August Update

To update you on the “Walk With Suz” scheduling, the intended date was going to be slated for some time in October of this year. However, this has been pushed to the spring, at the earliest. We had hoped that Suzanne’s healing would have progressed a little more steadily. But due to continual changes in the shape of her right leg, in particular, the fit and function of the prostheses is greatly diminished. As a result she has had a lot of discomfort when standing and walking. The scar tissue on the lower right leg is still not completely healed, from her last operation, August 26th of last year. She has met several times with her prosthetist for adjustments. But they are temporary measures that only last a short time. Her surgeons have tentatively scheduled her for a September revision surgery, but no date has been selected. And it is subject to change based upon the number of urgent care surgeries which take priority. As a result, Suzanne, has been discouraged lately by the lack of progress. But she has begun to put in a few hours per week on the phone for work. The increased responsibility is helping sharpen her mind and distract her from the pain and discomfort of the legs.

In other news, there have been several recent articles highlighting some of the great strides other amputees have made lately.

Double amputee loses legs, finds a cause; CNN

Amputees complete 500-mile transcontinental bicycle journey; Daily Journal, Vineland, NJ

Nearly 50 physically-challenged athletes compete in para-triathlon; Daily Herald, Chicago

Also, Suzanne credits much of her recovery to a sepsis drug called Xigris. There is another drug in the works right now. Here are some details:

AstraZeneca pushes ahead sepsis drug; Reuters