Day 74 // Bumps

Hey all!

Wanted to give an update on JoAnne's condition, as it's been another week and things are going pretty well... She has had a few small bumps in the road (which the docs had warned us about), but overall things are still moving upward!

WOUND VAC- Early last week they removed JoAnne's wound vac! This means that they'll just be packing her wound with gauze to allow it to heal up even faster. There is still quite a large incision left to be healed, though the surgeons said everything looks incredibly healthy and is healing very well. The wound vac packing and tape has been causing JoAnne a lot of discomfort during her PT and such (lots of pressure from the vacuum), so she was pretty stoked that her hip is looser and more free. 

UTI- JoAnne was not feeling great earlier this week, and was finally diagnosed with a UTI three or so days ago. This is a common infection for those with continuous use of catheters, and we've all be amazed that she's gone this far infection free! It was also great that they caught it when they did (or rather, that JoAnne was able to bring it to their attention), as she's on such strong pain meds, it may have gone a while without being noticed. Not a fun ailment to have, of course, but she's been soldiering on admirably, and is feeling better now that the antibiotics are kicking in.

CYST- Although her wounds have been healing well overall, on Friday night a cyst burst at the base of JoAnne's wound- a surprise infection of sorts! The base of her hip had been almost completely healed, so this was a bit of a surprise, but they acted quickly and cleaned out all they could find. They also sent samples to the lab to make sure the infection was not a serious bacteria. It was possible that she had to have more surgery today guided by a radiologist, but they did a CT and found it was essentially gone. Antibiotics should get rid of the small pocket remaining, as it was deemed too small to remove. The bottom will have to heal again, now, but as far as back-tracking, it could have been a lot worse. It's very painful for JoAnne to experience the wound cleanings now, but as usual, she's brave as all get-out!

JIM- JoAnne's brother from Palm Springs has been in town this week while Kelty and I've been traveling again for work. Jim has been an amazing help and comfort to JoAnne, especially during the last few days when she was feeling so rotten and couldn't eat or drink with the looming surgeries. 
JoAnne will even watch golf now without complaining... good times. He heads home tomorrow morning, and we all will miss him!

NEXT- JoAnne is still focusing on the day to day progress around here, working on feeling better and starting up her PT again. If her wound healing continues to improve, the doctors estimate it'll be 2-4 weeks before she'll be discharged. Her social worker is still working with the insurance to plan JoAnne's flight home with a doctor... more on that as we know it! 

Much love to you all,

Team Jojo