A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS...BUT HERE COMES 1000 WORDS

Cindy's first steps!!! Well, actually she took a few steps yesterday, but today was the day she made major progress! The person next to her is Christine, our friend, and Cindy's physical therapist.

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog, but it has been an extremely busy day beginning at 4 a.m. We have had a steady stream of visitors...so many that I am not sure I can accurately capture all that has taken place thus far.

First things first...the meal sign up calendar is still in need of repair and some meals that people have so generously offered to make for Cindy and me have gone missing. Although Amy indicated in her blog that it has been fixed, apparently there is still work to be done by the blog owner. If you have signed up for a meal and do not see it listed, please email her.

As a reminder, please do not share the blog address with anyone that Cindy or I do not know personally, and ask those that you provide the address to do the same. If you would like to add someone we don't know, please send me a quick email to see if it's okay. As I've indicated previously, we only want those to whom we feel close to have access to this site. 

Now for the update...last night they dramatically reduced Cindy's pain medication. She had a good night even with the reduction. However, during physical therapy this morning (shortly after the attached picture was taken), she experienced extreme pain...more than I have ever seen her endure in quite some time. After a few hours of trial and error, they put her back on IV painkillers. The downside is that it makes her very tired and loopy.

Good news was learned this morning from the Infectious Disease team and our surgeon who dropped by to see how Cindy is doing. The cultures came back negative and there was no indication that the infection is active in the wound site. This means that a positive healing process will be likely.

We are still awaiting word from Infectious Diseases regarding the infection in the bone. They will meet with us this afternoon to review what they know thus far.

A Pick line was inserted this morning, which will be used to allow IV antibiotics to be administered at home. It is a painful 45 minute procedure. Since Cindy was on pain meds, it was not as uncomfortable as might have been the case otherwise.

Cindy then had a "stump shrinker" put on her leg. It is used to shrink "Little Lu" so that a prosthesis can be attached in the future. Though it was an extremely painful procedure, Cindy endured it well, telling them to hurt her as much as they need to. She knows it is all part of getting her to walk again and nothing will stand in the way of that goal.

Well, that's it for now. I will update again later today.