Updates about Karen's Condition - February 2001

• January 29 - February 4 - Karen has settled into her new temporary home -- she is staying at the Rosewood Home on Schuetz Road (Room 415) for the next six weeks or so. She doesn't have a phone in her room, but a cellular phone is on the way so she'll soon be able to communicate. Right now she is only allowed to lay on her back or side, she can't put any pressure at all on the surgical patch, and she has to stay like that for about another week. Then she'll be allowed to get up for about a half an hour at a time and gradually ramp up from there and start rehabilitation as well. She's in her usual good spirits and pleased with how her wound is healing.
• February 5 - 11 - Well the roller coaster ride continues...Karen had to go back in the hospital (Barnes) on Wednesday because her incision was opening up. The doctors put the wound-vac back on her sore and it seems to have helped the incision heal back up. She was scheduled to stay at Barnes through the weekend and then they will make a decision some time this week on whether she'll go back to Rosewood or to a different long term care facility. She is appreciative of any and all prayers for her healing and recovery.
• February 12 - 18 - Karen is still at Barnes and it looks like she'll be there for a while longer. The wound vac continues to help her incision heal, but it's still not completely healed so Karen hasn't even been able to get up yet, much less start the rehabilitation process. She is getting good care though and she remains in good spirits, as always.
• February 19 - 25 - Karen remains in Barnes and she had kind of a rough week last week. She stopped taking her antibiotics for 5 days and then she got zapped by 2 infections so she is back on antibiotics and starting to recover from the infections. She is also back on the wound-vac, they had taken it off last week but her wound is healing so slowly they slapped it back on. Unfortunately her wound still hasn't healed even enough for her to get up for the half an hour that she so craves, the wound is healthy though, it's just taking forever to mend...