update (with some details)

Because so many of you have asked for more details about what's going on, this post will offer more info than I typically give on the blog.

In a nutshell:
The past few days has been a parade of docs trying to come up with a good treatment plan. Because of the nature of the problem, I have a team of orthopedic surgeons, an infectious disease team, a general surgery team, and a family medicine team working on case (translation: a nonstop flow of white-coated people at my bedside all disagreeing on what should be done next), In the meantime I'm being given some super-strong antibiotics to fight the infection.

It looks as though I will be headed into surgery tomorrow morning--where they will open up and clean out the various pockets of infection and also remove any scar tissue that's making it difficult for the wound to drain well. Tomorrow I will also have a bone scan to see better whether my bone is infected (the MRI showed some inconclusive results on this matter, so even though the docs are fairly sure my bone isn't infected, they'd like to be completely sure because it will affect how many weeks (months?) I have to be on antibiotics).

Our friend Kathy is coordinating meals and care for our kids. If you would like your email address to be added to the list for coordination, drop me a line in the comments here. I'm up for a few visitors, but we're keeping it fairly selective given that I tire easily. If you'd like to visit, please chat with John first, to make sure that the timing is good. I'm answering my cellphone and room phone rather sporadically right now, depending on how I feel at the moment and how many docs are huddled around the bed. Please understand, too, that John is working hard to get back to everyone who's contacting him, but yesterday he did so for nearly 3 hours and then was late to get to the hospital as a result. I know he wants to talk to each of you, but he also needs to have quality time with the kids when he's home and he won't have time to answer every query as he's moving frequently between home and hospital.

As for how I'm doing...
I've been super-lucky that for the past 24 hours I've had a room to myself. I don't expect this to last too much longer, given how busy the hospital is, but it's allowed me to have a lot of peace and quiet. The sun shines in my window here each morning and I can hear the birds chirping in the trees. Friends have brought me some healthy fruits and veggies so I can get some relief from the Starchy McStarch hospital fare. I also have some scones and tea on hand for comfort and some very high quality dark chocolate, too. I have great docs who are all committed to keeping me here until I am truly well. If you want to focus your thoughts and prayers somewhere specific, please pray that they can contiunue to find good veins for my IV (an ongoing problem), that surgery will be successful in clearing out the affected tissue, and that something will come of the cultures to give the docs a better idea of what bugs are actually in my leg. And please, friends, don't worry too much. I am in good hands here and the pain is only a fleeting thing.

Love,
Jana