December 23, 2010

Again I have to apologize for my lack of posts over the last week. Mom has done so well in that time and has managed to impress her doctors and physical therapists with her progress. Just as we all knew would happen, Mom is awake and ready to get out and about as soon as possible. She is off of dialysis and has been for several days. Her kidneys are functioning very well at this point as are her joints.

The grafting that was done over her entire right arm has taken completely which, in and of itself, is a shock. Her hand specialist is very impressed with her mobility and the state of her hands so far. They removed the pins early this week and she is still able to wiggle her fingers independently and is currently working very hard to get them functioning as closely to normal as possible though we are several months away from an acceptable range.

She has been up on the tilt table standing and in the chair beside her bed for several hours over the last two days. The doctors have spoken with her and let her know that if she can get moving and work hard to get healthy she will get to leave the hospital much sooner. Just as we would expect of Mom, she is determined to hold her doctors to their word. Though she does tire quickly, she has continued to push herself so that she can rebuild her strength. She exercises her hands and tries to talk so that her vocal cords can stretch and strengthen her voice. In rebuilding her strength she has also shown incredible range of motion considering the fact that she had been sedated for close to three months.

They plan to put the negative pressure machines back on her legs over the next few days and leave them on for around two weeks so that the tissue on her legs can build up making them more fleshed out before grafting over her legs. They are happy with the tissue that has grown to protect her knee joints so far but are hoping for more with continued use of the negative pressure machines.

We have received our Christmas present early this year and could not have asked for a more special gift. Our entire family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hopes that the new year brings you the faith and miracles that we have been given over the last few months.