OT: My Wife Kari going home next week!

[camron at worldaccessnet.com (Camron D. Crouse)]

Hi everyone!

Scirocco content:  Still driving the Scirocco to and fro the hospital!

Kari is still getting stronger, and has been using a walker in Physical Therapy.  We're working on
her sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit conversion strength so that we can ditch the wheelchair soon.
Mentally, she's pretty sharp, running at 90-95% full capacity :)  She's typing very well in her
daily journal during Speech Therapy.  She's sleeping very well, even eager to get catnaps in when
possible, and has a great appetite.  Her vision deficit (upper-left blind spot) which appeared after
surgery in December seems to be getting better, too.  Sounds like we will be bringing her home on
Tuesday, May 30.  If anyone wishes to visit before she leaves SWMC, Kari has given the OK as long as
visits are short and sweet :)  She's in rm. 448 at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver,
WA, on the rehabilitation wing, 4-West.

She'll continue with outpatient rehab visits after going home.  It's still unclear when she'll have
her full strength back, I am hopeful for sometime this summer.  We will still be keeping an eye on
the tumor, with the next MRI in about six weeks.

We've been asked how we (Kari's Family) are doing, and I can tell you emphatically:  When Kari is
doing better, then we are doing better!  We are very encouraged by her swing upward!

Thank you everyone!

Sincerely,

Camron Crouse (Husband) and everyone in the Crouse and Norick Families




*****************
A recap of the last few weeks (in reverse order):

> May 18, 2006
> 
> Kari is doing very well in Inpatient Rehabilitation at Southwest Washington Medical Center.  She's 
> eating, drinking, talking, and best of all thinking clearly.  She no longer seems agitated and seems 
> to have moved through a phase of serious insomnia, and is now sleeping quite well.  After nearly 4 
> weeks of hospitalization, we are trying hard to get her strength back up through intensive physical, 
> occupational, and speech therapies. She still cannot quite stand on her own, but her goal is to be 
> walking by the time of discharge, expected to be around Memorial Day.
> 
> Thank you everyone for all of your support, prayers, and thoughts of healing!  Our Kari is on the mend!
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Camron Crouse (Husband) and everyone in the Crouse and Norick Families
> 
> 
> May 10, 2006
> 
>> Kari is being flown back home to WA today. She will be in rehab (physical, speech and
>> occupational
> therapy) at SWMC upon her return. She is still showing improvements. The doctors at UCSF have been
> very honest about the fact that they do not know for certain why this happened to Kari. The internal
> medicine doctors speculate that it may be from the chemotherapy. Kari has her second course of
> chemotherapy coming up, so we sincerely hope that they are wrong! The neurology team speculates that
> Kari has suffered unnoticed seizures that caused the inflammation that showed up on her MRIs and
> thus resulted in her condition.
>> 
>> Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!
>> 
>> The Norick and Crouse families

> May 6, 2006
> 
>> Kari gets a little bit better every day. The doctors say that she will likely be able to return
>> to
> WA this upcoming week. She will still need to be in the hospital, but will at least be close to home
> as she makes her recovery. Speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy are working
> with her now.
>> 
>> Thank you for the positive thoughts and prayers! Please keep them up for Kari!
>> 
>> The Norick family and the Crouse family
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 

> April 29, 2006

> Friends and family,
> 
> Kari was flown down to the University of California San Francisco Thursday night.  She has
> already begun to show improvements such as the ability to speak softly and coherently, increased
> physical strength, and she has started to open her eyes more frequently.  The doctors have
> scheduled an MRI for today, and further treatment/assessment will follow.  I will do my best to
> send updates.
> 
> We are very lucky to have Kari in the hands of the doctors at UCSF, and we are so thankful to the
> medical staff at SWMC for doing everything in their power to make these special arrangements with
> UCSF.
> 
> UCSF is notorius for their expertise in neurology as well as cancer treatment.  I have included
> the ranking information below and the URL so that you can access the site with additional
> information about this medical center.
> 
> UCSF Medical Center
> 
> In 2005, US News and World Report named the UCSF Medical Center the 10th-best hospital in the
> nation, making it the highest- ranked medical center in Northern California.
> 
> In the magazine's "America's Best Hospitals" survey, the UCSF Medical Center ranked best in
> Northern California ? as well as among the best in the nation ? in the following specialties:
> neurology/neurosurgery; hormonal disorders such as diabetes; respiratory disorders; digestive
> disorders; pediatrics; gynecology; ophthalmology; rheumatology; urology; eye treatments; kidney
> disease; cancer; and ear, nose and throat treatment.
> 
> URL:  http://www.ucsf.edu/about_ucsf/rankings.html
> 
> Please continue with the positive thoughts and prayers!
> 
> Love,
> 
> The Norick family and the Crouse family
~~~~~~~~~~~