Disappointing news

Michael Morgan just gave me the very disappointing news that there is still residual AVM there and he would like to go back in tomorrow morning first thing. We had been warned of the possibility but it's of course a big blow. We both went in to Rosie who was still on the angiography table and he told her. She accepted the news calmly and they have now taken her into the CT room for some scans which will be used during tomorrow's surgery.

The second time isn't quite as physically brutal because things haven't properly healed yet but of course there is still the original risk of the surgery itself deep in the thalamus. Michael said that there were obviously veins which he thought were normal which turned out to be abnormal. The CT will focus on trying to fine tune their identification. He apologised for putting me and all of us through it again and warned that in one case out of his 620 or so AVMs he even had to go in a third time. Safety is always the priority and therefore erring on the conservative side during surgery is a good thing. We have to tell ourselves that but it's a big blow to think that Rosie has to go through all that again.

She looks very calm and when I saw her just before CT she said she was fine and it's not as bad the second time, is it? She said she's getting used to this place and she knows Jessye and Sophie won't be able to stay as long as she's here now and that she'll be all alone stuck with a snorer!