Update, January 21

Visited with Kelley a couple of days over the weekend. Things are still pretty rough for her. The nerve and spasticity pain are as bad as its ever been and maybe even a little worse (gets up to an 8 or 9 sometimes). Possibly in response to the additional trauma her body has recieved from her recent surgery, but no explanation is offered by the Docs. She is still in the hospital primarily because of a general infection in her lower abdomen in response to the surgery, and is currently on antibiotics. This is not an entirely unexpected response, and not a great cause of concern to them at this point, but needs to be resolved before she can leave. They also want to try and get her pain management under better control before she is released. I got a little lost when Kelley explained the experimentation they are doing with the meds, but suffice it to say they are trying to get a handle on it. So no scheduled release at this point. She has her good moments when the meds are working, but some really awful times in between. Obviously this is still very draining and exhausting for her. She is recieving regular visits from Kurt, her family, and her core support group, and it is a comfort to her (and for us frankly as well). As hard as it is to witness her suffering, it is also reassuring to see her strength and stamina of spirit that will get her to the other side of this. The blog response has been great, for those of you who have not blogged yet, please feel free to keep adding. It will still be awhile before she can handle other forms of communication to any degree I think, and the blog is something she can visit more then once ....... so keep those healing energy currents and waves flowing to her and her courageous family (Kurt, Kim and Leona)

Sue