Family Vacation

It may have come 6 months late, but we sure enjoyed our family vacation in Florida! We went back to one of our favorite spots, Anna Maria Island, a quaint, quiet little hideaway south of Tampa--so narrow you can see the sun rise over the bay and the sun set over the ocean! We found a beautiful house to rent for the week, it's nearly new and each room was painted in the colors of the beach: cool blues, soft misty greens, sandy tans... Each bed came with its own luxurious down comforter, so soft I just felt like I could melt!

The kids joined us one at a time as the week progressed. Carl, Christy and I arrived Saturday night, Tessa joined us Sunday and Mandi, Doug and Carson all flew down in the next few days.

We did a whole lot of nothing. We took leisurely bike rides each day: Carl is able to ride a regular two-wheeler bike, he just takes his right leg off the pedal each time it goes around. It's slow but we were not in a hurry. One afternoon we played an old-fashioned game of shuffleboard.

Carl went to the hardware store and bought some plastic which he put around the railing of a small deck area located up on the roof: this way all us ladies were able to sun without being chilly in the early spring Florida winds! Ingenius! With a few exceptions, temperatures were cool but comfortable, in the lower 70's.

Doug, Carson and Carl went golfing on Friday! Carl was able to keep up with the other guys for the first 9 holes, and then just rode the golf cart the rest of the time. He can do so much more than he could just a few short months ago, and we are grateful.

Home Again II

Carl was released from Lancaster General Hospital this afternoon and we are happy to be home again!

As I mentioned yesterday, Carl's diagnosis was cellulitis, an infection that occurs at the deepest layer of the skin. It is normally caused by bacteria, which can enter the body through broken skin. We don't know why it happened to Carl since he had no open cuts or scratches, but doctors tell us that people who have had vascular injuries and vein bypass are more succeptible to the infection.

Although we aren't planning for it to happen again, we will be much more cautious about any "flu" symptoms in the future. In the past, I have always treated illness in our family much like my mother did for me--touch the forehead to determine its a fever, drink lots of water and sleep it off. From now on, I will be checking exact temperature with a digital thermometer! The doctor also gave us a supply of oral antibiotics which Carl will be able to take as soon as he has any symptoms like he had this past weekend.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

cellulitis

Carl has a skin infection called cellulitis which will need to be treated with IV antibiotics for several days. He is feeling a lot better but will not be able to leave the hospital until they are certain the infection is completely under control. We sure would like to see that happen by tomorrow!

He hopes to sneak out of his room to go see Jonas up on the 8th floor later today.Jonas is also waiting for the green light which will allow him to go home. Two caged lions, I guess...

back in the hospital

You never know what a day will bring...

Friday night, Carl got slammed with what we assumed was a bad case of the flu: fever, chills, sore bones, headache---accompanied by a strange band of sharp, stabbing pain around his right ankle area. He took a pain pill and decided to try to sleep it off. He had a rough night, to say the least. By morning, he was extremely drained and very weak but the pain in his foot was better and his temperature was lower. He spent all day Saturday sleeping. Sunday morning we thought the worst was behind him--I went to church while he continued resting at home. But by this afternoon, his right leg below the knee was blotched, mottled and angry red, so we decided to go to the LGH emergency room.

We arrived at 5:00 pm and Carl was almost immediately put on antibiotics, administered through an IV. We waited in the ER hallway for 5 hours until a room finally became available for him. We missed the entire Superbowl!

It is now past midnight on Sunday, (actually it is Monday morning) the kids and I are back home. Carl was resting fairly comfortably when we left the hospital. We find out more details tomorrow when we get the blood test results back. It is apparently some kind of infection, although I can't imagine what would have caused it nearly 6 months after his accident.

We read a verse together at our church today: "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope." That's what I'm holding on to tonight.