Monday, November 6th

Hello Everyone,
Just ran home to do a few needed chores and pick up some things and then back to my new residence, Henry Ford Hospital.

Kerrie came out of ICU yesterday and is resting comfortably back on P-2, the transplant unit. Her old friends are there and happy to have her back. Jenn will probably post details on the website, but at this point she appears relatively stable, although her tests indicated that things had gotten worse. We take it day by day, and continue to look for improvement.

Her left eye is looking better, but still (and probably permanently) no vision. She has sensation, but no movement on the right side. The plan is to consult with PT and speech therapy to start some things, we need to get her swallowing back and hope that she can regain speech.

While we are concentrating on this, we have to remember that she still has the transplant issues to address. no rejection at this time, but hopefully it will not happen until she can tolerate the treatment………and she will be susceptible to infections for months to come….

So, back to one day at a time………because the total picture is just too overwhelming right now.

She is in good hands, all the staff at HFH have been wonderful. We are still limiting visitors as Kerries is not able to speak and tires very easily and doesn’t always recognize people when they are there……. But, in a few days if everything remains the same and you would like to come, please call and we can let you know if it is OK.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and watch the website for updates.

Love You All
Joan

late night update from Jenn….

Kerrie has been asleep and very unresponsive most of the afternoon and evening. When we can get her to wake up, it is pretty obvious she is not really there with us. Earlier today her friend, Sandy, came to visit and Kerrie was somewhat alert, but not very responsive. Sandy was able to get her to thumb wrestle.. somehow.. but most of the time it appeared she was only mimicking action of Sandy or myself. It was difficult to tell if she really knew who either one of us were.

They have cut down her pain killers from 2mg and hour to 1.5 mg an hour, and we hoped this would make her a little more responsive… but she has been just the opposite.

Her only response to almost any question is to shake her head no and try to say “no.” No matter what the question… even when I asked her if she could hear me she shook her head no.

Mom, Ron and I are worried, to say the least, and have called Dad to fill him in on the situtation. We can only hope she is just worn out from the room moves and all the poking and prodding and she will be more responsive tomorrow. I’m supposed to return to Ohio tomorrow, but if she is still like this I will not be going back.

We know her tests show she should be getting worse, but she’s been showing improvement.. so this has us worried, but still hopeful.

Needles to say, we’re a little scared and getting really sick of the rollercoaster ride.

We’ll do our best to keep you updated.