Updates about Karen's Condition - November 2000

• October 30 - November 5 - Good news finally! Karen saw her doctor this week and he said that her sore has really healed a lot - that the wound vac is really helping. Her sore has gone from a depth of 15 mm (at it's worse) to only 4 mm today. She still has to stay in bed for another 4 weeks, until her next evaluation, but she is making great progress. She hopes to get back in her standing frame this week because the sore on her foot has also almost completely healed, but she still has to work on her ankle a bit (because it's dropped) before she can get back in the frame. The Weir household is also celebrating this week because Elizabeth finally went potty on the potty...the diapers should be gone soon!
• November 6- 12 - Karen had another peaceful week of healing in bed. She got up in her standing frame today but since it's been a couple of months since she was last upright, she blacked out (because her blood pressure dropped too low) and she had to get back into bed really quickly. That didn't dampen her spirits though, she's definitely going to keep at it but she'll take it a little more slowly next time. Some other good news: she gets to get rid of the antibiotic IV that she's had been hooked up to for a few months now. She has set a goal of January 1, 2001 to have her leg completely healed so she asks for your prayers to help her reach that goal.
• November 13 - 19 - Karen got up in the standing frame on Monday (with better results than last week), but her nurses then told her to stay out of it for a while until her leg is healed, because they are concerned about the drainage from the sore while she's in the frame. So, Karen spent most of the week in bed as usual. She is a little concerned that her wound may be infected again (since she went off the antibiotics) so she is looking forward to a visit from the wound nurse and her regular nurse tomorrow. Karen is also excited about a visit from her sister later this week, and she wants to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
• November 20 - 26 - Karen had a nice Thanksgiving with her family and is starting her Christmas shopping from bed. It turns out that her wound was infected, so she had to go back on antibiotics and will see her infectious disease doctor next week for firm direction. It is pretty certain that she will have to have the muscle flap surgical procedure so she is tentatively scheduling it for the end of January. She wants to enjoy the holidays and will take care of it after things have calmed back down, she'll see her doctor next week to see if he agrees with her timing plan.