Update, Friday 11/9

Kelley has been taken off all the IV pain meds, and is finishing up a five day course of steroids. The doctors have completed most of their testing into causes etc, and through the process of elimination still feel that the diagnosis is tranverse myelitis. The word from Kurt is that from Saturday onward into next week will be a very critical transition for Kelley. There really is no more treatment the doctors can give her for her condition. Her body (and mind) will need to take over and continue to heal. He asks that we all help now more than ever to keep things quiet, visits short, and Kell's rest periods long. Assuming the pain does not come back at the end of the steroid treatment, she will be starting an aggressive PT and training program to give her the skills she needs to manage her disabilities and leave the hospital. No estimate on when that might happen yet, but I think by the end of next week, we should have a much better idea. Somehow I think Kelley is going to pick this up fast (alot of the same skills used when rigging to flip I think). A couple of us are looking into a mechanism for tax deductable donations to help pay for Kelleys needs related to this illness, and I think we may have found something that would really work well. Hopefully can provide more concrete information on that soon as well. For those of you who may want to visit this weekend, I would call the night time watch the following morning to get a last minute assessment on what kind of night Kelley had to determine whether it would be a good day. The schedule for this weekend is Julie Munger (Friday night), Kurt (Saturday night), or myself Sue Norman (Sunday night). If you don't have our phone numbers just call the hospital and get dialed into the room. From past experience I would not plan to visit without checking in first. Thanks all, Sue