Joanie visits the ENT

We had our appointment with Dan to check on the broken bones in her face. We were nervous because it seemed likely that surgery was going to be required. Dan saw no evidence of a break below her eye and the nose, which was broken in two places, has healed nicely. There is a slight bump in her nose, but if you can see it, you are getting too close! If after six months, Joanie wishes to, he can do surgery on it. At this point we're thinking that isn't likely to happen. It was great to look at the CT scan of her face on Dan's computer screen and view all the different layers and views they took. I'd sent them three CD's from Memorial Hospital. When we left, I took the CD's and dropped them off at Steve's office so he can see what her shoulder and arm break look like.

Joanie enjoys home

Joanie has been home four days now. The first day three different people came in and spent 2-3 hours with her to make sure she was making the adjustment from hospital to home life. She enjoyed visiting with her friends and was ready for bed that night. She slept for over 11 1/2 hours! Both Thursday & Friday I went into school late so I could get her day started right. She did fine by herself on Friday. Earlene dropped by about noon to check on her and the visiting nurses came by to talk with her and draw blood. Her INR was 2.9--a little high so they had me cut back on her Coumadin. Sabbath was a restful day for both of us. Teri came by in the afternoon and Joanie really enjoyed talking with her. Teri has taken Joanie's place at school, teaching 1st & 2nd grade. They found enough to talk about, so I went on a bike ride. Just before I reached home, I was followed by one of those huge four wheeled drive diesel pickups that our county is famous for. I thought they were being nice and waiting for a safe place to pass me (difficult to find on our hilly, twisty roads with NO shoulders) but instead it was just Bob & Earlene and grand kids! They stopped over for a few minutes so the girls (3+ & 1+) could play with the cat's toys.

Today we took a short walk on our street with Joanie using her cane. I've had her stop using it in the house since it seems to get in the way, she's always leaving it behind, and she can't carry anything if she has her cane. Her left arm remains multi colored from the bruising and break. She faithfully wears her brace and generally behaves herself. Another visiting nurse stopped by and checked up on her.

Monday we are off to the ENT to see what he says about the breaks in her face. I sent all the XRays over to him from the Modesto hospital several days ago. When we leave Dan's office, I'll probably drop the X Rays off at Steve's orthopedic office for him to look at the break in the arm.