in the brain to control the swelling of fluid. It was decided on Tuesday that Papa's condition was continuing to deteriorate and it would be in his best interest to be admitted to the hospital. Without doing this, the first available appointment he could get for surgery would be, at best, two to three weeks. In this hospital, it could happen almost immediately. So, my parents and I prepared here to be able to drop things and rush down there whenever he goes into surgery. We cancelled multiple plans, I did a few loads of laundry, and put out extra food for the animals in case we had to leave suddenly. We were all on edge waiting for the phone call.

The neurologist stopped by the hospital yesterday in order to confirm the diagnosis of hydroencephalitis. However, he was unable to do so because, while Papa is showing numerous symptoms of this, he is missing one, which is a distinct gait while walking. My comment to this was that he was barely walking because he is so weak. But, not wanting to do surgery unnecessarily, the neurologist decided that they would do a spinal tap today and insert some traceable fluids into his body. If the fluid shows up anywhere in his body besides his brain, then we know that the vessels are blocked. Unfortunately for him, the test takes three days to complete. It was done today, so we should have results Friday or Saturday. The good news for us, I guess, is that it removed some of the wait-for-the-drop-everything-and-rush-down-here-to-surgery phone call. Now, the earliest he will go into surgery, based on the test results of course, will be early next week.

One of the plans we cancelled was the fact that my mom and I were supposed to pick up her sister at LAX this afternoon. I can't say we were terribly sorry to pass that duty on to my cousin, especially since her flight arrived around 4:30 pm. Not the most fun time to try to leave LAX. We estimate her arrival here will be around 8 pm.

Today was full of errands for me. I went to the mall for a quick errand, and then spent almost 2 hours in Target trying to find bridal and baby shower gifts. The problem was that the store had almost nothing on the registries...always fun! After I got home, I cleaned up my room some more, trying to make it look at least presentable for the company arriving. I'm not sure what's for dinner, but I've been craving Thai food...