Hey Erin,

Thank you so much for your kind, empathetic words! I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness!

After having my most recent plasma exchange, my voice is actually back to normal--miraculous! I'm ecstatic! But i have a bad reaction to my last treatment...My calcium got really low and, it's a long story how it happened, but my right hand and face went completely numb--I lost all feeling, and this was after I'd left the hospital! I was alone waiting for the bus and raced back to the hospital. They stabalized me, but it was scary, nonetheless!

I'm having my thymothymectomy in two days (tuesday), and the main thing I'm worried about is the tumour being malignant...Boy, I hope it's not! I have come to realize how bad my health has declined lately...When I saw my anethesiologist, he said that a vein on the right side of my neck is swollen, so the tumour's probably wrapped around some veins. He also noted that my BP is pretty different on each arm, probably explaining my chronically swollen fingers on my right hand...But oddly, I feel relieved that he noted these things, because they've been bothering my for years! I have some hope that they'll be taken care of once the evil tumour is removed!

One of the things that makes this experience especially terrible is that I don't have a lot of family support. Some family members downplay my situation and don't seem to understand how much I'm suffering, because they don't want to or don't care to. But everyone has their trials and tribulations. This one is mine. Hopefully, when I get better, that wont have to be something that makes me feel lonely or sad anymore, and I'll have the strength to stand on my own feet again, emotionally and physically.

Thanks for looking out for me, Erin! You are a very special person and hopefully, we all will get stronger and stay stronger!

Take care!

Nicky