Happy Thanksgiving!

Back in the summer, when things were really bad, I dreamed of Thanksgiving, and prayed that Jamie would be sitting at our Thanksgiving dinner table with us. I am so thankful that this prayer, along with many others, was answered. I am thankful for all of Jamie's friends and family who shared their love and support these last four months. I am thankful for my son-in-law Marc who took the burden of dealing with hospital bills and insurance and medicaid off our shoulders, and created order out of chaos. I am thankful for the skills and the incredible compassion of all the doctors, nurses, nurses aides and therapists at Carolinas Medical Center and Carolinas Rehabilitation. And I am thankful for our church family, whose caring support has been boundless.

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, Jamie is having therapy. He is being fitted with an orthotic to wear on his left foot/ankle. He no longer has to wear the big brace on his left leg - hooray! It will take several more weeks for his toes on his right foot to heal--this kind of wound has to heal from the inside out - the doctor says to eat lots of protein - we've got lots of turkey leftovers! :-)

I pray that your Thanksgiving blessings, dear reader, are many.
Love and Peace,
Brenda

Home Again

It's Thursday night, and we're home from the hospital. Jamie's sitting in front of the fireplace, eating chocolate chip cookies just out of the oven, and watching CNN's Democratic debate in Nevada. It won't be long and he'll be back in his bed - at home! This last hospital stay (and I hope it's the last hospital stay) was very good - CMC is awesome - BUT, there's no place like home!

One More Night

Jamie is doing very well after his surgery Monday. He's still in the hospital - they are managing his pain with medication by IV, but he needs to have it under control with pill form before he can come home. They are going to start alternating a pill with his IV meds, and plan for him to come home tomorrow (Thursday).

We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. His vascular surgeon said it was amazing how good Jamie looks, and how different he looks than he did in the ICU in July.

Post-Surgery Update

Jamie's surgery went well yesterday. The Doctors cleaned up his toes on his right foot. They debriefed all of the damaged skin and tissue on 3 of his toes and ended up taking off just the tips. This should not affect his balance or ability to walk at all, so that's good. He does have a lot of pain and he will hopefully heal quickly over the next 4-6 weeks. He spent last night in the hospital and should be coming home soon!

And then it's back to therapy next week!

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Halloween at Carolinas Rehabilitation

PT Sarah, PT tech Dave, unknown poor soul who didn't do his stretches, and PT Andrea with Jamie on Halloween. This was taken after Jamie's hour session on the parallel bars.

Jamie's working hard, 3 therapies 3 times a week. Michael and I have been working hard, too, practicing transfers with Jamie. He is scheduled to have surgery on his toes on Monday, November 12th, and will probably be in the hospital for a couple of days. We'll let you know details as we know them.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support during Jamie's recovery!