Do wheelchairs come with horns?

Dear Family and Friends,
Anita was a little nervous and apprehensive about moving from the bed to the wheelchair, especially since it meant putting all her weight on that right foot and simultaneously twisting and getting her anchor to hit the chair. To avoid that problem and collection of neg. feelings the rehab. folks provided a small board to sit on and slide from the bed to the chair after coming to a sitting position. We don't understand this situation at first because we haven't been lying down for almost fifty days, it's all in your perspective. Anita did have a good ride today and even powered the chair on her own for part of the way down the hall. I pushed the remainder of the trip around the fifth floor as we watched the snow fall on Atlanta. Did you get any?
Anita's appetite is gradually coming back and probably will pick up speed as she burns calories on all this physical stuff. Hope you are well and safe as we experience some of the harsher aspects of winter, ie s&i. Take care until we meet again on the next blog. ed

A FIRST FOR ANITA IN 48 DAYS !

Dear Family and Friends,
As the talk with the social worker and coordinator of rehab services swirls about, Anita's picture is looking toward acute rehab facilities on the 4th floor of AMC starting next Mon or Tues. Yesterday, with the help of two rehab nurses Anita sat up on the edge of the bed and negotiated to a wheel chair where she sat nervously for forty five min. Quite a feat! Some of her muscles want to know what's going on. ( as you might suspect the erector set needs support as she sits- a bit tiring)
Today was not quite as strenuous. Mostly thinking about next week mixed in with several visits. One from Howard Montgomery and another from Jonathan Scanlon. Anita is ready to do more things on her own - hold cups, drink without a straw, and hold the hospital phone. She is giving her right hand a good workout holding sandwiches and eating cold cereal. As you can tell she is mentally getting ready to move on. Let's hope her body can keep up. Thank you for staying tuned, we look forward to some more firsts in the next 4-5 days. Take care, ed

She's sitting and standing again !

Dear Family and Friends,
Today was the first day to get back to the ole rehab exercises with the help of two therapists. They were pleased with her results today and I suspect they will be doing something everyday. Yesterday was visitors day with a friend of mine from Richmond stopping by on her way to visit ill relatives and friends in Ala. Also, three of Anita's newest friends from the Atlanta Food Bank came by to catch Anita up on the EITC program she was a part of before getting derailed. She must be getting better because she proposed setting up a filing location at the hospital to help those who need assistance in filing their taxes ! The trauma doctor said the CEO would probably frown on working out of room 543.
Today we got to watch big snowflakes fall for about an hour or two in the late afternoon, but then it turned to rain as I headed out in the evening . Take care, as Anita gets back into the "swing" of things and the graf keeps healing. Keep the faith, ed

Plans can be modified

Dear Family and Friends,
It looks like the Graf doctors are willing to let Anita move around some so that the Rehab people can do some things which means Anita does not have to leave. It's like reading the fine print and figuring what you can do to meet the ins. guidelines.

So. . . .Anita had a pretty good day and we're back to promoting eating to get the healing in a higher gear. Several friends are scheduled to visit Tues and Anita is looking forward to that. Just for the record. That erector set stuff attached to Anita's arm is really attached to her bones . You may have known someone in a similar situation. I try not to notice too much. Give thanks that doctors know what they are doing. Amen and amen. ed

Just hangin round, healing

Dear Family and Friends,
I'm back! It's been an uneventful past three days. The skin graf continues to look good, ie healing OK, maybe a pain pill or two, but Anita is doing well. Her keeping things straight skills are returning slowly after several rounds of morphine to keep the pain down, primarily last weekend. We had several visitors today.They updated us on Central's morning worship service and described the youth choirs from out of town. Wish I'd planned ahead and found a volunteer to bring me a" 2 go" box of Stan's fried chicken !
Tomorrow may bring more conversation about where Anita can go to heal enough before the doctors work on the broken shoulder. "Dr Aetna" doesn't like to pay for hospital rooms when there are less expensive places to heal. Since Anita's arm has to remain immobile all her exercises are done from the waist down and she can do them without a rehab person. So we'll see what tomorrow brings. Thanks for staying tuned, we appreciate your support and prayers. Did I mention our goal is to attend our 150th anniversary celebration at Central ? Take care, ed