Day 38 // Improvements

Good day to you all!

RELAXED- JoAnne has been doing better today; she's much calmer, and has even been able to doze a bit on and off. They've taken her off the phentanyl pain meds that had made her so agitated the last few days, and she's now on morphine along with her oxy. Addictive meds, we know, and we've mentioned this to the docs, asking what other options there are down the road for pain relief that aren't so addictive and narcotic-y... JoAnne wouldn't want to be on that stuff too long. She has also started neurontin for her phantom leg pain.

INFECTIONS- Jani spoke with Dr. Ramzy & Dr. Chang about JoAnne's possible abdomen/hip infections. They said that the small pockets they'd seen on the CT are small enough that they can be resolved with antibiotics, which is great news! They'll continue to monitor them, of course, and we'll let you know if anything comes up. JoAnne's fever and WBC should also help communicate if anything gets worse rather than better, so we and doctors always have the risk of infection in the back of our minds. She's not out of the clear yet, but we are mighty grateful today for her current condition!

HIP- Dr. Meyer (assistant to Dr. Madey) said that in the surgery/cleaning yesterday, they put a few small holes in the edge of her hip bone to stimulate healing of the wound. The healing will ultimately get the exposed bone covered, which obviously is a must. Again, he said that her hip wound looks great, and it's only a matter of continuing to heal...

FOOD!- Tara, her speech therapist, paid a visit today. JoAnne's swallow test went well, and she has been finally given the a-ok to begin eating soft foods!!! As long as she takes small sips of liquids and small bites of food, she should be fine. She had a chocolate smoothie for her lunch appetizer, followed by potato shitake soup and a mango sorbet for dessert... Life is good.

LEG- since Tuesday, JoAnne has been told a few ways, numerous times that her R leg was taken, and has been bringing it up herself since then. This will be a growing awareness, we think, as her memory and attention are not quite back consistently yet. She's been dealing alright with it so far, and we've been reminding her that she lost her leg to save her life. She has communicated a few times that this seems reasonable.

FAREWELL (for now)- Mom is leaving tomorrow. We are trying not to think too much about how much we'll all miss her, and how much she's done to keep things going (emotionally, practically, gastronomically, the list goes on!). She'll be back mid-October with Jan, so we're already counting down the days... Nick & Susan will hold down the fort with JoAnne tonight so that we four (H/K/A/J) can take Jani out to a nice farewell dinner (using a gift certificate from our loving bosom buddy, Stacey!). Again, we feel so supported and loved by you all. It really means a lot. 

Now for a few photos! Kelty took this of us Wednesday, and the last photo is of JoAnne's view from her bed. She happens to have the nicest room in the joint, and has just recently been remarking on what a nice view it is to wake up to...