On the mend again

Marlene's journey has a lot of ups and downs, as everyone reading this blog knows. This week it's been on the upward swing.

Since Kristin's last post, Marlene has rallied again. Her lab results showed the infections have cleared. They've cut back on her painkillers, we think. At least they were supposed to. We have to look at their records. Kristin, Bob, our HAS advocates and a number of PacSpec personnel had a meeting last week to re-jigger Marlene's care plan, and so far so good.

Kristin has seen her behaving differently, and she seems to be responding well, is more awake, and had a really great conversation with Kristin last night. She was able (with help) to sit up on her bed with her feet on the floor several times, resumed her physical therapy, and had gone out into the autumn sunshine (in a chair) and enjoyed the colors of the trees quite a bit. Margie, the RN from HAS services, has been visiting with her regularly, as has Kristin. Bob has been shut down with a bad cold, so he's not allowed near the place. It's frustrating and boring for him, although he's been doing a lot of activities with the kids. They already have colds, of course- no harm no foul! We hope that once again, Marlene can move forward. Her next big hurdle is eating on her own. She is still being fed via the NG tube, and her digestive system and swallowing capabilities have to recover properly, and of course real food is way better than tube food. We're keeping our fingers crossed once again that she keep going forward, without the hindrance of infections, and hope y'all will do the same.

Tom