Day 57 // Freaky Friday

Hey all,

So since Thursday morning there has been a major switch-aroo in the works: Kelty and I are in Barcelona while JoAnne is in Portland!

By a strange twist of fate, Kelty and I were able to go to Barcelona for a photography job. We're here now, able to see JoAnne's friends, our friends, get things for her, and do a bit of work in our spare time.  :) What an amazing opportunity this is, though we wouldn't have been able to do this without such incredibly supportive family and friends. Carol, Karin and Justin helped out until Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Then beginning tonight (Friday), Jani and Jan will be in town through Monday. Then Jani & JoAnne's brother Mike will be in town all next week, then Jani again for the weekend. Kelty and I felt so good leaving with such great support there for JoAnne, and will return Saturday the 27th.

This last week JoAnne has made some great strides in her recovery. Momentarily set back by her wound vac procedure on Monday (particularly painful, this one), she's been hanging tough and even still doing her physical therapy every day or two. This involves arm and leg exercises, balancing on the edge of her bed while sitting, and finally sitting 1-2 hours in her chair (and leaning forward as much as possible to strengthen her abdominals). She's be a real trouper with this, as it's no easy feat!

JoAnne's trach tube is out, and her gauze covering is now gone, meaning her neck wound is almost completely healed! They removed her feeding tube a few days ago, which means that she is eating enough calories on her own, building up a healthy appetite. She has discontinued her antibiotics, so she's essentially tube free as of this week! We're very excited about this, and JoAnne will now be managing her pain with oral medication and can begin working more diligently on her PT.

More updates as I get them from afar... many thanks to all of you who have reached out via email, card or call in the last few weeks... it has meant a lot to JoAnne as she begins to open up her world a bit to include the past, present and future.

I´ll send another report after her wound vac this week (we still don´t know what day it is!)...

Love you all!
Team Jojo