More Ups and Downs

If yesterday was relatively quiet, today was just the opposite! Sunday began by finding Sherri sitting up pretty well in her bed with wide and sparkling eyes. Wow, was that ever a treat!!! In the afternoon, she sat on the side of the bed and touched both feet to the ground - another first. Yet it was a challenging day with some discomfort, occaisonal discouragement and quite a bit of tiredness mixed in.

Today, Monday, was a busy day with the Docs making their rounds first thing in the morning and Sherri interacting well with many questions. By late morning, the Occupational Therapist arrived and helped Sherri sit up, edge over to the side of the bed, get out of bed and somehow sit in the chair that was 2 feet away. She then sat there for about 45 minutes (pretty much exhausted) before the big and fairly tumultuous journey back over to her bed. It was a big accomplishment!

Early this afternoon, a vascular Doc and associate came in to inspect her fasciotomy. Sherri took great interest and watched just about every second of the unwrapping, peeling back of the "saran wrap" covering, removal of the foam and gauze and lastly a couple of biopsies. (Sherri agreed to participate in a research study). The team confirmed that they will move to close up the fasciotomy on Thursday. It's possible a skin graft may be required to enable the closure - that decision will be made during the procedure on Thursday.

A real highlight for Sherri has been a few special visitors. It's been fantastic to have Nick here coming along side Sherri. Both family and friends have coordinated with Sherri's Mom (the gatekeeper) and all the visits have been a great change of pace and have energized her so much.

Wendy and I continue to be keenly aware of God's astounding and undeserved grace in these days. We are in the midst of many challenging and difficult medical situations here at the UMass Memorial Med Center and know so many of you have been and are going through challenging times. These are some of the key reasons why we are grateful for this season of Advent.

We continue to appreciate so much your prayers, care and love,

Steve