Looking on The Bright Side

Dr. John Jahan, Kathy’s primary doctor, stopped by during physical therapy and we had a good chat. He gave me mostly good news on Kathy’s physical condition. The spinal and brain fluid removed from Kathy a week ago, tested clean. Her overall red and blood cell concentrations are very good. The biggest news was her improved progress on two of her oldest and longest medical conditions.

Kathy, as we all know, has been on various pain medications during and after her three back operations. She has had extreme back pain for now almost 6 years! This medication has put a huge strain on her internal organs, especially her liver. Dr. Jahan was happy to report Kathy has recently worked down to an extremely small amount of pain medication. This was possible because of her extensive stay in a controlled hospital environment and her body’s decision to focus less on her old pain centers and transition its priority thinking to her other problems. (It’s kind of like hitting your one thumb with the hammer to reduce the pain feeling in the thump you just hit?) With the reduction of pain medication, plenty of rest, controlled environment and a good steady supply of high quality diet, Kathy’s liver functions are back to normal. So when Kathy gets out of this mess, she can have some positives to help her handle all the crap she had to go through.

Kathy’s current medical problems center on a lower track infection that's giving her elevated temperatures. When I left tonight, her temperature had climbed above 100 degrees from the infection. This was the third day of her body going up and down on this infection. Hopefully the doctors will get it under control before it triggers anything else!

Tomorrow I will meet her team in the conference room to review her progress. I will report back to all of you how far they feel she has come since being at Sharp’s for four weeks. Wow, it’s already October!