October 14, 2011

Friday, October 14, 2011
Last night was rough again.  Donnie just cannot sleep!  We think it is because of the nerve disruption from the wound that is causing so much pain.  He says he has a little pain from the wound itself but it is not excruciating and he can live with it, but the leg pain is unbearable!  Mom does all she can to massage and put oils on him and reposition everything but there is only so much you can do.  He didn't feel the greatest today for the most part but he did sleep some which helps.  He did a little bit of puzzling and one time he stayed up a little too long and got some terrible pain in his back.  He had to call for extra pain meds and I gave him a whole capsule of Valerian to try to cope with the pain.  His parents called around 4PM but he was in so much pain he couldn't even talk with him.  I hated that for him because he knows they worry and when he couldn't even talk on the phone with them I know it made them worry.  After he got settled down with the pain and rested a little he did call his parents back for a little bit.

Dr. Sohn came in this morning and said that we are scheduled for surgery again on Monday to try to close the wound.  He sounds pretty confident that he will be able to accomplish this during the next surgery.  Please pray hard that he can so we can graduate up from the wound vac to just a drain.  This will make it so much easier on Donnie and he will have so much more mobility.

I took Mom out to the Olive Garden tonight because it is the last night she will be here.  We are both going to miss her deeply but know she must get on with her own life.  So tonight will be Donnie's last night with her.  I will be here at 6AM to pick her up to go to the airport.  Oh how we will miss her!!!!!!!  She has been such a help in so many ways we cannot even count them!  We are so lucky to have a Mom that cares so much, is so loving and giving and is so skilled at nursing!

Donnie and Mom are both crashed out here as I write this update.  I will sign off for now and go get some rest myself.

Thanks for your awesome prayers, love and support!  Many have sent cards, oils, care packages and emails with tons of support.  We appreciate them all and we thank you for being there for us in so many ways.

With grateful hearts and love,
Don and Carol Schirr and Mom (Sharon Zelinko)