I'm happy to report that Cheryl (cherylb) came through surgery just fine today.  As usual, it was a long, grueling day, but the wait was made a better by visits from Irene (itsme) and her dad, as well as Trina (tiomasai) and her mom and brother.  Tara even made an appearance as soon as she was out of school.  I spent most of the day with Cheryl's mom, sister and fiance, but  unfortunately had to leave about 40 minutes before Dr. Steinberg emerged (the paying job, you know?).  Nevertheless, things went very well, and Cheryl's family is understandably quite a bit more relaxed than they were just a few hours ago!

Cheryl is spending tonight in the ICU, and will hopefully move into a regular room sometime tomorrow.  Please keep the good thoughts and prayers coming for her as she begins the road to recovery . . . I know she and her family appreciate it a whole bunch!  Maybe she'll even be up to making a post within the next few days - we'll see!

from out west,
Jill

Thanks Jill for the update!  We were glad to see Dr. Steinberg just as we were leaving and know that all went well.  I had meant to call her fiance to get an update last night, but we all fell asleep around 8:30 (11:30pm EST time!). 

It was great to be able to be there and support Cheryl and her family.  I am sure they are relieved to hear the good news. 

Kudos to you Jill too, for being there from early in the AM.  It's hard enough to do it once for a loved one; you are truly an angel to do it over and over for so many of the moya moya patients and their families that come out to see Dr. Steinberg. 

Looking for more great news while we head back to NYC!

Trina

Hello all,
              Just wanted to extend my thanks to Jill, Campbell, Tara, Trina and her family also to Irene for being there for me and my family.  I really appreciate you all so much.  I do have some swelling but that is expected.  Once thank you all so much.  I feel like I have an extended family
love you all moya moya family
Cheryl

Hey everyone,

I was just up at Stanford visiting with Cheryl and her family.  Cheryl looks fabulous, just 3 days post-op.  (She doesn't feel like she looks fabulous, but let's face it, no one feels like a beauty queen following surgery and the subsequent days in the hospital!)  Her swelling is down, and she has minimal bruising.  She's been up walking around and has a bit of a headache that is being managed with medication.  The plan is to discharge her tomorrow (Sunday).  She'll spend a couple of days resting and doing some sight-seeing if she's up to it (yes Trina, Cory was talking about Napa today!), then has her clinic appointment with Dr. Steinberg on Wednesday.

What's really bad is that I too was on the look-out for Dr. Dodd (for Trina and Michelle) as I traveled the hallways today.  No such luck guys, no pictures!  I hope he's not hiding from this crazy, happy-go-lucky group of admirers!

Anyway, I'm willing to bet that Cheryl will be here on the board again sometime soon.  She's working on getting her strength back, and also getting over the emotion of everything.  I think that once you realize it's over, all the feelings of fear, anticipation, relief, joy, etc. can be pretty overwhelming (I know it is as a bystander).  

Please keep the prayers and well-wishes coming!

, Jill