Dealing with Diverticulitis - Part 18 Hurray, Hurray, We Get To Go Home -

Don just got done talking with one of his many doctors and he will be released tomorrow.  He still has his PICC line in and will have to keep it for at least a week to have Alamosa Home Nursing Service come and give him his antibiotic twice a day. Not sure about the time we leave tomorrow, but whenever it is we are happy to finally be going home.  Don is doing much better and we even went outside today. He took me out to lunch....in the hospital cafe.  Not too bad for cafe food.  Looking forward to going home!!!

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 18 - Day 7 of Recovery

Just saw Dr. Kortz, the surgeon that did Don's surgery.  He is very pleased at Don's progress. He said that Don could possible go home Saturday.  He ordered to have the epidural taken out which was just completed.  After his abdomen wakes up fully he will be able to have his catheter removed.  That will be huge as it is difficult to walk with all the tubes and lines. 

Don's pain is minimal and his incision looks great.  He is dressed and sitting in a chair.  The Dr. also wants him to be weaned off the TPN.  Don is eating jello, broth, and popsicles.  YUM!!!!

We went for a "walk" down the hall and back three times.  Don does a "sprint" on his last lap.  He is trying to stay positive.  We are paying bills and that can be depressing....LOL.

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 17, Day 6 of Recovery

This is Don's 6th day of recovery after major abdominal surgery on July 22. I left on Monday to go back to Alamosa and get some things done and make sure everything was going well.  Callie and Casey have everything well in hand.  I spend Tuesday at home with the grandkids.  They are really filling and fun to be with.  I returned today and arrived around 4 pm. 

I brought up a CD Walkman and some praise music CDs for Don to listen too as well as some Audio Books.  He is really enjoying the Walkman.  It's light and easy to use and the ear phones fit around the ears so they don't fall off like the small ear-phones so easily do.  I also brought the papers for the last week and the mail.  Don's sister, Denice, gave him 3 packs of nice notes that a "guy" would send out.  They are really cool.

I was really surprised when I got back.  Don is eating jello and clear liquids.  His bowels are starting to wake up.  They also took the staples out of his eight inch incision.  It looks pretty good.  I call it the "railroad track" on grandpa's tummy for Sebby.  He loves trains and thinks it is cool that grandpa has his own "tracks".

Shortly after I arrived Don decided to get his walk in so we did two laps around the seventh floor.  He is looking pretty good and the physical therapy orders have been cancelled because he is doing well.  We also saw the "infectious Diseases" Doc on our walk.  I brough a new button up shirt for Don. (Stevo, it is Hawaiian style.) I also bought him some light weight "sports" shorts.  He put them on before the walk because he absolutely hates the hospital gown....who doesn't?!  So the Doc commented on how spiffy Don looked.

He still has his epidural in and his cathater.  The Doctors said he wouldn't be going home by Friday like he had hoped and I think this news made him "blue".  He is glad I am back.  When I came in, mind you it was 4pm, there were two days worth of dirty towels in the bathroom and dirty sheets.  I cleaned everything up, went to the linen cupboard in the hall, got sheets and made his bed.  I also got clean blankets and pillowcases.  He feels 100 per cent better.  He told me he had to shower by himself.  That is a daunting task.  So I am glad I am back to help him get all that stuff done in the morning.  I guess the staff get really busy, but really? Two days? Sheeze!!!

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 16 - Third Day of Recovery

Three days of recovery are over, hurray!

Don got up and "took a shower".  I think I have come up with a way to make some money when it comes to taking a shower where you really can't get anything wet.  It is a great way to wash your hair in a hospital bathroom.  Be watching for it on TV infomercials. "Only 19.95. But wait, if you order now you can get two extra at no extra charge." LOL.

Don says he feels so much better.  We had been joking about everytime he gets in the shower Dr. Paul shows up.  We got Don's birthday suit on and ready to go in the shower and guess who walked in?  This is the third time Dr. Paul came in while Don was taking a shower.  We just busted up. We chided him that if we wanted to see him all we had to do was head for the shower and he would appear.

Two Docs have seen Don today and the OT.  All of them have said he is doing really well for this early in the recovery process.  Don is determined to get better so he can go home and get on with life as it should be.  I am proud of him for remaining positive when he could have succumbed to depression.  It hasn't been easy but all the encouragement and prayers and cards have helped so much.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 15 - Operative Report

If you are a medical person you may understand this.  This is what the nurse wrote from the report after surgery.

 - abdominal exploration and lysis complex extensive adhesions
 - short segment small bowel resection and anastanosis
 - plication of two areas laceration small bowel, incidental occurance, take down of complex phlegmanas mas md abdomen
 - sigmoid colectomy w/hn prm anastamosis

Okay - I don't understand most of that.  What I do know is that his gut was really sick and twisted!

Dealing With Diverticulits - Part 14, Second Recovery Day

Don is resting a lot.  He did sit up on the edge of the bed for about 20 minutes before I got here.  It wiped him out though.

Dr. Paul was just here. He is a young and very kind man.  He answers all my questions and is really patient.  He doesn't rush in and rush out. He told us that they have an Infectious Disease Doc working with the vencose resistant strain of strep (VRS).  This is the resistant strain of bug found while doing surgery.  That doctor said he put drugs on Don that are working to get rid of that "bug". 

Because of the weekend we don't have the pathology report back from all the debridement they had to do in Don's gut.  This debridement is the cutting away of all the foul, scarred, and diseased tissue. This causes a tremendous amount of trauma to the organs. 

The "bridge bag" for the TPN was started this morning.  It has been four days since Don has had any kind of nourishment and this "bridge bag" is preparing his system for the TPN treatment.  This will begin his process of getting nourishment back into his system and building up the muscle and tissue in his abdomin.

It is Sabbath and Don wants me to hook up some praise music and also listen to Gary McCary's sermon live from Tierra Santa Church in San Diego.  Thanks Gary for all your encouragement and prayers.  Have a blessed Sabbath everyone.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 13 - Post Surgery Recovery

Don has a Thoracic Epidural in his back.  That helps him deal with pain without being on hard drugs.  However, he can't stay on that too long because it makes the bowels sleep.  For the first two days or so he can have it but then he has to get weaned off of it so that his bowels begin working again.  So far he is doing well.  He just told me that the Dr. came in and said, "I got the license number of the truck that hit you!" 

While they were doing surgery the lab tests showed some sort of resistant bug that the Dr. excavated from all the "rot".  This could be the reason why Don never healed and continued to abcess even in the presence of antibiotics.  The surgeon and internal medicine guys are very optimistic about Dons recovery and Don is trying to be a "good boy" about all they tell him to do.  This morning he couldn't get the "ball off the ground" with his spirometer.  This afternoon he has brought it almost half way up.  That is very good.

Right now Don drifts in and out of sleep.  This is good for him to get lots of rest and let the bowel heal.  In about a day or two the marathon training begins and I don't think he will like it.  But hey, gotta do what you gotta do!

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 12 - Post Surgery

Don is out of surgery is in recovery. The doctor said that he is a tough guy and the surgery went well. It took twice as long as the doctor expected, but he was able to get everything cleaned out. Don needed abcesses cleaned out, small intestine re-section, and two places in the large intestine repaired. He had twisted bowels that held sick tissue in place and pockets that would have never healed. The doctor said if the surgery wasn't done now, Don would have never gotten better. It had to be done. He has no tube drains or colostomy. That is what we prayed for.


Don has an NG tube for a few days and will be using his PICC line for TPNutrition. If he is able, by Monday, he will start clear liquids. He is expected to be here until next Friday at the earliest depending on how he recovers. They will be keeping a very close eye one him to make sure his progress is as it should be.

Again I want to thank all of your for your encouragement, prayers, and waiting with me, though not here, but at your homes while Don was in surgery. You are awesome friends and family. God bless you all.

Part 11 - Surgery

I am sitting in the hall on seventh floor.  Don is getting a new PICC line put in his right arm.  I explained what this was in previous blogs.  It is a sterile procedure so I have to leave the room. 

Don's spirits a low.  He is really apprehensive about this surgery and his mortality is hitting him.  The doctor was in a few minutes ago.  Dr. Paul is a wonderful bed-side Doc.  He assured Don while explaining the procedures of what was happening today.  "This is a fixable thing so don't worry."  He also offered him a "Valli" (Vallium) so that he could sleep and get some rest. Don feels very drained and exhausted.

The drain on his left side never did get clear and today it looks like pea soup.  They were hoping that it would be clear before surgery, but they can't wait any longer and will be dealing with it as they do the re-section.  We are hoping that they will be able to clean it out well and resect the bowel after removing the damaged bowel without having to put in a colostemy bag.  It would be ideal not to have to do surgery twice as they would have to go in and remove the colostemy in several months.  The reason for the colostemy bag is to "turn off" the plumbing so everything drains to the outside while the bowel heals.  Once everything is healthy then they can "turn on" the plumbing again, so to speak.

The PICC line will be for his TPN (also explained in an earlier blog).  This will provide the nurishment he needs while his bowel is recovering and "resting".

What is very encouraging is that Dr. Paul said that Dr. Cortz would be the surgeon that he and his family would use if they were in a similar circumstances.  We have been told by many that he is one of the best in the State.  That is comforting.

I am sorry that I haven't given an update sooner.  I left here on Tuesday afternoon and went home to Alamosa to get bills paid and pick up some extra things.  I came back yesterday with Greg and Denice.  Don had bought tickets to see "South Pacific" at the Denver Buel Theater of Performing Arts for my birthday.  It was really good...but the plot is lame.  I hadn't seen it before but was familiar with all the songs.  It felt weird to be there without Don (he insisted we go) and I was emotional when they sang "Some Enchanted Evening".  I wanted him there holding my hand enjoying the play with me.

He had a terribly rough day yesterday and last night.  They "bowel prep" the same way they do for a colonoscopy.  Those of you that have had that understand.  Doing that routine while very sick is like going through hell.  He became nauseated and vomited a lot.  The abdominal pain was extremely enhanced everytime he heaved.  This is what exhausted him so quickly and thoroughly. This really drained him of energy and he looks weak and white.  He now can't have any water or anything.  He has lost so much weight.  My guess he is in the 215 area now.  Not an ideal way to lose weight.

I will get another update posted as soon as Don is out of surgery and I know how it went.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 10 - Surgery Set

Don met with the surgeon this afternoon and it was decided to schedule his re-section for Thursday at 5 or so in the afternoon.  He will be recovering  for about 10 days or so.  Once we get through this then we hope that he will be as good as new.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 9 - Now What? Don Update

Okay.  So here we are again.  The Dr. just left and this is what we know so far.  Don is now on a new regimen of medications.  Amikin 1200 mg.  This causes "bacteria death" systematic infections of GI etc.  Tygocil 110 ng.  Tigleycline ( a broad spectrum anti-infection) This is for complicated intraabdominal infections.  And finally, Diflucan.  An antifungal, systematic for serious fungal infections.

These medications are intended to get him well enough to do bowel preparations for the re-section surgery.  So he may be in here for a week or so.  His drain is full of ugly junky stuff that smells nasty.  That is what they want to get cleared up.  His colon and intestines are so sick that they are having a difficult time healing and are "soft and mushy". 

He is feeling much better today and took a shower while singing.  Not sure the other patients appreciate the music.  He was singing the theme song to "Flipper".  He may take me on a date to the cafeteria at noon. They have put him back on a bland diet because his "pipes" are working properly. Yummy hospital food!  Actually, they have quite a variety of stuff so we do pretty well there.

Hopefully we will be able to talk to the surgeon today.  Will see what happens.

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 8 - Back in the Hospital Again

We are back at Swedish Medical Hospital.  Don is just finishing with the Radiology Interventionist to have one of his drains put back in.  Two days ago we were just here getting them taken out,but he never felt quite right after we arrived back home. Don was very lethargic on Friday afternoon and Saturday.  Then by Saturday night he was running a low grade fever.  We went back to the ER and they did another CT scan.  This is the fifth one in a month and they only recommend on one per year.  They couldn't see anything right away but have to send it off to Australia for the Radiologist to read.  They called us an hour later.  He had developed another abcess.  Back to Swedish this morning to get his tube replaced and be observed over night.

Casey is here with the kids.  They encourage Don so much.  Don is back on clear liquids again.  During the procedure they pulled 40 ccs of fluid out.  Sigh.  He is so not happy about the liquid diet, but hey, what do you do?  Will update soon.

Summer Fun With My Fabulous Grandkids!

Summer is always fun at Grammy's

These girls have the most beautiful eyes in the world!!!

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 7 - Don's Update

We went back to Swedish Medical Center on Thursday and they did another CT scan.  Everything looks really good.  They removed the two drains that were placed over a week ago to drain the abcesses that had developed because of the "micro-holes" that developed after his laproscope.  He is so glad to be rid of his "antennae".

We will be going back next Wednesday to meet with the surgeon to discuss the re-section surgery.  I will be so glad and so will Don when this is over and he is back to normal.

I never realized how many people suffer from diverticulitis.  It is fairly common and most of the time treatable.  Some people have just learned how to eat and others have surgery.  Others, if not caught in time, don't make it.  But most of the time they do.  What would have killed Don is the abcessing which, if not caught in time, would have ruptured and spread through out his system poisoning him.  We are grateful that people prayed hard and were so supportive.

I think the biggest challenge from here on is to make sure that our diet life-style changes.  We have been wanting to do that anyway.  So I am looking for healthy recipes with lots of fiber.  I will probably post some on this blog. 

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 6

Don has been improving all week.  He is eating well and the "plumbing" seems to be working right.  His drain on the right side seems to be putting out cloudy and ugly stuff, but the right one is clear and almost nothing.  The right was the one that had 800 ccs of fluid drained out. 

Tomorrow we go back to Swedish and on Thursday he has another CT scan and removal of the drains.  Then we meet with one of the surgeons that did the drain procedure last week.  Next week we meet with the surgeon that will do Don's resection. 

Understandably Don is apprehensive about the resection.  He has been through so much.  But for what he has already gone through I can't believe he is riding his bike to work.  Today he put in 3/4 of a day of work. He was pretty beat though when he came home. Most of the abdominal pain is gone. The skin around the drains is a bit red and still sore to touch but that is about it.

I am amazed how God has blessed us as we have gone through this.  Everyone has been tremendous.  Thanks you so much!!! 

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 5 - Don Update

It is great to be home.  Don seems to be feeling much better.  We arrived home yesterday and he was wiped out.  He went to bed early but had a tough night sleeping.  His days and nights are mixed up now.  He took a pain pill and slept for awhile but I don't like him taking those because he dreams entirely too much while on those things.  But he does get an hour or two of rest.

Today he ate well.  Regular but gentle and somewhat bland meals.  He even went to work today for about an hour.  He was pretty tired when he came home.  He has been resting most of the day with walks that are short but stretch him out a bit.  In total he has lost about 40 pounds between fluids and just not eating for a month.  Not an ideal way to lose weight.

I cleaned out his drains this morning.  Not much is coming out anymore.  It was pretty easy to do.  I gave the syringe to Sebby who played with it in the pool for about an hour.  Funny! 

Again we want to thank everyone for their prayers, cards, support, food, love, and friendship.  Without all of that I don't know what we would have done.  It is nice to know that we are so cared about.  Will update again in a few days. 

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 4 - Dons' Update

Today, July 7, Don is going home.  His PICC line was just removed.  The nurse gave me an in-service on how to flush Don's two drains at home.  These are two little bulbs connected to tubing that has been inserted in the abcess sites and drains out bad fluids.  One drain  that was put in the "coconut" is draining very little and the "lemon" is still draining about 25 ccs a day.  I will have to drain these once a day or as needed. 

Don is now on soft solids (bland) for nutrition.  He is so happy to be eating but has to be careful.  He can have high fiber and probiotics that will help keep the colon moving normally with the right type of bacterias. 

We come back to Swedish Medical Center next Thursday for another CT can and the removal of the drains.  We are setting up an appointment with the surgeon for the re-section and will let you know when and where that will be.  For now Don is looking well and very happy to be going home.  He is up packing!!! LOL. 

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 3

Don is doing so much better today (July 6).  His color is good and he has energy to get in and out of bed on his own and even go to the bathroom by himself now.  He is still hooked up to four bags and three delivery systems on his IV pole. It looks like a freakin' cell phone tower.  His humor is good too.

One of the doctors on duty came by and said that Don could start more solid food.  He can have oatmeal.  He is so excited to be able to eat real food.  He lays in bed ticking off all the foods that sound good to him like salmon on a bed of rice with grilled asparagus, strawberries, and apples.  The doctor also said that he would try to get him on oral antibiotics soon.  What all of this means is that if Don keeps improving he will be off the cell tower and the PICC line and drains can some out.  He said that possibly Don could go home tomorrow but he wants to make sure that Don can tolerate food and that everything is functioning normally. 

After two or three weeks we will be back for the re-section surgery.  Hopefully Don will recover well from that and won't have any other problems after that and life will get back to normal, whatever that is.

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 2

Don is doing great today (July 5th).  He even "worked" from a terminal server I have on this computer.  I am sure it felt good for him to do something.

I thought the doctor put him on a PPN which means Partial Parenteral Nutrition. Actually Don is on a TPN which means Total Parenteral Nutrition. This supplies all daily nutritional requirements and can be used at the hospital or at home.Because TPN solutions are concentrated and can cause thrombosis of peripheral veins, a central venous catheter is usually required. This is fed through a PICC Line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter). This is inserted in a large vein under the arm and toward the neck.  They have to take an xray to see if it is inserted correctly.  The medical personnel can attach several connectors for IVs that deliver different things such as antibiotics, medications, nutritional fluids and fats, and whatever else they need. 

Don is able to discontinue the Normal Saline drip.  I am so happy about that because that is what caused him to retain so much fluid the first time around.  He is also able to start clear liquids again.  They are watching him very closely to make sure there are no more tiny perferations and the bowel is beginning to function normally again.

They have hooked up a t/pump that is attached to a greem piece of bubbled material.  This is a type of  heating pad that circulates hot water through the material.  They have this on the arm that has the IV.  I think with all the IV medications and fluids that are being pumped into Don he is always cold.  This could be that most stuff is stored in the refrigerator and not allowed to get up to room temp or warmer so when they put a new bag on him he feels it circulate through his body and he cools down.  I have to keep getting blankets from the warmer to get his feet comfortable.  The T/pump warmer is a nice addition to helping get Don's temperature regulated.

The nurse just came in and started the lovenox injection again.  It is a heprin type drug that helps the blood to thin.  Don's blood platelets are at 690 and normal should be around 140 to 400.  These injections are given in the abdomen and bruise him terribly. 

We were recommended to Dr. John Sabel a gastroentrologist here in Denver.  Nice guy.  We will be working out the details of the upcoming surgery with him and finding a surgeon that can do the job.  Will update when we find out more.

Dealing with Diverticulitis Part 1

My husband came home June 16th in the morning from work feeling kinda punk.  He went to the bathroom and when he came out he was doubled over in pain.  I wanted to take him to the emergency room but he didn't want to go.  He went to bed and after three hours took a pain pill left over from a previous illness.  He slept a bit but had a rough night.  In the morning he decided to call the doctor to see if he could get in to be seen.  I got him a quick appointment.

When Don walked into the doctor's office the nurse looked at me and whispered, "He's going to the emergency room!"  The doctor took one look at him and ordered a CT scan and CBC blood draw.  He sent Don to the emergency room.  The CT scan showed a very infected colon caused by diverticulitis, pouches that form in or around the colon that fill with material that eventually abscesses.  The doctor did a laproscope on June 18 and irrigated out the infected offending section of colon and inserted two drains.  The surgery went well and the next day Don felt better. 

Unfortunately his white count began to rise and he was sporting a low grade fever.  The surgeon figured it was from the recovering colon.  He ordered antibiotics to be delivered via IV.  Don was also on a normal saline drip IV.  This saline was causing his fluids to build up and he was packing on pounds every day and not voiding as much as he should for the amount of fluid he was taking in.  He was drinking lots of water too. 

They gave Don shots in the abdomen with a blood thinner.  This made his side very bruised.  He also became allergic to the antibiotic that was given him and he broke out in a vicious rash that started on his back and moved to the front and then out to the extremities.  He was having a hard time breathing because of the swelling of his body from fluids.  He had to sleep sitting up in a wheelchair propped against a wall with pillows situated to hold his head in position. His color was grayish and he looked like he had been in a bad accident.

On Saturday a week after the surgery Don and I decided that he needed to get off all medications and drips for at least 24 hours. Sunday the Doctor decided to let us go home.  Once there we were able to give him food (later we found out that this was a huge mistake.)  The  first night he urinated out about 10 pounds of fluid.  Over the next several days Don lost about 18 pounds of fluid alone.  He didn't eat very much.  He had good breakfasts that were bland because the doctor said we didn't want to stress the bowels until they were more healed.

Don began to decline again after two days.  Though he could breath better he was beginning to get a fever again. Tuesday we went to the hospital for a CBC blood draw which indicated that his white count was still up.  The doctor said this concerned him and also that his stools were still liquid.  "If he is like this by next week I want to do another CT scan."

But by evening Don was really bad and he didn't sleep well.  The next day after talking to family I decided to get a second opinion.  I called the Doctor again and informed him that Don was worse and we needed to do something.  He ordered another antibiotic and a infection fighter drug.  I also made a few phone calls and found out the name of a good gastroenterologist in Denver.  I tried to speak with the specialist but soon found out that was impossible.  I call our family GP and though he was out of town I spoke with Diane, the PA.  She informed me that I had the right to ask our surgeon to consult with the GI specialist.  So I called them and left a message that I wanted a second opinion.  I left the name and number of the GI Doctor.

The following day I received a call from our surgeon and told Don to go in for another CT scan and CBC.  I immediately took him in.  The surgeon found two abscesses.  One the size of a coconut and the other the size of a lemon.  They were in another area not close to the laproscopic site. The treatment for this was not available in our hospital so he called the Doctor who I suggested and they did an ER to ER transfer.  We checked Don in to the SLV Regional Medical Center ER and then I drove him up to Swedish Medical Center and from the ER he was taken into the hospital and given a room.  It was the Fourth of July weekend so we couldn't get Don's medical records until after the weekend.  However, they did send paperwork and a DVD of the CT scan. 

When he went home and began to eat we didn't realize that doing this would stress the damaged colon.  Because of this his colon may have leaked and thus the development of abscesses.  They are definitive about this but that could have contributed to Don's declining health during those few days.

After looking at the material we brought up from SLV Regional Medical Center it was decided by the head of trauma surgery and Don's surgeon to go ahead with the treatment which included putting Don into a CT scan with a grid on his abdomen.  They marked the spots and slid him out of the machine and inserted a wire right there on the table.  They put a tube over the wire and began draining out the abscesses.  They drained out 800 ccs of fluid from the coconut and 40 cc or so out of the lemon.  The drains are still in.  The lemon is doing fine but the coconut is still draining.  The technicians and physicians were amazed at how much they were able to drain out.

Because Don hasn't eaten anything for nearly three weeks he has lost over 30 pounds.  The physicians decided to put him on a PPN.  This is an IV diet that supplies protein, vitamins, and minerals.  They don't want him taking anything by mouth as it will stress the colon, leak out and cause other abscesses or even peritonitis which is extremely dangerous and can be fatal.

So that is the plan.  We wait until his bowel is healed and the tissue can withstand surgery.  When Don is well enough we can go home but we have to continue with the antibiotics and PPN so that means home health nurse. Then we go back in for what is called a re-section.  This is taking out the badly damaged colon and putting the two good ends together.  Worse case scenario is that they would have to take out the bad section, put in a colostomy bag until it heals and then go back in another surgery and sew the two healed ends together and remove the colostomy bag.  They are hoping that they will only have to do one surgery and not the colostomy.  This will happen in about three to six weeks. 

As I understand it recoveyr from these things is long but once it is healed there is no longer a problem and life can get back to normal.  Surgery can take much out of a person and getting stamina back is lengthy.  We are going to follow Doctor's orders and do what it takes to get well.  In the mean time we are grateful to friends, family, and medical staff for all their help, prayers, and support during this time.  It has been valuable to us.  Will keep you updated either here or at my daughter's site, callieandyadams.blogspot.com.

One Sick Puppy Updates

My husband has been seriously ill with diverticulitis.  This really took me by surprise.  My daughter, Callie, is blogging his updates and, if you are interested, please visit her site.  Callieandyadams.blogspot.com.  I will try to get back into blogging shortly.  Thank you for your prayers, cards, meals, support, and friendship.

Hugs!  Sue