Rachel is in surgery now. It is expected to take about 5 hours, so she will probably get out around 4.

Everything went very well this morning. Rachel very patiently told most of the staff of the hospital that she had not eaten or drunk anything that day, had not been sick in any way shape or form for the last few weeks, and hadn’t even considered visiting West Africa. Dr Cheshier came by for a visit, asking “Are you ready to be seizure free?!” (For the record, it looks like her last seizure was on Sunday.) As always, everybody there was kind and efficient.

Rachel was in very good spirits, very happy to be getting the “devil tumor” out of her head. She is wonderful and brave.

I feel like every post I say the same thing, but it bears repeating: thank you all so much for your love and support! There has been a steady stream of good wishes to read to Rachel over the last 24 hours, and every one of them has made her very happy.