February 2006

Dr. Erlich asks her to count from 27 down to 0 by 3s. Again, she is unable to do so. An MRI and EEG are ordered. After a couple of weeks, we meet to discuss the results. Dr. Erlich tells us that she appears to function quite well in spite of the damage shown on the MRI. He said the was comparable to that of someone who was underwater for 3 minutes. That is a shock to us and we don’t know what to say. He tells us that he isn’t sure what is going on and suggests a spinal tap with the fluid sent to the Mayo Clinic for diagnosis. Although he doesn’t say so, I suspect that Dr. Erlich already suspects Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) but does not want to alarm us. Fumi has difficulty dressing and undressing herself. From now on, it is my task to dress and undress her.