Today from the Denver Outpost

Dear Friends,

Another great day in multiple trauma. Rachel awoke in a positive mood today, stronger, more talkative, and ready to meet the world. Early in the morning, the nurses started telling her that her chest tube and epidural would come out today. When Dr. Bart came around for rounds this morning, he told her to get set, and pulled out the chest tube. Two anesthesiologists came in and said we needed to prepare to go cold turkey from the epidural that has been providing pain relief from the rib injuries. So they made arrangements to do one last trip from the bed to the wheelchair and from there to the port-a-potty and back to bed, prior to epidural withdrawal.

Just after lunch, the nurse and technician came in and removed the epidural and she was flying free, expect for her oxygen tether and a catheter. But by dinner time she was pretty tired from the big day and a little wishy-washy about sitting up in the chair. However, upon further reflection and some friendly reminders from Mother Nature, she decided to repeat her morning performance and added a new trick of eating dinner in the wheelchair. Then she moved to the port-a-potty and on back to bed.

Rachel is eating better, her appetite probably stimulated by some of the work. She ate about a third more today than any previous day here at Swedish, including two desserts. Rachel has a special dessert stomach and can always find a way to get a little more of the sweets in to that stomach.

We also spent more time today reading and re-reading the cards and Swede-mail coming in for Rachel. She had some very interesting messages from students and former students, and some great daily conversations through the Swede-mail with old friends telling about their respective days in their home locations. Each message brightened her day, and for that, my family says “Thank You, Thank You. Thank You!”

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

p.s. To send a Swede-mail to Rachel, navigate to:

www.swedishhospital.com

Then click on the Contact Us tab. In the middle of the page is a link to patient e-mail. Just click on that and follow the forms.