Jeannette says she is doing good, and continuing to improve.  Her wonderful nurse, Nate, and CNA, Rachel, turned her bed this morning so she could see snow and sunshine. Jeannette loves her room with a view. She has been practicing her queenly wave and limbering up that right arm. Rich made the trip in from Willow and enjoyed a nice visit while Sam and Sully took a stroll around University Lake.  Jeannette wants to thank everyone for the prayers, kind thoughts, and visits. They mean so much to both Rich and Jeannette. Keep those prayers coming!  And Jeannette really enjoys reading the messages you all post on thIs site.  [...]

Jeannette is having a great day. No nausea, great BP in spite of Ty's (occupational therapy) ministrations on the right hand. She used her right hand to eat and is doing some flexing exercises under the watchful eyes of Ahna, Deb, Sam and me. With Ahna and Sandra, the physical therapy team, Jeannette was working on reaching and trunk control. She did such an awesome job, she earned hugs from the girls. There is quite a bit of laughter and joking, the best medicine of all.  Jeannette was beaming with the results of her success today in therapy. The BP was checked several times and was right on target. It was raining outside, but inside St Elias, the sun was shining!  sully[...]

Debbie and I arrived a little before 0800 as Jeannette was finishing the perfect poached egg for breakfast. She was in great spirits and in much better shape than the two of us (0330 wake- up and drive to the airport so Deb could try to get home).  She had a little bit of a rough night with some nausea but, after a discussion with Dr Morgan, the culprit is thought to be the Coumadin which is typically given at 6pm.  It seems the nausea started when the Coumadin started so it will now be preceded by something to counteract that queasy feeling.  The other option the Dr mentioned was to stop Coumadin. Jeannette seemed very pleased with Dr Morgan. Her highlight, however, was the great news about Rich.  He has his cast off and has been cleared to work out with a 5lbs weight.  And speaking of weight, he has gained some. Debbie, mom of a cross country runner and skier ( and recent half marathon finisher) put all her knowledge of pre and post workout nutrition to use in crafting meals and snacks for Rich during her stay in Willow.  The freezer and refrigerator are full!  Rich is also off the Coumadin.  He is still bothered by the knee but gets around better and better each day. Jeannette did a face time call with Rich before her 2 sessions of PT. Joyce arrived at 1000 as Sam was spending the day with Rich, getting him to appointments, and running errands. I am sure I left plenty of good stuff out, (as well as punctuation and paragraphs) but my night was short, like my memory, and the day was long. Oh yes, Jeannette should be getting the pins out of her right arm soon.  Sully[...]

I noticed it's been a couple of days since I last wrote, and the good news is that there has not been all that much to write about.   Today however marks a really good day, for both Rich and Jeannette, and good news always makes for an easy to write "update."    Rich saw his doctor today, and he had his splint/cast removed, and he's been cleared to start (slowly) lifting weights and building his strength back in that arm!  That's right, he is "cast free!"       He was also taken off the blood thinner Coumadin, and that's one drug he didn't like and he was sure pleased to find out he no longer needs it.   He has a completely unrestricted diet now, and so in every single measure he is getting well and making progress fast![...]

Hi Everyone.  It's Sam.

I just wanted to add to John's post below that Mom actually went OUTSIDE.  Her wonderful Physical Therapy team decided to take her off the grid (outside of the remote monitoring of her heart rate, oxygen, etc.).  They felt (and boy were they right) that the theraputic properties of fresh air and sun were equally important to Mom's recovery.  This was the first time since July 19th that Mom felt the sun on her face and breathed in fresh air.  It's hard to describe how beautiful her face was.  She just kept breathing in deeply with her eyes closed and a huge smile.  We all had huge grins and tears in our eyes.  Thanks to my wonderful, patient husband Alan for capturing the moment on camera.[...]

I am writing this update from Seattle; as I spend the night here at the airport waiting for a 6am flight back to Alaska.   As such, I do not have any specifics for a "news filled" update, since I was not in Alaska and I did not make any visits today.   Yet even so my mind has been there with Jeannette and Rich, and from what I have been told I can honestly write that Jeannette has had another good day, continuing to surprise her doctors and making steady progress in the right direction. Yesterday and today the weather finally improved somewhat, and she was able to make an expedition out of her room and down to the lobby, where the sun was shining.    In the big scheme of things going outside might not seem all that huge of an event, but oh it is!    [...]

Jeannette was having a great morning after a good night's sleep.  She was reading when I got there ( a real book not an iBook ).  Sam arrived with Alan shortly thereafter and we were all treated to a double session of PT.   Anna is now paired with PhD student Sandra who has lots of outpatient PT experience.  There was much laughter and joking as the girls worked on range of motion exercises and helped Jeannette isolate specific muscles. Sandra gave Jeannette a shoulder massage which J told her she could stop at 1100 ( end of session).  There were still bust exercises to do in pursuit of the perfect bimodal distribution. Ty followed the girls with sets of arm exercises.  There were more jokes and Jeannette was in great spirits when I left, looking forward to an afternoon visit with Rich, Deb and Kevin. I would type more but it is time to get my boat out of the water before there is more water in it than under it. Sully[...]

I've been away, but now that I'm back in town I'm pleased to report that big progress has continued and Jeannette is continuting to improve.   She is currently off the antibiotics, and her stomach area seems to be healing well, and the doctors are all well-pleased in where she is and the direction her health is going.   The reports from those that have seen her most recently is that she is  "looking great" and Rich remarked to me just a little while ago that he is awed by her strength and her get-well attitude.  [...]

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[...]