"Still In Holding Pattern"

09-13-2009
1830 Hours

Good evening to all of Dar’s supporters, Dar and I hope you are having a great weekend.

Yesterday’s fundraiser for Dar was a great success, Robyn, Joe, and Steve, Tammy, Kim and Terry put on a great yard sale, Lots of visitors, lots of shoppers, and many inquiries as to the lady the “sale” was for. I was amazed at the compassion and support that several of the “shoppers” showed Darlene.

Some “shoppers” shared similar stories, many showed great excitement at Dar’s progress after hearing a bit about her accident. All said that they would hold Dar in their prayers, especially as we move closer to Dar’s surgery.

The day ended with Joe and I heading off to the grocery store to pick up all the goodies to make one of my favorite meals, Portuguese “sopish” (sp), a meal I totally love. Joe did a fantastic job in preparing dinner, and Steve, Tammy, Robyn, Joe and I had a great time reflecting and sharing stories of places and things that Darlene and all of us have done over the years. It was an exhausting day for all, emotional for me, but a day that will not be forgotten and I am so glad that I went and represented Darlene.

We even got to share a Skype phone call to Dar that was cut short due to internet but not before Dar was able to say a huge “hi” to everyone. She so misses all of her friends.

Well today was another day that Dar was able to verbalize very well. I was able to have several conversations with her that she was able to participate in. Still only able to say one or two word phrases Dar continues to fight for her voicing.

It has now been a week since I asked that the staff consider removing Dar’s Foley catheter, my conversation with nurse Lissa last weekend led to the removal of the Foley on Sunday last. Since that time Dar has done very well and this should prove to be a much less painful situation for her. It was put in again back at Kentfield, as a result of Dar not be able to “hold” herself during PT.

During this week Dar is doing very well and “this” staff is more than willing to change Dar as needed and we should see less UTI infections.

We are still in a holding pattern regarding the pump placement. Today I was told that Dr Dawson wants Dar on a 3-day series of antibiotics that are designed to prevent and or protect her during and after surgery. Dr. Duncan from Kentfield will hopefully address this early this week. So, I would imagine and I am being told that surgery probably won’t happen till the first part of next week.

I understand and also support the caution, I still am very anxious to see this procedure get going.

If you think about it, we could very well find ourselves in a totally new and different ball game. Everything, and I do mean everything, has the potential to change. The next couple of weeks are going to be quite exciting and for many of us this could be the beginning of new stars for Darlene to reach out and grab. New hurdles, different goals and most of all, new horizons for Dar.

Insurance is all approved, we are all ready to get started, and Dar and I have been discussing the procedure, now we are just waiting to get the show on the road.

Well, we hope you had a great weekend and as I learn more during the week I will keep you all posted.

Another great weekend for Dar, a great “yard sale”, lots of talking by Dar, I have much to be thankful for. Have a wonderful week everyone, talk soon.

Dar/Danny/Mav