Bad News

This is David Mees jumping in from Amman. Mara is in the hospital. Her condition has deteriorated over the past few days. She can barely talk and has largely lost the use of her right hand. Scans have revealed that the lesions in her brain --though the cells may be dead-- have blood inside of them. They are larger than before and the biggest one is 3cm in diameter. Surgery has been scheduled for tomorrow to remove that one. The neurosurgeon told Mara and Carol that he is confident that the operation will not leave Mara impaired. If all goes well, Mara is expected to remain in the hospital for three more days, the first day in intensive care. She will stay in New York for a week, then may go back to Washington.

As if this weren't bad enough, yesterday we learned that last Thursday's CT scan also revealed that the melanoma has spread to her lung and liver. Any treatment for the metastises, however, will have to wait until Mara's incapacitation has been been addressed and she has healed from the surgery. First things first.

I asked about flowers. Right now Mara does not want flowers sent to her. For one thing, as Carol pointed out, they are not allowed in the ICU. As Mara is not expected to stay in her New York hospital room for long, she would prefer that we wait until she is back in Washington. Needless to say, right now is also not a good time to call. She and I spoke ever so briefly tonight. For once I was voluble, Mara not. She cried. It is a scary moment.

Three and a half years ago I took this picture of her. We had just gotten to know each other.