Birthday at the end of the day or wound vac quits

Dear Friends and Friends,

Wow what a day! Nan has had a huge day. Nan woke the entire night only waking at about 5:30 this morning. Then she went back to sleep for awhile. Sharon was sleeping in Jason and Jo's home and she sort of slept in as well. We took Nan's temperature and for the first time in two weeks it was normal. Later she woke up and she and Sharon played cards for a couple hours, they munched on goodies and had a blast. Since Nan is both on a pain patch and takes Roxinol for breakout pain she tends to fall asleep rather quickly. Sharon would crack up watching her sleep. I headed for the beach with the dogs and enjoyed a very long walk and much needed exercise. While on the beach I was finally able to use the cell phone since it does not work where we are parked in the motorhome. It was chilly on the beach and by the time I got back all I could think of was a warm shower. It was great.

Nan and Sharon borrowed Jason's car and headed for the mall, Jason's birthday and all. Nan took her walker and they did the mall with her walking the distance. When she got back she was very tired and rested for awhile. They found perfect birthday gifts for Jason and Sharon wrapped them beautifully.

While they were gone I started to work and discovered that every time I started to write an appraisal the computer failed. Finally I restarted the computer and that solved it but by then I was too late to get it to the lender anyway. As the evening came on Jason and Jo came and he opened his gifts, a new memory foam pillow he had mentioned earlier in the day, a special water sprinkler device for his many plants, Nikki gave him a beautiful desk set with shells and a perfect card as usual. He loved everything he got.

The wound vac failed at about 5 pm. While Nan had a wound vac installed in Boston the little canister that collects the body fluids from the wound lasted a week or more. Well the canister was full this evening and we did not have a backup canister because we had no idea that over 300 cc of fluid would pass through the wound. We had to scramble and create a wet to dry dressing which will hold us until tomorrow when the next vacuum vac sponge will be installed. She is in good condition tonight. We gave her the second Leviquin dose tonight but just before we did her fever was over 101 again.

Nan walked into the house this evening on her own with Sharon and my help. She sat in Jason's recliner and had some good food that Jo had made. Jason and Jo had several students over tonight as a part of the school year, these are kids that are assigned to Jason as his special charges. He showed a very thought provoking movie. Mom and I did not make it through the entire movie, we got tired. We walked back to the motorhome where we prepared the TPN bag and got Nan ready for bed. She has been up and around several times this evening with pain but good energy as well. She and Sharon have had so much enjoyable time together today and being near the energy of Jason and Jo makes everything extra special.

Now we are getting ready to head to bed, that is when I uncover my bed, seems that is the place where everything has been stacked all day and now I need to reclaim it. We got an email from Carol and Roger is doing well but is so ready to get back to doing projects. He is having to be careful re: his diet, a very narrow of things he can have and that will take some time to get use to. We are so grateful to God for the good news about his recovery. I spoke to Yvonne this morning and found out that there is no change in Dr. Glover's condition, he remains in a coma. Joyce, Dr. Glover and the entire Miller family continue to need our prayers.

We are thankful for a good day. Please keep praying for Nan and for a safe trip home tomorrow. We send our love and deepest appreciation.

We send our love,

tim and nan
Thank you Jason and Jo for your wonderful hospitality! Its our first big venture out since the surgery and we are enjoying it very much.