MaryAnn Status 5/12

Things have gone very well today.  We've met with multiple doctors, most notably the infectious disease doctor.  Right now the feeling is that she will be able to go home on Thursday morning.  Tomorrow they will pull together the home treatment stuff.  The antibiotic regimen is not simple and definitely has the doctor scratching his head, but he  will have it together tomorrow.  The orthopedists are happy with how everything looks.  The endocrinologists are happy about her glucose levels and are confident she will be on oral medication when the infection is done with.  She is feeling good, walking well and the shoulder is not causing much pain.

I'm heading home tonight and will work tomorrow and after my church meeting Wednesday night I'll head up to the Hutchins' and then come over to the hospital on Thursday to pick her up.  Right now that's the plan, we know it could change, but would certainly like it to happen like this.

Above are pictures of the scarf that a high school friend sent and a picture of the shoulder

Hospital Update 5/9

Here is a link to pictures of the hospital room, the line in her shoulder, and the suction device that is constantly running to get the "bad stuff" out of her shoulder. All is well we are just waiting now until Monday when the line is removed.

http://gallery.me.com/kohl/#100053

Surgery 5/7

The surgery was completed at about 5:30 PM.  I met with Dr. Smiley.  He took out a minimal amount of bone.  They did some repair of the rotator cuff.  There will be a follow-up surgery on Monday and she will need to be in the hospital until at least Tuesday.  I have seen her twice this evening and she is doing well.  On the last visit we got to talk with the doctor that assisted Dr. Smiley.  He felt that it went well. They took tissue samples and are culturing them and if they find anything unexpected they will address it during the Monday surgery.  I am staying at the Hutchins' home in Belmont right next to the temple which is about 15 minutes from the hospital so I will be well rested.

MaryAnn Status 5/4

We went to the Lahey Clinic in Peabody this morning and met with Dr. Paul Smiley.  He agrees that surgery is needed and is now scheduled for Thursday (5/7) in the Burlington facility. He knows that some bone will have to be removed, but until he gets in there he does not know how aggressive they will have to be.  Right now our focus is on eliminating the source of infection and he agrees with that.  How much bone they have to remove will obviously determine what degree of reconstructive surgery will be required, but that is in the future.

We probably will be heading up early Thursday morning, but we'll know the time  for sure on Wednesday. She could be home as early as Saturday depending on how things go.   It was a very efficient morning up there.  We left home at 8:20 and were home by 2:20

MaryAnn Status 5/3

Well, it didn't work out quite the way we hoped it would, but we're moving forward.  Lahey Clinic would not accept her for a hospital to hospital transfer, so she will have to go in for an outpatient checkup and then be admitted.  She was released from Newport Hospital Friday morning with a new antibiotic treatment regimen and we have an appointment on Monday with Dr. Smiley at the Lahey Clinic.  Hopefully they will examine her and decide to admit her then.  We had a nice weekend at home and are ready for a busy week.  She received a priesthood blessing from myself and our home teacher so we are moving forward in faith.   I will update the status after we meet with the Lahey folks.