Nicole's recovery continues to be positive. Per the last entry, I was describing how her post surgery cortisol levels are imperative to "remission." Her succession of numbers are 1.7 (Wednesday); 1.1 (Thursday); 1.2 (Friday); 1.5 (Saturday). These numbers in succession make us, the neurology and endocrine teams very happy as they are well below the remission-barrier line of 5. Every indication is the tumor is gone in full. NIH has taken care of Nicole to the max!!!

Here is a photo of Nicole with her gifted neurosurgeon, Dr. Russell Lonser (left); and Fellow Dr. Parker Babington (right). We will forever be grateful for this wonderful man who has so thoroughly taken care of Nicole. In staying at the Safra Family Lodge and meeting other families throughout the week, it is clear Dr. Lonser is a miracle-worker for many families. We also had the good fortune of having the highly recommend Dr. Oldfield in on the procedure as well; we have not had the opportunity to meet him.

Nurse Jean Miller took care of Nicole on 3 of her first 5 days on the neurosurgery suite. She was cool and calm throughout and we are grateful for her wonderful abilities.
On Saturday Nicole began hydrocoritsol replacement therapy. Based on her body mass they have computed the key daily dose as 20 milligrams (15 mg in the morning, 5 mg in the afternoon to best mimic natural body function). This will be given for some time until they are satisfied with the balance of hormones. They will also continue to monitor the performance of her pituatary gland.

One concern has been symptoms of a CSF leak (I will spare you the details). The beauty of NIH is their method and quick pace. Once symptoms were recognized they immediately sought opinions of multiple doctors and ordered up CT scans (one on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) for imaging confirmation. She saw multiple doctors, was wheeled down to the CT scan, had her first scan completed, and heard back from Dr. Lonser (who was in Boston on Friday) within 2 hours of symptoms. Most importantly, after a couple days of review, it does not appear to be a leak and we do not believe any additional procedures will be necessary - praise the Lord!

As a precaution they have held Nicole in the neurology suite (7 SW Inpatient Care) for 3 additional nights. We think she will transfer to endocrinology (5 NW Inpatient Care) on Monday.

Here is a photo after Nicole's CT scan on Friday. (I got to sit in the control room and see how the technicians completed the scan. It only took approximately 1 minute).
The front facade of NIH...

In related news, Nicole and I were able to attend a church service this morning at NIH.

Also, Nicole's mom in flying into BWI this evening at 7 p.m. and I will be flying back to Indy at 7:15 p.m. (we will probably meet each other at the gate). Ryan and Kyle have been terrific boys this week in going with the flow. Grammie has taken great care of them. It is time for Daddy to return in hopes of providing some level of normalcy until Mommio gets back. Thank goodness for Skype; but, I can't wait to give those boys a big ole BEAR HUG.

A special thank you to Kroschells for helping us out this evening.

-Jason