Jeannette is enjoying a burger for lunch. She is on regular food. Amy, her former speech therapist , is visiting with Jeannette, Sam, Glordine and me. Jeannette had a good PT session. She was doing cross mid-line exercises, leaning, reaching, grasping, etc. She also did more bust exercises.  Getting stronger everyday!! Jeannette  said that her jaw is sore but Amy explained that it is because she has not had to use it for 2 months. I know that Rich would want to be here to encourage Jeannette so I have kept up the litany of "Honey  Bears, have another bite, have another sip, are you hot, are you cold, did you have a good night sleep, etc". We all laughed at that. [...]

We keep forgetting to add information about Jeannette's magic carpet ( bed) for all the medical personnel (Linda ) following her progress. The bed is a Hill-Rom Total Care Bariatric Plus.  It has a mattress full of air and is multi- positional. She has an angle of attack indicator (actually more like a turn and slip indicator) on the side so she can adjust to 45 degrees for meal time. One of the nurses said it cost about 15K.  You probably need a special degree to operate it.  I am afraid to touch it!  Sully[...]

Rich would like to thank everyone  for the birthday wishes, party and gifts, etc.  Some of the Willow "family" and Chicken Fleet assembled at Rich's to help him celebrate last night.  There was a FaceTime with Jeannette (and Joyce and Erika) at St Elias and we all sang all sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and ice cream.  Glordine and Mary Kay(Ann) were running around gathering evidence ( taking pictures).  [...]

Today was Rich's birthday, and his big present was a long visit with Jeannette.   The report from the ICU comes from him, and continues to be good; the "wound team" was in today, changing bandages, checking on the healing, and their report was that things are continuing to progress well.   Her white blood cell count was where they needed it to be, and the "big news" for today was that they will be modifying her diet within a day to pretty much anything.   Right now she has been restricted to certain mashed up foods and smaller bite stuff, but that is about to change and that's another milestone in the steps of recovery.   [...]

Today marks another good day in a string of good days, and its exciting to be able to report progress and real healing.   With Kevin in town, we started our day with a flight out to Willow, catching Rich in a scramble as he was getting ready to head into town for "PT" the infamous physical therapy.   There were arm and hand exercises on the agenda, and his leg was better.   He has had a touch of nausea the last few days, which is an expected reaction to one of his medications.  Not that it really slows him down from my observation--he was doing orange marmalade and toast, and his refrigerator is stocked like a COSTCO.   [...]

I have just come back into town, and returned from a visit with Jeannette.   I also picked up Kevin Knutson, who has come up to visit the Keidas, and so that was a special treat for everyone.    Speaking of special things, today was a special day in my way of thinking, because today they removed Jeannette's "feeding tube," and as I have said before, with every single tube that is removed we can mark it as a very real and measurable point of progress.  I also noticed that there were no IV lines going into her ams, and so she is in many ways "unplugged" when you look at her.  And she looked great!  [...]

Shift change occurred at 1300 when Joyce took over from Sully. The morning report  is this:  Jeannette had a good breakfast and was sipping an Ensure when I arrived. I excercised command authority and ordered a strawberry milk shake and Jeannette agreed that it was a tremendous improvement to mix the two together.  Face time with Rich was next as well as a call to Sam. Amy, the speech therapist was in with some fun word games. She even let me play.  Jeannette did very well, as expected. That was followed by the Dynamic Duo of Anna and Ty for physical therapy.  Jeannette was in the cardiac chair for over an hour.  She improved her reps on the arm exercises and held herself erect in the chair for 5:45 and 3.30 min, beating Friday's record of 1x 3:00 min.  Ty and Anna think she may get to go to the gym and workout on the mat on Friday. Ty, an Eagle scout, was very sweet and wiped Jeannette's eyelashes with a soft wet cloth. He also rigged her bib and tucker ( preventing anything from going down/ onto the neck brace) with some string and knots he learned in Boy Scouts. I have to say that her nurses and the other staff are AWESOME!  They love Jeannette and she loves them. No wonder St Elias has a top rating. They aren't just doing a job,they have a calling. Also, Jessie, one of her favorite nurses was on today.  She was eating lunch as I was leaving, getting her strength up for more face time calls with Rich.  Joyce had the iPad fully charged![...]

As I sit here in Amsterdam my mind is in Alaska, and I find it's a good time to reflect on the things that have come to pass. I picked up my iPad and called Rich, and chatted with him and his sister Maryann using the Face Time feature.   The technology amazes me, as I sit on one side of the planet chatting for free to someone on the other side. Here it is 445am in the middle of the night, and there in Willow it is dinner time.[...]

Team Keida Fans!  Here is your second report of the day, although don't expect much drama, thank God!

Rich wants to convey his sincere gratitude to all for the prayers, posts, transportation, food, companionshIp, chores getting done around his house, meals, etc. He is overwhelmed by the support of the Willow community, fellow Chicken Fleeters, former AF friends, friends from Las Vegas, Arizona, college, well wishes from Jeannette's family in England, etc, etc etc.  I will next break a cardinal rule of military speech.  Don't thank everyone by name because you will probably forget someone important. It is unintentional.  I think he is especially grateful to his sister Mary Kay(Ann), who is back in town!  Also Erika and Joyce who are doing the majority of sitting with Jeannette now that Sam is gone AND of course the wonderful Sam. If I had a daughter, I would want one just like her!  Jeannette keeps saying "Isn't she wonderful!!!!!" and I have to agree. Did I mention the wonderful Willow folks who have rallied round?  Rich is doing so well that Krista has earned some time off.  [...]

Good Morning Everyone! Thank you for your continued prayers. I am doing great.  I hope to see all of you soon.   As dictated to Sully by Jeannette 1 min ago.  Today, Jeannette enjoyed a bath and hair washing. She said it was fabulous. Of course, the first thing we did was face time Rich and checked in with him. He is doing well and getting ready for Mary Kay's visit. I read Jeannette some of your posts and showed her some of the pictures on the website. She is doing very well. Joyce and Erika are due to visit this afternoon, as is Mary Kay once she gets to Anchorage. Thanks again for all the posts and well wishes you all send out daily! Sully[...]