I was getting real worried as her DH hasn't posted in awhile! But here's the latest from him. (what a time she's had. Rough on both of them)

Another bit of good news is that Lynne is also off the Wound Vac pump - at the time it was a necessity, but having it really helped speed up the wound-healing process. That is all going extremely well, and the Drs are all very pleased with how well that's healing up. For now, her dressing only gets changed as needed, instead of every few hours.

While things have progressed very slowly over the last week, we are making little baby steps towards recovery. She started some physical therapy over the weekend, which will become more intense as the weeks progress. Lynne has been bed-ridden for a period again, so they're taking it slow for now, helping her to regain her balance and steadiness on her feet.

The main concern, as has been for the past week, is getting all her vitamin and other nutrient levels slowly back to normal. Obviously, there's no magic pill or injection to get back to those normal levels quickly, so it's all slow and baby-bouncy for the time being. They're still doing regular lab work, keeping a close eye on any changes - positive or negative. Over the past few days, each day, Lynne is a little more focused, and at times for a longer period of time. She is still sleeping a lot, and they're now trying to get her on a strict day/night pattern ---- so no more overnight TV to distract her. Sleep at night, be awake during the day, is the plan.

Some issues that cropped up early last week have now resolved themselves, thank goodness. With so much that has been going on, any issue that is better is something less to worry about.

Obviously, the next step is to get Lynne to where she is more mobile, out of bed and to a chair again, and walking around her room. and eventually the hallways. More baby steps.

Hopefully tomorrow (Wednesday) they will try and plug the fistula. She was evaluated for that very early this morning, and is considered good to go for that procedure. They were hoping to do that sometime today, but that surgical unit apparently was very busy today with more serious patients, so she's back on the schedule for 'sometime tomorrow morning'. The thinking is that now that the fistula can be sealed, when she gets back to eating, the body will be able to absorb the nutrients and vitamins more quickly and in a more natural way than when they're being infused through an IV into the bloodstream. This should help out everything overall - her strength, her balance, her sleeping pattern, pretty much just everything will benefit from her getting back on 'real food'. >>>

hugs, Karen