Doing Great

Sorry to have been absent with updates for so long. The days seem more full now that Mom is at home - although, some days they are full of watching movies or, our favorite, HGTV. : )

Diana is doing very well. She is sometimes frustrated that she is not "back to normal" yet, but comparison is all, and when one considers how ill she was just a couple of weeks ago, her progress is remarkable.

A wound care specialist visited us this week, to lend a more experienced eye to Mom's healing process. He told us that all of the wounds are looking very good and healing extremely well - in fact, he conferred with Mom's doctor and they gave the go ahead for the smaller wounds to go to an every other day dressing change. This was great as it means that Mom doesn't have to have a nurse visiting every single day, nor have me dressing the wounds every day - it is a relief to not have someone poking at her all the time!

We see her surgeon next week and we hope he will give us an idea of how much longer she has to have her wound vac in place. The wound vac is a bit of a contradiction - on the one hand, it is horrible for Mom to be constantly attached to the thing, its heavy to carry around, and the dressing changes are much more complicated than with a traditional dressing; on the other hand, it makes the wound heal much faster and if it is discontinued, the progress may slow down quite a bit.

Otherwise, she is doing very well. All of her vital signs are excellent, her pain is well controlled and she is very patient with me trying to stuff her full of food all the time.

She continues to be very tired and somewhat "shaky" which frustrates her to no end. However, she does her exercises faithfully (including 'stairs' twice a day) and we have made several small outings. She really improves a little each day, and her spirits are amazing, especially considering all she's been through.

Mom is definitely my hero. Even when she's having a "bad" day, she is sweet and patient, and her sense of humor seems to stay intact no matter what.

Hopefully, the next time I have an update for you, we will be able to report that the wound vac is off and her stamina has increased significantly. In the mean time, thank you to everyone for the messages, cards, flowers and treats you continue to send. It is so cheering for both Mom and I to know how much support, encouragement and love are out there for both of us. As Mom says to me pretty much every day, we are Very Lucky.