2012 04 18 Wednesday April 18

Post date: Apr 18, 2012 4:23:04 PM

Martha seems to be doing pretty well at home. Tasha and Tim left after she went to bed last night and came back this morning, and things had gone fine. Martha's visit to her regular physician yesterday also went pretty well, though he noted not only is her blood pressure running too low (which we knew) but her blood cell counts are off, too. Unlike any of the nurses, her doctor didn't have any trouble reading her pulse-ox (he had a bigger, better machine, I guess) and she wasn't having any oxygen trouble in his office, though she was using a big cylinder. He will see her every week until they can get her blood count and blood pressure where they need to be. Martha still is not able to get out and around much yet, even with assistance. Overall, however, things are going really well, so we anticipate she will continue to get better over time.

Unfortunately Amanda has had a few days of high pressure again. It's probably partly concern about her mother getting home, but there's something else going on that we haven't yet quite figured out. Amanda is continuing to do research and to modify things based on advice from the acupuncturist. (She told me how weird it was yesterday when the acupuncturist asked when she ate pork -- she had cooked a pork loin and shared it with Martha, and apparently that was the wrong thing to eat for her condition. SO I need to stock up on more of the right foods, in this case lots of cooked, not raw, vegetables, he advises. [I'd better not put any bacon in the greens. :-( ] He also asked her what stressful event happened over the weekend, which of course was her mother's release from rehab.)

Thank you again to everyone for your prayers and messages of support!