New Year's Eve

Woo, hoo. The fun never ends. Spending a quiet New Year's Eve in her hospital room. I brought her a bunch of goodies to celebrate with, but she liked the flashing Christmas Tree glasses the best. — with Mandy Hushing and Kristan Attardi Hushing at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center Denver.

Snoozing

Mandy and I stopped by PSL for several hours after our walk at City Park. Kristan was pretty much asleep the entire time. Her nurse says she didn't sleep last night at all, so we just let her snooze. Then I noticed an email on my phone from our homeowners association president, saying that water was running down the hill from the direction of our house, and there was some concern that someone had a broken water pipe. So, I gathered up my things and rushed home. It doesn't appear that it was coming from our house, thank goodness.

City Park

Another gorgeous walk through Denver City Park, 28° and rising on this beautiful sunny day. Mandy was up for the walk, until she got out into the deep snow and froze her toes. It was funny seeing her ears poking up in the car window when we got back.

Progress

We saw a composite page with photos the wound care RN has taken over the past few weeks, and are pleased that K's wound is healing. We just need to continue encouraging her to keep eating, especially the protein, which helps so much with healing. - With Kristan at P/SL

Christmas Eve at PSL

It feels like a little bit of a party here with Kristan. She's in great spirits. The Carpenters are singing from their Christmas CD. Mandy and I are here of course. Lorene is still here, and shared my combo plate from Jerusalem. Amy came to visit, and brought some wrapped gifts, fun to open. And every once in awhile, a CNA or RN stops by, to say goodbye or hello, and wish us a Merry Christmas, as shift change occurs.

Morrison

Beautiful 37° walk along Bear Creek in Morrison. Just a little ice in the creek right now. Nice Christmas evergreen cuttings on the bridge. Found a geocache sitting out in plain sight, which seemed strange. Spent the whole time chatting with my big Sis - a very pleasant way to spend the morning. :-)

Long haul

I saw a pic of her wound today, first time since the surgery. Really large, really deep, really disconcerting. The good news, is that they say it looks better than it was. They are still estimating six months to a year before it could be healed.

deKoevend Park

Nice walk around deKoevend Park. Still some snow on these trails from last weekend.

Frosty walk

Walked around Denver City Park. Snowing lightly, and temp right around freezing. Mandy opted to stay in the car today. She's not a big fan of precipitation. We were glad the Zoo serves hot coffee. Funny. The snow and low light made the picture look black and white...

OK visit

A helicopter was lifting off just as I arrived; always fun for me to see stuff like that. She was wide-awake and in relatively good spirits, considering, and we chatted a little, before I headed off to my work's holiday party not too far away. She was told she may not be released until January. Probably not to home - more like a skilled nursing facility (SNF). — with Mandy and Kristan at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center Denver.

Good spirits

Stopped by PSL after our walk at City Park. She was in pretty good spirits. We'll be back later tonight...

Surgery done

7:55pm Dr Schnur says the surgery is done. She did well. The wound is quite large and deep. He took a lot of bad tissue. He had to take some bone. They took a culture, to look for infection in the bone. She will be in recovery another hour or so. Then they will take her back up to Select. So, my guess is she should be back up in her room sometime after 9 PM. Here she is, just outside the operating room, with her trusty escort Mandy, before going in.

DC Colorado tree light pattern 12/5 4:09 pm MST

https://www.youtube.com/whitehouse

Stage 4

They have pronounced the wound stage four, large and deep, down to the bone. She's started doing a better job yesterday and today, of drinking Nepro to build up her protein and get some carbs, which would give her some chance to heal. Today's doctor Wyrick strongly recommends debridement surgery, even though it will leave bone exposed. She's talked to K's wound, endocrinology, and nephrology docs, and the one who would do the surgery, and they all agree. It'll have to be better than it is now. K says the staff here are so much more professional. Mandy enjoyed her third visit, although she did have to wait for them to finish dialysis, before she could hop on the bed and cuddle up.