We met this morning with Dr. Rokov the neurosurgery-team anesthesiologist. He was very informative, patient and just a nice guy. He examined Ella by listening carefully to her lungs and breathing. He explained the risks and the reasons for hesitation in this case but after conferring with Dr. Black and another anesthesiologist, he gave the go ahead with the caveat that if during the first hour of sedation and intubation, she doesn’t respond well, they will have to postpone the operation. Over the weekend Ella consistently improved from being somewhat congested Saturday morning to being pretty much her old self yesterday. She slept about the same and ate well too; she was very interactive and smiley. I realized last night that I had thought she had a fever during the week when actually she didn’t. The reason: confusiong regarding fahrenheit body temperatures. All along I thought over 96 degrees to be a fever. Then I read Dr. Spock’s book of baby-child care and discovered that even 99 degrees is okay. Well, I felt pretty silly but also very, very relieved. I feel now that there is no time for anxiety. The operation is just around the corner. It is scary but we hope it will make all the difference for Ella’s quality of life in the long-term. We are lucky to have this hope available to us (plus good friends and family for support).