Grateful!

We watched the new Stanford Hospital get the finishing touches in 2019 as we visited the old hospital during Kristi's first visits after her Lymphoma diagnosis. While she had her primary LMS tumor surgery in the new hospital in 2021, I had forgotten how nice it is. Every part of it has been designed for both state-of-the art medical care and aesthetics, which studies show can be a vital part of physical healing.

The public areas incorporate some art, the layout affords amazing views from all patient rooms, and the auxiliary services -- like the cafeteria -- are located in easy to find locations. The cafeteria, by the way, is pretty good -- and that's coming from a self-described foodie. They must have had a very integrated, multidisciplinary planning team assembled from the very start when they decided to build. Yes, we're still in a hospital for not-so-great reasons, but the niceties and views do have a positive impact on the experience. 

The view from Kristi's 6th floor room: looking east, that's Stanford University's main campus on the right and the Diablo Mountains on the other side of the south end of San Francisco Bay in the background. 

Kristi seems to be doing quite well. She is resting a lot. She's eating a little something now and then wants to take a walk. The surgeon placed what he called "plastic sheets" in her nasal cavity as a protective layer to promote/aid healing.  That causes a feeling of congestion that is irritating. Additionally, there is some drainage that is annoying. Considering just yesterday she had three surgeons digging around behind her eyeball through her nose ... she's feeling pretty good. Her words: "Occasional headache and uncomfortable from breathing mostly through my mouth."

The best news is that the doctor said she will likely be discharged tomorrow.

Medical note: the initial pathology indicates that the tumor is Leiomyosarcoma, which isn’t great news, but is exactly what we suspected and expected.