Orlando...

First, I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers and positive energy. Although this blog has been online for a few months, earlier this week was the first I really made it public. There are still a few backdated posts that I need to edit and publish, they will give you a better overview of the challenges we've been facing in getting Ananda treated. I hope to get them online within the next few days. Also, I've been receiving a lot of emails, and we owe many personal thank you letters, which I haven't had time to write - my apologies...

Today, we went to Orlando to meet with Dr. Jogi Pattisapu, M.D. from Childhood Neurosurgery and Center for Hydrocephalus, PA. This is the practice that our insurance company directed us to, and I must admit, after the way we were treated earlier this week, we were a bit reserved about who they were having us meet, but their website provided some reassurance:

We pride ourselves on our open door policy of accepting all children and families without regard to financial status. Our goal is to ensure a pleasant experience for parents and children during treatment, and to optimize the intellectual development of each child.

I'm happy to say, Dr. Jogi and his staff were excellent! He was wonderful with our kids, did a thorough interview and examination with Ananda, and he took the time to listen to our entire story and answer all of our questions. His review of her 5-month-old MRA and CAT scans showed that the AVM is closer to her thalamus than we were previously led to believe. And he cautioned that radiosurgery in that vicinty may be risky. We were in agreement that an updated view of her AVM is in order, and an angiogram would be best. He immediately arranged to have us meet with an Interventional Neuroradiologist later in the afternoon. Finally, a proactive team of doctors - Melanie and I cried tears of joy afterwards...

After a quick lunch, we raced to Florida Hospital to meet with Dr. Frank R. Hellinger, M.D., who will be performing a Cerebral Angiogram on Ananda on October 29th. He was very honest about the potential risks involved. Everyone is a bit nervous, but we think it is in her best interest...

Meanwhile, Ananda is doing well - home from school with a 4-day weekend. She is now reading "chapter books" - Magic Tree House, Junie B., etc. - and is armed with her new library card. She's been enjoying snorkeling in the Gulf and has been busy selling nut products and magazines for her Brownies troop...