At 2:00 PM Richard and I were joined by Carmen, Karl and David to receive instruction on the right way to perform range of motion exercise on Lisa by a registered physical therapist.. Each of us was able to practice administering the flexing of her fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, toes, feet, ankles, and legs. Then we waited until 5:30 PM to get the results of the extended MRI and meet with Lisa’s physicians for some news. We waited in vain because additional pictures were ordered by one of the doctors, and the equipment would not be available until 7:00 PM. No Joy. (A term used by military pilots which translates loosely to “objective not seen”.


Richard discussed the plan to implant a pacemaker/defibrillator into Lisa’s chest with one of her Docs. The device has two functions first it is a pacemaker, and as you know, it will assure her of a normal heart rate. But if her heart starts fibrillating (rapidly fluttering so to speak) the defibrillator will automatically pulse an electric shock and enable the heart to do it’s job of pumping (circulating) blood properly. It’s pretty high tech, and what it indicates is; Lisa has a long life ahead of her. She is a “prospect for living.” Clinical-but-Clear! This is a lot to take in, and I give great credit to Richard and Carmen and the rest of us here for taking it in, working through the learning curve, and most important for NOT burying our heads in the sand. And hey, you too for caring, for letting us know you are there for Lisa and Richard and Michael. Hip-Hip Hooray!


Earlier in the day, Richard and Laura drove to Kindred Long Term Critical Care Hospital on the other side of Tucson to interview the staff and inspect the premises in order to determine the suitability of the facility for continuing Lisa’s care, as she will be discharged from Northwest Medical Center – Oro Valley (probably) next week. Later, David, Karl and Carmen drove out to see it for themselves. David unemotionally inspected the hospital CCU, the single patient rooms, and asked hard questions to those to whom Lisa would be dependent on for her I might mention Shelly, a friend and classmate of Lisa who is a physician also inspected the hospital and met with the administration and staff. Bottom line, it’s where Lisa will make her next stop… and probably next week. I’m driving out there with Sherry tomorrow, and I’ll give you more details afterwards. Also, once again that damn MRI briefing is gonna happen around Noon Wednesday, March 8th, 2006, but don’t bet on it.


I’ve decided to stop numbering these things; I don’t want to embarrass myself by forgetting what the heck edition is this… and Oh, Good Morning!!!!!!!!!