News from the Denver Outpost August 29, 2007

Dear Friends,

The last two days have been exciting on a couple of fronts. Britanie left Omaha for Boston on a 5:40 am flight from Eppley Airfield. Prior to arriving at Eppley, she received a phone call from dear ole Dad asking if she and her driver (Aunt M) were enjoying the full lunar eclipse. She reported that both were indeed and that she had also called Grandma and told her to go look at the moon. Thus, as Rachel says, we all had a cosmic connection. Rachel and I noticed the moon shining directly in to our “luxury suite” here at Swedish Medical Center on Sunday night. We could watch as it moved from east to west across the night sky from our respective beds. Therefore, we were anticipating the same luxury as we prepared for Monday nights sleep. Unfortunately, the moon was about 20 degrees higher in the night sky than the night before, so I had to get up and go to the window to observe the moon every half hour or so from about 3:00 am until 5:30 when our wakeup call came into the room for a blood draught. Thanks to my niece Lizzie for the heads-up on the eclipse, and for all the lost sleep too.

On the Denver front, Rachel has had her wound vac bandages removed today and says she is about 30 pounds lighter. Since there have been many queries as to these wound vac bandages and the pump, let me explain. Wound vac bandages are plastic, shaped to cover the wound, with a tube attached to vacuum the effluent away from the wound. The effluent is collected in a tank at the end of a hose, sort of like a shop vac would collect water and deposit the water in the tank. Rachel had one on a deep abrasion on her right wrist that went down to the tendons but did not tear or damage any. She also had one on her right ankle that lacerated her ligaments, but did not cut any tendons. The tubes were connected at a y-joint and then the effluent went to one vacuum weighing about 25 pounds that sat a roared all day and night as it picked up or lost suction on the wounds. She also had her fancy air bed exchanged for a regular bed. The air bed was slowing her down because she could not push to move herself up or to the side of the bed. It was a little like trying to push on a balloon. It just gave way. So without the air bed and the vacuum, our environment suddenly is much quieter. Guess she will have to reacclimatize to my snoring.

Rachel also was encouraged to keep working hard as the therapist set up a practice course for her to imitate on her wheelchair how she will negotiate the bathroom in our home from the hallway outside the bathroom. The door to the bathroom is 29 inches wide, and the bathroom itself is about 37 inches wide with all its various obstacles. The hallway outside is also 37 inches wide. The wheelchair is 27 inches wide from outside tire to outside tire. So she had to practice wheeling down the hallway, and making a tight 90 degree turn into the bathroom, and then practice backing out of the bathroom and making a very tight 90 degree turn to head back to the living room. She will get good at doing all of this fairly rapidly. There is nothing like the incentive of a full bladder to get her moving and practicing. She is also becoming quite adept at being ambidextrous. Her spoon and fork skills almost rival those of her right hand. Unfortunately, she has not spent as much time writing with her left as she has eating with her fork and spoon.

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