News from the Denver Outpost August 19, 2007

Dear Friends,

Sundays are a snap. We only had two half hour sessions of therapy, one of Physical Therapy and one of Occupational Therapy. Even then, we didn’t do much except get Rachel out of bed and into a wheelchair. She also got dressed again.

Yesterday’s loss of PT and OT time didn’t seem to affect her too badly. She did a great job of getting to the side of the bed. She winced a little getting up on her one got foot and when trying to put a good foot forward. The ultrasound from last night was negative. (YEAH!) The doctors thought it was just soreness and swelling from new muscle use and development. Unfortunately, it probably cost her one day and a half of productive gains.

We also experienced a little angst as Rachel woke up again in never-never land. We finally had a nurse pay enough attention to our concerns to call the doctor and report what we felt was a little strange. Rachel had some double vision, hallucinations, slurred speech, catatonic reactions, and a vast array of interesting answers to our queries. For example, she spotted two planes out the window and when they came together, thought they had crashed. She also asked if we had mailed a baseball helmet to Karl and how my business meeting went with an associate of Karen’s who runs an art shop in Estes Park.

The doctor decided to lower the amount of medications Rachel is receiving. As the milligrams went up, Rachel’s mental capacity deteriorated. So we are back near the start of her regime and will attempt to get a better handle on her true needs. As you can guess by now, we had some interesting conversations with the patient. We can only hope for a little less excitement tomorrow.

Britanie and I found a really nice little Mexican restaurant only 5 blocks from the hospital that had very good food. They also have a takeout menu that I will be able to utilize when Rachel is asking for more variety than the hospital menu affords. One El Burrito like I had for dinner today would be just right for both of us here in her room. They also had a green chili sauce that lit the back of your throat rather than your whole mouth. I will enjoy that walk more often. We also found the local Safeway store to be somewhat limited in selection, so will try a Kings Super tomorrow.

We received some wonderful conversational emails today. Folks were telling about their past week or day or filling us in on something exciting going on. And, since there was no Swede mail delivery Saturday or Sunday, we can’t wait to see what gets delivered from there tomorrow.

Rachel gets her wounds cleaned again tomorrow at 11 MDT and will be under general anesthesia. She may be back in time for some therapy in the afternoon, but I can almost guarantee a couple hours of work before she gets whisked down to the operating center. So check here same time, same channel for more news on our day tomorrow.

Jay, Renee, Britanie, Zach and Leah’s Dad