Outta This World

Check out this week's obit from The Economist. Robert Taylor: what a character!

http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8922229

Movie Review: We Were Soldiers

I am a chick, but I can still appreciate a good war movie. I have seen many over the years that I would even call favorites. We Were Soldiers is not one of them. This is a terrible, over-acted movie with no story and no compelling reason to like a single one of the characters. It was so overdone, I couldn't even bring myself to feel sorry for the widows. It was a totally over-the-top Hollywood shoot-em-up complete with an embarrassingly overwrought soundtrack. Mel should be ashamed.

Terence read the book and said it was really good, but he hated the movie, too. So did my mom.

Couch Therapy

I just finished watching three straight hours of programming on E! about Britney Spears. It's making me feel better about my situation. Actually, she and I have a lot in common with the whole head shaving thing - although mine is only partial. She's such an inspiration.

Movie Review: Shop Girl

If you are in the right mood, this movie is great. The film is absolutely gorgeous - I don't know who the cinematographer is, but the imagery is amazing. And the characters are so sad and funny at the same time - unmistakably Steve Martin. It's very slow moving - with not much story, but still involving. It's all about the characters. If you're a Steve Martin fan - try it. By the way, I remembered the book as being much more depressing than the movie. So if you read the novel and didn't think you could sit through the whole film - give it a shot.

Henry the VIII never looked so good

I can not wait to see The Tudors. As my friend Babs has pointed out, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is a Corker, so he's alright with me.

Here's a review from the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/arts/television/30tudo.html?8dpc

Untethered

I went back to the hospital today for my post-surgical consult visit. It was very strange walking back into that place. I admit - I sort of felt like there should be a VIP entrance for brain surgery alums. Special parking? Velvet ropes? Volunteers telling me how much I rock? A small marching band - or at least a wind quartet? Come on, people! Work with me here,- I just had my head drilled open for #$%@'s sake!

Anyway - the sutures are out of both my head and abdomen. So that's good news. I also had a very interesting conversation with the Doc about the state of my hearing. It turns out there is a much more optimistic way to refer to being half deaf: single-sided hearing. How glass-half-full.

Apparently there is a bone-anchored hearing device that I will need to begin researching now that hearing loss is a reality. I had begun talking to some of you about that before - it will provide unending amusement for peripheral accessory possibilities. If I pursue it, I would literally have a snap embedded in my head onto which I can attach my own blue-tooth enabled hearing device to toss sound to my "good ear". I kid you not. Apparently, I could use my nano with no wires directly into my head. My friend Steve had long ago inquired whether I would be XM Satellite enabled, and I'm looking into this. I'm thinking this could lead to good party tricks (also, I would never again be mistaken about when baseball season starts).

I had a suture-free lunch at a restaurant across the street from the hospital (first public meal). I went in my pajamas - it was dark. They didn't care.

xo

Movie Review: Mad Hot Ballroom

Just caught this one on TV again yesterday - although I had it at home from Netflix for almost two months and watched it over and over. I love this movie. If you have not seen it - you must rent it immediately. It's a documentary about a ballroom dancing program being run through the New York City public schools. These kids are so funny and insightful - it's just the most fun movie. Plus, it makes me LOVE living in NYC. Rent it immediately.

Teachers - you will love it especially, but anyone who remembers junior high will really get a kick out of it. And if you don't remember junior high - well, then all the more reason to watch.

From the Mouths of Babes

Let me start this post with the acknowledgment that I am married to the most amazing man on the face of the planet. The way he has been caring for me not only since the day I met him, but especially over these past two months is not to be believed.

Having said that, two seemingly unrelated stories reminded me today that sometimes even the best men just can't help themselves despite their most valiant efforts. Occasionally we just have to know when they really do mean the best and simply forgive them for putting their foot in it.

Terence (aka, wing strangler) has been making me take a walk each day for the past three days. The first day was down the hall in my building to the fire stair. Yesterday was to the corner on my block. Today was all the way to the subway entrance three blocks away. It's been a useful exercise to push the boundaries on my equilibrium limits and to try to get used to multiple sensory inputs like traffic noise and wind on my ears.

Today my ear was delighted to overhear three little girls disembarking from their school bus and walking to their apartment building. They really could not have been older than 9 years old, but they spoke with the seen-it-and-heard-it-all-a-million-times before tone that usually takes years of cynical, urban experience to cultivate:
"Oh my God! Today I absolutely wanted to strangle Eric. He is SUCH a loud mouth."
"You know, Rebecca. I honestly think that Eric was ok today. He means well. Sometimes he just can't help it."

They were so serious, and I had to laugh as I recalled this morning's conversation with Wing Strangler:

Joan: "I can't believe this fat cantilever. It looked so much better before. You would think that if they're going to take fat OUT, then it would look better not worse. "
Terry: "Joan, it really looks the same."
Joan: "It does NOT look the same. They took out an ounce and half of fat. It bulges now. It does not look the same."
Terry: "Well, it does look the same. And anyway - don't worry - it will grow back."

Sometimes, they just can't help it.

Things That Go Bump

I am not the only one obsessed with the bump on Dr. Joshua Perper's head:


http://brazosportnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/dr-joshua-perper-and-annals-of-unasked.html


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cperper16feb16,0,2122763.story?track=rss


In an interesting attempt to throw us off the Gumby connection, Dr. Perper throws a red herring out there in an answer to the bump question: "I am definitely not a member of the television's Coneheads," he said with a chuckle. "I always used to say I have extra brains that I could not accommodate in my head."

Dr. Perper claims he was dropped accidentally on his head by his aunt when he was a small child and a blood clot thickened part of his skull.

I found this picture of Dr. Perper's aunt on an old archive site:

Celebrity Look Alikes

Upon request, I have investigated the Dr. Perper/Gumby connection. Hard to refute such strong visual evidence. I'll keep digging for a deeper (and possibly more sinister) connection.





Also, on the subject of celebrity look-a-likes, this other one is only interesting if you went to Schreiber HS. (Even then - only mildly so).

Nestor Lacerna (spelling?) and Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace). I swear there is merit to this case, but I can't seem to find a more convincing photo. It's just not as obvious as Dr. Perper and Gumby.

Great Wisdom from Anonymous

I don't know who wrote the parable about the butterfly (sixth comment posted to "This just in: Anna Nicole Smith Still Dead") - but everyone should read it. (Janet and Laura - especially you guys)

First it made me cry. Then I felt instantly better. Then it sparked a huge debate in the Voltz household as to whether Terence is a wing enabler or wing strangler. He keeps making me walk the halls.

My cocoon is lavender scented, I have pudding packs in here - and I'm not coming out yet.

xxoo

jv

This just in: Anna Nicole Smith Still Dead

My filter on the Anna Nicole Smith autopsy report: can anyone really look at this Dr. Perper guy (chief medical examiner for Broward County) and tell me he does not have a big honking something growing under his skull on the left side? He's a medical examiner. Examine that.

I am obsessed with brains right now.

Black Satin Props

No fewer than six nurses, one anesthesiologist and one surgeon ALL commented on the Black Satin during my hospital stay. It was a big hit.

Actually, it wasn't a big hit with the anesthesiologist at first. I had literally just hopped up on the table, and Dr. Bekker looked at my hand and said: "Didn't anyone tell you not wear polish?" I had THOROUGHLY examined all literature for that exact info before my mani on Monday, and yes - I was sure, no one had told me. Also, a friend who'd recently had surgery told me she had been allowed to wear polish - the ban was no longer on.

Be all that as it may, I told the crew to look for something with acetone in it. Someone tried something dabbed on some gauze - it didn't work. So I told them all my husband was right outside, and I could send him to Duane Reade across the street for nail polish remover. I was dead serious - but apparently that was funny. There was a lot of laughing. Then they just set up some other monitor and the crisis was avoided. I woke up with an intact mani/pedi.

Next comment came from the night nurse in ICU who mistook the color for Wicked. It was dark. I excused the faux pas and loved the compliment. My tumor was gone. Fashion was important again, all was right with the world.

Fly Kicks

Here's a pic of the footwear I wore for my first spin around the floor at NYU. (In case you can't read the text: "Let's focus on me")

Thanks, girls - you know you who are ;)

My Sojourn at NYU: A Week of Highs and Lows

So I had quite a week. One for the books. The theme I am consistently experiencing is an extreme sense of alternating victory and defeat. All in all, the highs are outweighing the lows. Here are some highlights:

High Point	Low Point
Being told they are going to suck fat out of my stomach to “caulk” the holes in my head (and protect against a troublesome condition called Cerebro-Spinal Fluid leak). Bonus: free liposuction!	There is no such thing as a free lunch. Neurosurgeons don’t care if your abdomen is asymmetrical; they just want your brain to be ok. So much for lipo – it came out more like a little fat cantilever.
Being told I was well enough to move out of ICU.	Being wheeled to a tiny-tiny room and being introduced to possibly the most insufferable (not to mention racist) roommate on the face of the planet. I am not kidding –the nurses, residents and doctors all cheered when she got sent home (without indicating any disrespect).
A thrilling brush with celebrity: I was awakened to a big commotion in the hallway on my first night out of ICU. From what I could eavesdrop, some famous baseball player had been brought in with trauma to the head. He didn’t know what year it was. There had been a crash at home plate. It would have been eight runs, but instead it was only seven. People were demanding to know why there wasn’t a private room available to this man. An open investigation was being called for. He was moved into the room next to mine. This was going to be big, and I was going to have a great neuro-surgery celebrity brush with fame.	Realizing the next morning that I’m on the neuro-ward. There are a lot of crazies around (including me, especially considering the drugs I was on). And I can only hear out of one ear. It's possible that my eavesdropping skills may have been hindered. I am told the guy in the room next to me is apparently 53 years old. Not old, but probably not on the Yankees' starting line-up. Also, I later was told it's not even baseball season yet. I thought it was!?
Private duty nurses. Worth every cent. (Favorite quote: “Do you want me to give you a bath, honey? You poor thing, you look like we just scooped you up off First Avenue.”)	No low points. ALL the nurses on the neuro floor were absolutely amazing. Truly super-human. (Additional private duty was not necessary, but a luxurious extra – and the overworked floor nurses love it too.)
Witnessing a new sign of recovery every day.	Watching the bruises bloom on my body minute by minute. It is hard to believe I was simply lying on a table for four or five hours instead of beaten with a bag of stones and dropped off a rocky cliff. Don’t those surgeons know I like to be coddled!?
Making it to my mid-thirties with no medical emergencies whatsoever. Then in one quick week, going from neophyte to expert: a life-long trump card at cocktail parties: “Well, that reminds me of that time I had a brain tumor removed…”	I don’t care how much of an instant expert I am, waking up with five IVs was a valid cause for consternation for the life-long needle-phobe.
Being told I could go home. The stabbing pains and noises inside my head are normal. I shouldn’t be concerned.	Being told I had to go home. NOW WHAT!?

The one undeniable high: my amazing family and friends. Thanks for everything. I know I still have a long road ahead, but it won't be long before I can talk on the phone, and soon enough I'll actually be able to see you guys. In the meantime, email and blogging has proven a great way to stay in touch. Thanks for all your messages - I LOVE them, and they're keeping me going.

And don't worry - I'm staying on top of the Anna Nicole Smith case. I'm sure you've heard by now: accidental drug overdose.

xo

jv

Hello From the Impatient Patient

Hey, guys! A quick note from Joanie. I wanted to thank everyone for your good thoughts - they pulled me through. No kidding - Terry brought me the comments to the posts and read them to me out loud at the hospital every day and every night, and it was so amazing.

As Terry mentioned, I'm home, so that is a big step. I'm feeling exponentially better each day (although I am working off a pretty small base!), so it won't be long before I'm able to talk to you all. For now, I feel like one giant, raw, exposed nerve laying on the couch trying to minimize all outside stimulus. Every noise, light, vibration, sensation, is magnified by about 1,000 inside my head, so I have found talking - and particularly talking on the phone - a bit hard to manage right now. But it won't be long......

I will write more later to fill you in on some of the more bizarre aspects of this unique experience. I feel like a lot of interesting things happened to me. Truthfully, this will probably become the part of the blogging experience where I become the only person reading my postings ;)

Stay tuned - tomorrow brings a whole new agenda: daytime TV.

xxxxxooooo

jv

Saturday - The Patient Is Coming Home!

Best news yet - Joan called this morning at 8:15 to say that she has been cleared to go home today!

While her mother, brother, and sister-in-law and I were out last night guzzling margaritas at El Parador (GREAT Mexican, BTW), she was up and walking laps with her private duty night nurse (best money we ever spent. The night nurse, not the margaritas. Although those margaritas were really, really good....).

OK, back to the point. Apparently being up and about under your own steam is the "you can get outta here now" trigger, so I'm going to check her out of the glamorous Hotel Neuroma at lunchtime today.

Thanks again to all for the outpourings of love and support over the last few difficult days - your thoughts, prayers and good humor have really kept Joanie smiling.

So anyone who was hoping to visit Joan in the hospital, forget about it.

I'll be posting again this afternoon to let you all know how the trip home goes and how the patient is settling back in at home.

Noon on Friday - Out of Bed!

The patient is out of bed and sitting in a chair for the first time since surgery.

Still a little dizzy - a feeling she described as "like when you were in college, and you had WAY too much to drink, and you get bedspins?"

The ridiculously arcane details of Joan's recovery will continue as they come in....stay tuned.

A Simple Request....

One last thing for today - some of you have expressed a desire to send something to cheer Joan up while she's in the hospital.

While we appreciate the thought and generosity, her little half-room is VERY small and unfortunately has almost no space to accommodate any kind of flowers or gifts.

If you feel strongly about sending Joanie a token of affection, please wait until she gets out of the hospital (probably Sunday) and send it to our home address.

That said, please don't feel obliged to send anything. I have been reading all of your blog posts to Joan, and she fully feels the love and support surrounding her.

Thanks once again for all of your support over the last week.

Surgery: D-Day + 1, 11:30 PM

More good news - Joan was moved from ICU into a regular room down the hall this afternoon at about 4:00 - a day earlier than originally planned. Both of her surgeons have said that her recovery thus far has been excellent.

Amazing - a little more than 24 hours after 4 hours of brain surgery, she has been removed from all IV's and monitors, she is on only minimal oral medication (steroids for swelling, Percocet for pain, and an antibiotic to avoid infection), and is eating and drinking regularly with no nausea (no small feat; it IS hospital food) and minimal dizziness.

She does have a pounding headache, but that may be due in large part to her new roommate, an extremely talkative Argentine woman who has adopted Joan as her best new hospital friend.

We hope to have her up and walking at some point tomorrow, and the doctors anticipate that she will likely be able to come home on Sunday (maybe Saturday, but no promises).

Stay tuned!

March 22nd - 3:00 PM

Hello all -

Our patient is still in neuro ICU, but is doing so well that she will be moved into a regular hospital room at some point this afternoon.

She is in some pain, but it is being effectively managed with a combination of morphine and Percocet. No problem smiling, blinking, or closing her eyes tightly - so that pesky facial nerve apparently is completely intact.

Despite the pain, she is awake, alert, and her typical smarty-pants self with everyone, including the ICU staff here (who seem to get a huge kick out of her).

And she looks SO much better than any of us thought she would less than 24 hours after brain surgery. No, really - check out this picture I just took - you'll see that, in spite of the trauma, Joan has never looked better!

Surgery Day Update - 10:30 PM

Just saw Joan for the first time since surgery - lot of planes circling the field waiting to get into the recovery room, so she was actually in the OR for hours after awakening from the anesthesia at about 6:30.

Anyway, she has a splitting headache, she's a little pale, and she has a big white bandage wrapped around her head, but she looks beautiful. She's quite awake and coherent - much more so than any of us expected - but they just gave her syringeful of morphine, so we'll see how long the awake-and-coherent lasts.

They're moving her right now from the recovery room to neuro ICU, where she will spend the night and probably most of tomorrow. I'm waiting for her to arrive right now, then I'll say goodnight and let her enjoy her narcotic haze.

Then I'm gonna go home and guzzle a bottle of cabernet.

Great News! - 6:05 PM

Hey gang-

It's a little after 6:00 PM, we just spoke to the surgeon. I am happy to report that Joan's surgery was a success!

She is being "closed" right now, but Dr. Golfinos told us that the tumor has been completely removed, there was absolutely no facial nerve involvement (ie, no facial paralysis), and - his words - she is "cured".

On a somewhat less positive note, as the doctors had expected, the tumor had already progressed to the point where the acoustic nerve was pretty much shot - so when Joan wakes up she will in all likelihood have lost hearing in her right ear. No fun, but nothing she wasn't already expecting.

We will be able to see her in recovery by about 7:30.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, and I'll keep you informed about how she's feeling tonight and over the next few days.

I know she can't wait until she's up and about - and ready to get back to her OWN smart-ass blogging.

TGV

Joan Is In Surgery - 2:00 PM

Hey all -

Wanted to let you all know that Joan entered the operating room at NYU Medical Center at 1:55 PM today. Nervous, but resolute and remarkably courageous.

It will take anywhere from 5-6 hours before she is out of surgery. I will post and let you all know as soon as I can after she is in recovery and I have more information.

Stay tuned - and send good thoughts her way!

Ten, nine, eight, sev...

Ok, making like a tumor and heading on out.

Thank you all so much for your notes and phone calls over these past few days! I am lucky to have so many well wishers. I just want you all to know that I appreciate your support, friendship, love, humor - or just plain morbid curiosity - with all of my heart. I am going into tomorrow feeling completely supported.

Many of you have asked, "How are you feeling?" I know this sounds strange, but I actually feel positive excitement - tinged with fear - but mostly excitement. I am tired of feeling anxious and am looking forward to having this behind me. Within 24 hours, it will be. So that's relieving, and I'm ready.

I'll talk to you all soon, and look forward to hearing about all the funny things I did and said while on morphine. Please keep both Terence and Brendan in line - don't let them mess with me too much.

xxxoo,

jv

Surgicus Interruptus

We found out that instead of reporting to the hospital at 6:00 am tomorrow (as originally planned), we now have to show up at 12:00 noon. I am not happy about this - especially since I can't eat after midnight. I suppose I have to look at the bright side. Whomever is going before me is in a more emergency situation.

So don't panic when you don't see the "Joan is out of surgery" post until tomorrow evening.

Thanks for all the comments. I know people are only being nice about the perm because I have a brain tumor. I'll take whatever leeway I can get.....

Movie Review: Zodiac

We decided to spend my last day of freedom watching "Zodiac". We're trying to appease the karma gods: the star, Mark Ruffalo, had an acoustic neuroma and had it removed by the same surgical team that will be removing mine. (Interesting trivia: Mark was supposed to have had Joaquin Phoenix's role in "Signs," but had to give up the part when he was diagnosed with what I have.)

Anyway, I spent the whole movie watching for signs of facial paralysis instead of paying attention to the plot. Mark had no signs of facial disturbance, so I enjoyed the movie very much. Terry reports the movie itself was also very good.

Chanel: The Ultimate Surgical Accessory

Problem:

How do I clue my rock-star surgeons into the fact that I am (or aspire to be - depending on the day) a stylish fashionista? I am not allowed to wear any accessories into the OR and I will be sporting the worst haircut of my life (even worse than the disastrous perm I had in the 10th grade).

Solution:

Now that they have lifted the surgical nail-polish ban, there can be only one answer: Chanel Black Satin. Just spent the day at Sava (my favorite neighborhood spa) wrapped in a cashmere blanket, drinking a delightful cappuccino, getting my surgical game on.

That is how I roll.....

PS: Update - Some have asked, how disastrous could the perm have been? This is how you can tell I have a brain tumor. I think it's funny to publish this for all the world to see:

Movie Recommendations?

Ok - I just increased my Netflix subscription. A fellow brain-surgery-club member has already recommended "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (thank you, Kevin). Any other recos?

My current Netflix Queue:

• The Corpse Bride
• Hitch
• We Were Soldiers
• Office Space
• The Thomas Crowne Affair
• The Notebook
• Miami Vice
• Flight Plan
• An Inconvenient Truth
• John Tucker Must Die
• Thank You For Smoking
• Glory Road
• You, Me and Dupree
• The Breakup
• Derailed
• Sherrybaby
• Maria Full of Grace
• The Thin Blue Line
• Blood Simple
• Monster
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Sláinte!

Pre-surgical preparation has included some very practical measures:

• Spent over $500 on pajamas


• Used 17 coupons at Bed, Bath & Beyond buying a ridiculous number of pillows and other nesting tools. (Tip for all: BB&B will accept expired coupons as well as coupons for competitors)


• Spent St. Patrick's Day raising a few pints of Guinness to fortify my blood. Here's a pic of my brother, Brendan, and I at the Fitzpatrick Hotel (on East 44th Street) wearing our Irish finery.

God works in mysterious ways

Ok. Joan here. Can I just say, it's now obvious God had a plan for me.

If you take a closer look at that skull I'm holding on the home page, you'll see the learnings of the phrenology study undertaken by the wise Lorenzo Niles Fowler and his brother Orson in the mid 1800's. In Lorenzo's words, "For thirty yearsback, I have studied Crania and living heads from all parts of the world and have found in every instance that there is a perfect correspondence [sic] between the conformation of the healthy skull of an individual and his known characteristics."

So it turns out, the part of my brain that will be most disturbed during my surgery is the exact portion responsible for "Domestic Propensities". Is it any wonder that I married a man who loves me despite the fact that I have cooked exactly two meals over the past ten years? (For those keeping track: Guinness based chilli for the 1997 Super Bowl and an extra tray of lasagne made for the pot-luck holiday celebration with my Economist team in December of 2006).

I don't do laundry either.

Cleared for Surgery

On Wednesday, March 14th, Joan was examined and cleared for surgery at NYU Medical Center. All went smoothly, no problems at all (except the tumor, of course). And she didn't even pass out when they drew blood!

Onward to the 21st.

I Am Joan's Tumor

Hi! I'm an acoustic neuroma, a benign (non-cancerous) tumor of the 8th cranial, or acoustic, nerve. I'm the one causing the problems in Joan's head.

By December, I was about 1.5 centimeters long, which is considered "small to moderate" (sometimes tumors like me are the size of a golf ball by the time they find me). They found me after Joan had a less-than-perfect hearing test and follow-up MRI.

I am extremely slow growing, I don't spread or metastasize. Once they get me outta there, the chances that I'll come back are miniscule.

All of the doctors are unanimous in their diagnosis and extremely optimistic in their prognosis for Joan. I, on the other hand, will end up in a Petri dish in some research lab.

Joan's surgical scar will be relatively small, behind the right ear, and hair will grow right over it. But just to be certain, her pricey Meatpacking-district haircutter will be scrubbing in to ensure that the surgeons pay close attention to her future hairstyling needs.

OK, I sound like a walk in the park so far, but I do have risks and downsides. Here are the problems I'm causing for Joan:

She has to have 4-6 hours of intracranial microsurgery, under general anesthesia. She's young and healthy, so the risks of surgical/anesthesia complications are minimal, but by all accounts she'll have an unpleasant recovery period after the surgery (4-5 days in the hospital, 2-3 months out of work).

She has less than a 50-50 chance of retaining any hearing in her right ear (she's pretty bummed about this one).

I'm very close to the nerve that controls facial muscles. There is a chance that if the surgeons have to disturb the facial nerve to remove me, Joan could have some temporary facial paralysis (the good news: the docs put the chance of this happening at less than 1%).

The acoustic nerve is also the one that controls balance, so after I'm outta there, Joan's equilibrium will be out of whack for some time until her brain re-adjusts and the "other side" takes over. This is one of the main reasons why her recovery period will be so long.

Finally, please rest assured that despite the seriousness of the situation, the brain surgery puns at Chez Voltz are flying hot and heavy ("I'm gonna give those doctors a piece of my mind", "I need this like I need a hole in the head", "I need to get something off my mind", etc.)....

Welcome, Friends Of Joan!

Hello, and welcome to "A Piece Of Joan's Mind" - the blog designed to keep you up to date on Joan Voltz's progress as she experiences the exhilarating joy of preparation for and recovery from brain surgery.

The Basic Info
As you probably already know, Joan has a type of benign brain tumor known as an acoustic neuroma.

She is scheduled to have it surgically removed on:

Wednesday, March 21st,

at

New York University Medical Center

The surgery will be performed by Dr. John Golfinos (neurosurgeon) and Dr. J. Thomas Roland (neurotologist). As a team, Drs. Golfinos and Roland have removed over 700 acoustic neuromas - so Joan is in very capable and experienced hands!

I will do my best to keep this page updated regularly so that friends and family can always have the latest information about our girl and her condition.

While my goal is to update the blog on a daily basis, I realize that this might not always be realistic. Please be assured that if at any point the blog is not completely up to date, it is because I am in some other way devoting my time to the welfare of my convalescent wife.

Either that or playing golf.


TGV
Husband of the Patient

PS: Joan is wearing her Oscar party costume in this picture. An excuse to drive by the exclusive Americana in Manhasset and buy a [pair of] prop(s) for her costume: "The Devil Wears Prada"