November 17 (Saturday) - midnight

Tonight, as I am writing this, the wind out in the valley is howling, the temperatures are crashing into the single digits, and its been a grey overcast day with the threat of snow in the air.   I have been in Florida for the few days, so returning home from the land of "fun and sun" into the dark and the cold has been somewhat of an unpleasant surprise.   But one of the good things about getting back of course was getting home, and also having the ability to get by and visit Jeannette, and that of course was high on my agenda.  

Over the last few days the news has been oh-so-good, with real progress it seems at every turn and yesterday the big highlight was Jeannette had really WALKED on her own for nearly 20 feet in total!    Sure, it was between the "parallel bars", but she was feeling good, and building strength, and her legs are working!    So, I was excited and looking forward to seeing the progress first hand, and congratulate her on the big achievements and the steps she has made.      

But when I arrived at St Elias this afternoon with Sully right away I could tell it's been a tough day, a reminder perhaps to all of us that this "get well" trip is still a roller coaster ride.  Sam and Rich were there too, watching over Jeannette and taking care of everything that she needs.    It seems her nausea hit her hard today, and right after breakfast she lost everything she had eaten, and then spent much of the rest of the day throwing up off and on.   So the "news" as it is is that Jeannette has not been able to eat anything today, and even keeping her meds down has been problematic.   On top of that bad news we are back to wearing the yellow gowns and blue gloves.   Clearly, there is some concern from the doctors that even I, the non-medical person, can detect.   Her main doctor has ordered more CAT scans, with "contrast dye" to make sure her all important "gut"is OK, and they are giving her a wide broad based antibiotic Vermicin along with all kinds of electrolytes to try and keep her body chemistry where it needs to be.  

But, even with the "bad news" there are many good things to report.   I had the chance to see her newly rebuilt left leg for the first time, and it was unbandaged!   I'll admit I was stunned when I saw it, because it's bruised and swollen and the stitches are like WOW!!!!   And I'm guessing my reaction when I first saw it didn't help make Jeannette feel any better, but it looks REALLY SORE to me and I just wanted to make it better NOW!   But Rich with his self earned associate nursing degree and Sam with her many months of experience and almost RN rating, assured me it was "looking great" and was a "vast improvement."   Well, it's a leg that's been through a lot, and I'm just glad I never saw it BEFORE.    Jeannette is the strongest person I've ever known--and through it all she seems to take the ups and downs in stride, her sprits up and in a very real way buoying up all of us at the same time.   

Another big thing to report is they do not plan to do the surgery on the right leg for a while; it seems it's "ok for now" and she has been able to put weight on it and its bending now up to almost 90 degrees, so it doesn't seem to be high on the agenda of "things to do" anymore.    That hasn't all been decided "for sure" and there are other questions to be raised, such as where does she go next, and when if the leg operation is not on the agenda for the near future?    Home might be a real possibility, assuming we can line up the required "extended care" and "medical support" to make that possible. Logistically a lot of things still have to fall in place, but thats a part of the conversations now, and its an exciting thing to be talking about.  

For now, I'll end this note.   Keep the prayers going!  All I know is when Jeannette comes home, we're going to have to have a party!--John