adventures in brain surgery

as i promised, here is last week in a nutshell. my mom had not been feeling well for quite some time and her doctor was of little or no help. so, she changed doctors and they did a catscan and found fluid on her brain. amazingly, he said it was also on the catscan the other doctor did in 2002 and had said it was fine (grrr).
anyway, we got her into the hospital last monday night, and they did tests on tuesday and on wednesday, they drilled a hole in her head and put in a shunt and a valve that will open whenever the pressure builds up. the fluid will drain back into her body and be absorbed. i know it sounds weird(sorry if i gross anybody out), but it was so interesting to see what they can do and what a difference it can make. she even came home on friday. she is still recovering, but has already made great progress. she can walk without assistance unless she gets too tired, she's eating again, and she can read and concentrate better. the valve will take some adjusting, but, she's getting back to being mom. and she's well enough now for us to start giving her a hard time and making light of it (ok, making fun of her). but, it's what our family does. like my cousin says, "she needs us like she needs a hole in her head".