Update

Tomorrow, Mom will have her 4th treatment with 2 treatments to go (Dec. 14 and 21).

Over the summer, Mom developed lymphedema in her legs"which refers to swelling that occurs most often in your arms or legs. The swelling occurs when a blockage in your lymphatic system prevents the lymph fluid in your arm or leg from draining adequately. As the fluid accumulates, the swelling continues." Mom started receiving therapy this past week on Thursday and Friday about only 10 min. away in Ocean View. She really likes the therapist and has already seen and felt improvement. Dad was shown how to do the massages, and they showed Mom how she can massage her legs herself. Next week, she will have 3 therapy sessions.

We are excited that Lisa's family will be able to spend Christmas at Mom and Dad's. They will be flying into Baltimore on Christmas Eve Day and will ride with Dave and I to Delaware. Although they won't be with us for Thanksgiving, they will still enjoy time with family since our cousin, Jennifer, and her family live in Tampa less than an hour away. Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Judy have been in town visiting Jen's family so Lisa's family will enjoy time with them as well.

Here is an UPDATE on Lisa's husband, John (written by Lisa after their appt. at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL on Nov. 4).
The specialist asked many questions, looked at medical records, did a physical assessment, and gathered the info regarding all that has transpired since July 25th. Based on his knowledge, experience, and assessment, he believes that John has Transverse Myelitis. Here is a link that explains it in detail. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/transversemyelitis/detail_transversemyelitis.htm We believe this onset was probably from a viral infection - as John was sick with ear infections and some type of virus right before all of this started - so it may have stimulated some auto-immune issues that are similar to GBS. However his symptoms do not meet the criteria for GBS or PLS or ALS. Based on the fact that John made improvements after his first hospitalization, and has recently begun to make more progress, he feels that John should have significant recovery. He believes that the setback John had the end of September could have been exacerbated by a vaccination he received. We were told that he should focus on getting stronger in physical therapy and give it time. We feel a whole lot of relief that this is something that should get better over time, when there were other diagnoses mentioned to us that would have meant worsening symptoms as the years go by. Whew!

Thank you for your continued prayer and support for Mom and Dad!