I can't thank you all enough - this means so much. I just called my cousin to tell him about these wonderful responses, and I've sent him an email so he can show his dad later; I know he'll appreciate it greatly.

Geoff, sorry I was behind on your posts, but I'm glad to see now that your mom is doing well!

TIS and MC, thank you for sharing personal insight on this. The doctors can't seem to promise anything they're not sure of, but we're relying on stories from others to keep hope that things will work out in our situation, also.