You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130

If anyone who reads this weblog would like a message posted to it, please send an e-mail to Sue at the link on the right, and we will post it for you.

Sue finished her intravenous treatments on Thursday at 6:00 am. All went pretty well. She had wonderful home health care nurses, one of whom came when the port was plugged and showed us what to do. Now Sue has 'graduated' from intravenous steroids to steroids by mouth. She will take tapering-off amounts of prednizone for a week or so and will see her neurologist again on March 10. The steroids have left her somewhat shakey and unsteady on her feet, but in good spirits and highly motivated to do all that the physical therapists suggest.

We keep learning about motor neuron disease (MND) as time goes by. Sue has no definitive diagnosis for her condition. She has been told by two neurologists that some 25 to 40% of neuropathies are never diagnosed. It turns out she has been evaluated by a super-duper team at Barnes-Jewish--some of the best in the U.S. That team's conclusion: no clear diagnosis. Shirley's sister, Loretta, told us yesterday that her neurologist in New Orleans recommended a renowned neurologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University whose name is Alan Pestronk. Sue was all set to talk to her neurologist today about consulting Pestronk only to find out that he is head of the very team that evaluated Sue when she was in Barnes-Jewish Hospital last month.

Whatever the disease is, it is extremely vexing and difficult for Sue. As we all know, Sue is someone who has always done for others and who rarely could just sit. Well, this condition is curing her of all that. She is having to STOP doing for others and even begin accepting the gift of others doing for her. And she is learning to sit quietly and not DO, DO, DO. Difficult for her and a real trial by fire.

Denny drove in from Chicago today, and he and Sue are back at their house for the weekend. Their daughter-in-law Tiffany, and granddaughter, Haleigh, brought dinner this evening. Son Aaron is fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks this weekend. Sue's daughters-in-law have been wonderfully loving and attentive. Seems the sons did indeed 'marry their mother', so to speak.

Shirley, Sue, and I are excited because Sue's grandson Brayden, son of Scott, will come spend several days with us in early March. Margaret and Sue will meet Scott in Mt. Carmel, IL, to pick up Brayden then come here on Monday, March 8. Shirley and I will be in Chicago on our bi-weekly work jaunt. Shirley will return on Monday, and I will return on tuesday. Having Brayden with us turns us into dottery old ladies. He is a love. We claim that he first walked when he was with us three weeks ago, just before his first birthday on February 12. Of course, now he no longer walks; he runs! It takes several old dottery ladies to keep up with him.