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


"Margaret did see her physician today. He believes her wound is healing fine. But we got a very detailed e-mail from Catrina who went along with Margaret to the doctor and said:

Mom went to the doctor today, as you guys know. She said she talked with you, but couldn't remember exactly what the doctor said about it so she asked if I'd e-mail you and let you know.

There are three types of glands in the skin. Sweat, oil and wax glands. You sweat when you're hot, obviously, but the skin first secretes oil and wax to keep your skin from shriveling up (or frickling as Sam and Lizzie say) from being wet, as it would in the bathtub. In mom's case, one of the wax glands became clogged and over a period of time (he said a LONG period), the wax became trapped in there with no where to go. It eventually became unclogged but at that point the wax was too large to come out but bacteria could get in. And bacteria feeds off of the wax stuff so it became incredibly infected as the bacteria grew. That was the reason for the surgery and now they have to close it from the inside out to keep it from leaving another big hole on the inside succeptible to more infection. The actual term from the pathology report was: a soft tissue, abscess cavity, excision: "Squamous epithelium lined cyst consistent with epidermal inclusion cyst" and "Acute and chronic inflammation". Sections of the abscess cavity showed a cyst lined by squamous epithelium (the tissue that covers the external surface of the body and lines hollow structures) with keratinous debris (dead skin, hair cells). So - basically - she had a big infected abscess on her ass and they've fixed it. (I could've done a much better, simpler pathology report) She goes back next Wednesday and they doctor told her they'll talk about not having to do any more cleaning to it. They had told her previously she had to sit in a warm bath three times a day and then clean it with Hyrdrogen Peroxide. She has, as you probably know, very sensitive skin and her dermatologist had advised against showering more than once every other day so she's developing a secondary problem with her skin since she's been in the tub so much. Now she doesn't have to do that anymore so let's hope we can get her skin back to normal, too. And he has given her the go ahead to be able to go camping as long as she keeps it clean and does the Hydrogen Peroxide thing daily. I told her that means she can't roll around naked in the dirt with Dad. The doctor also said this infection she had was a very serious thing and it could've been fatal! I'm glad she went in when she did.

Wanted to give you an update. I hope all is well with you. Tell Jamil that Sam really enjoyed his visit and he hopes to do it again someday.

Catrina"

Thanks, Catrina. What a thorough understanding you have! We are happy to hear that our prayers for Margaret have reached heaven.

We also just this minute got our electricity back on after about an hour of being in the dark. More prayers answered. The last time this happened, we were without electricity for five days, had to throw everything out of the freezer, and it was a misery. This time, one hour. Seems our prayers are reaching heaven in a more timely fashion.