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Harborview III: Back to Chez Haroldson

Thursday, August 19, 2004 9:03 PM CDT

THIRD THURSDAY UPDATE -- CHECK JOURNAL HISTORY FOR PREVIOUS UPDATES

Hi everyone, it's 7:00 and we're back at Erik and Evy's house. Dave came through the procedure remarkably well. He did have a pain pill after they took the frame off his head. He's been icing it, trying to prevent swelling where they screwed the pins in.

Right now, he's sitting with Erik and playing Erik's guitar. It's wonderful to hear him play and sing. He has an incredibly happy heart. It's amazing to see the affect Dave has on people. The nurses at the hospital just love him. His generous spirit touches all those around him. He even helped Denise and I finish the last answer on the crossword puzzle!

Now we wait. They said that we could expect headaches, fatigue and nausea in about 4-6 weeks. That's when the tumor cells will begin dying off. They'll do an MRI around that time frame to see what's happening. They did say that if other small tumors do pop up, they can use the gamma knife again. This is good news, although we're praying REALLY hard that we NEVER have to do that.

Meantime, we'll be blasting it with a new chemo. Hopefully we'll find out very soon what that will be.

Dave has certainly felt your prayers and support today. He said that after they put in all the lidocaine (which was pretty ouchy) and were beginning to place the first screw, he felt overwhelmed with anxiety. Suddenly, he felt a sense of deep peace wash over him and he was completely calm.

I've got to get some sleep. Thank you to everyone, please continue to lift Dave up in your prayers for healing. Thank you to the prayer warriors who met at church today. Thank you to Denise for sitting with me. Thank you Peter, for making us laugh. Thanks to Mark for your hugs. Thanks to Janet for "McDonalds" money. Thanks to Erik, Evy, Canute and Sonja for opening your home to us.

Love, Shelley

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