A bit of a hard day

Monday was a bit of a difficult day. Keith was very tired and needed some pain meds to help with the headache. He is also having a hard time finding his appetite - the steroids seem to make all things taste very bitter.

Still and all, there was good forward progress. In the morning, our surgeon's assistant stopped by and removed the pressure dressing which had been in place since the surgery. The wound is healing nicely - there is a 5 inch line of staples extending from his hairline diagonally across his scalp to the area just behind his ear. For now, no wrap is needed - just a sock cap to keep any dirt from floating in. Although the swelling is gradually going down, Keith still sports a black eye and a mumps-like jawline. Since he is now able to walk to the bathroom, he caught his first glimpse of himself post-surgery and let out a bit of a yelp. I hated to tell him that the swelling has actually subsided a bit!

Finally, in the best news of the day, Dr. Pikul came by last night and reported that he was very pleased with Sunday's MRI. He said that much of the internal swelling has come down and that the midline which had been greatly distorted by the tumor is much improved. He is reducing Keith's steroid level, beginning today. Weaning from the steroids is a long gradual process; we did it once before and it is great to get the process started and even better to know that we are ready for that next step.