Updates and a Huge THANK YOU

Amber has agreed to let me take over her blog today so I can pass on some updates on our daughter's condition.  Of course I had to promise her some special treats in order for her to share her furiends with me.

Before I start, I want to say THANKS to all of you for the prayers and all the comforting words we've received both for Shelly and also for our oldest pack member, Bailey (RIP) since all this started back in the first week of February.  My original intention was to send out individual emails thanking you, but so many of you were there for us that I would spend the rest of the year writing emails.  So I apologize that I'm doing this in a post. Shelly has asked me to save all the blog comments and emails because when she's feeling better, she wants to read them all. So I've saved everything in a folder for her that I'll give her when she's better.

Shelly was taken to the hospital on February 8 when she was found unconscious.  The next day her heart stopped for 5 minutes.  She was put on a ventilator, dialysis machine, and life support because most of her organs were also shutting down.  After 3 weeks she improved slightly and was taken off the ventilator but then she started having problems with her blood.  Her red cells were disappearing and her white count was dangerously high.  Her blood pressure skyrocketed as well as her heart rate.  For more than a week she received blood transfusions daily.

Finally she was able to be released to a rehab center for physical therapy and hyperbaric treatments to try and save her right leg.  The treatments haven't worked so her right leg will be amputated along with her fingertips and one toe on her left leg.

On Monday of this week her blood pressure and heart rate skyrocketed again.  Her hemoglobin count is down to a dangerous level once again.  The rehab center sent her back to the hospital Monday night.  Once her blood level is controlled, she will have the surgery to remove her right leg.  The doctors are hoping to do this some time this week after an examination and clearance from the cardiologist.  Her speech also seems somewhat impaired.  She stutters or has to speak very slowly, one word at a time to communicate.  She may need speech therapy.

Shelly still has a very long hard road ahead of her.  We try to spend as much time as possible with her but it's very hard on us too.  The hospital is 2 hours away from us and the rehab center is 2-1/2 hours one way assuming there is no traffic (which is very rare driving through Orlando).  So it seems all we've been doing is driving over the past 2 months.

Again, thank you for sticking with us though all of this.  And thank you to the POTP team for helping with the updates in the beginning.  And a special thank you for all the personal cards and emails.  And Chef Sasha.....you're the greatest.  You've managed to keep the pack well fed during this emergency. Pictures of them getting into their "Chewy" boxes will be posted soon.

Hopefully Amber will be back to regular posting and commenting soon.  I'm reading all of your posts at the hospital daily and quite honestly, they are keeping me focused and in control.  We are going to stay tough and fight this illness with everything we've got!!!     :)

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I have some very sad, unrelated news to pass on.  Many of you may remember the blog named "Holly Wags".  Holly's Mommy was a very good friend of mine who I knew long before Amber started blogging.  We visited Debbie and Holly in Virginia on many occasions through the years on our trips back from Michigan.  Debbie is actually responsible for getting Amber's blog started.  

I received the news a couple of days ago that Debbie passed away at a rehab center on March 22 after a fall that broke her hip.

Holly is being adopted by some friends of Debbie's in Pennsylvania.

Debbie was such a wonderful friend and I'll miss her terribly.