Update from Skippy

My typing isn't really great right now so I am going to dictate this to Michael and let him do the typing. He may add some comments here and there that aren't mine so I cannot be held responsible for everything entered.

The last couple of weeks I have been pretty busy with rehab and all the therapy. Like Curtis said, my day starts with a wake up call at 7 am, I have about an hour to get dressed cleaned up and get ready for breakfast. Breakfast, ha, they say you can't really mess up breakfast - they were wrong!!!

Yippee!!!! Doctor Nutter just came in and saw me. We talked about how I am feeling and how the outing went last weekend with Michael. Everything is going very well and the doctor says that this weekend I am going to be able to stay overnight at the house and that the following week if everything is going as planned I should be able to stay at Michael's house until I am released to go back to California. I am so happy about this. My friend Denys is coming up this weekend so we will be able to show her around Graham. OK that will take about 10 minutes so maybe we will venture out to Tacoma and even Seattle if I can make it that long. I really can't express how excited I am to finally be looking at getting to leave and return to as much of a normal life as I can.

Michael seems to think that I am going to be well enough to clean the house, cook, and do laundry but I haven't had any therapy.

---Michael talking now--- OMG the lady in the bed next to Karen is talking about having a catheter put in and removed and just exactly how much liquid a bladder will hold before it explodes. I can't believe the subjects that her roommates talk about. Now I know that a human bladder can hold up to 6 liters of liquid and that Karen apparently is "Pretty active in bed". Her previous roommate Dorthy filled everybody in on that one. This has been a great experience. Not really fun but an experience none the less.


---Back to Karen--- So I am excited about getting to go home, but I am never going to forget the people who have touched my life during the past 3 weeks...... From Kristy who wanted to wax my arm hair with the IV tape to Julie and Whitney in the ICU at Harborview and Maggie, Stephanie, Nancie, and Jennifer here at Good Sam. Mary, Kirk, and The-Lihn in the Physical Therapy department here have also had an everlasting impact on my life. Natalie, Janet, and Debbie here in Puyallup have helped me so much emotionally I can deal with the daily issues of this whole thing.

It's getting late and Michael is saying something about having to get home and get some sleep.
So I am going to close this update for tonight with a great big thank you to all my friends and family who have helped me with all the support and prayers you have sent me over the past 3 weeks. I know I still have a long way to go and it is going to take some more work but with every ones support I know that I will make the best possible recovery.

I will update again later in the week. Please keep the emails and the posts coming. I love reading them and have tacked all the cards up on the wall here in my room.

---Michael Here--- I have more pictures to post and will do that tomorrow.
Remember Karen's email address karen_getting_better @yahoo.com

Sending all my thanks,
Skippy