KarenH is in the hospital. For several years she has had an incurable, not generally fatal, but manageable disease. Recently her management medications have stopped being effective and she has been hospitalized so more powerful (and more dangerous) medications could be used to get things back under control. It could take weeks or even months. That’s about all I feel comfortable saying on that topic, so please don’t ask for more details.
While she doesn’t post a whole lot, she does post and has been reading CD daily even when she doesn’t post. I thought a few people might remember her.
I think she is rather special, but since we’ve been married almost 22 years I’m kind of prejudiced. I’m not sure what the hospital policy on laptops or dial-up connections is, so it may be a while before she is back on CD.
I just wanted to wish Karen a quick recovery from myself and all of us here on Team 237. Let her know the FIRSTers from the east coast are thinking of her.
My prayers and thoughts go to Karen and your families. I pray she will get the treatment she needs and gets out of there sooner than they think/hope. Have faith, and stay strong.
–Dori
Prayers to Karen, and may she recover quickly and continue to be happy and live a fantastic life!
ChrisH, if there is anything that can be done such as sending a card or flowers or anything that may help her feel better, please post publicly or send me a Pm. I would, as well as other CDers I’m sure, love to assisst you in this hard time.
I thought I’d update the gang here as there have been a few changes in Karen’s situation in the last couple of days.
First, I printed out all your replies so she could read them in the hospital. She enjoyed them very much. She wanted me to tell Amanda Morrison that she too smells like a moose. It is a side effect of some of her medications. I also inadvertently cut off Eugenia’s post. I’ll be sure to include it next time!
Yesterday, she was officially “discharged” from the hospital. But really she just moved downstairs and “checked in” to the “nursing home” on the first floor. Patients there are expected to do more to take care of themselves. But she is still plugged into the IV machine and she still gets tired very easily. Just getting up to go to the bathroom is a major effort. She doesn’t seem to be in as much pain but the doctors have some suspicion that her illness is more serious than originally believed. We are waiting for some test results to find out for sure what is going on.
We looked into taking our laptop to the hospital so she could join us all again, but before anything can be plugged in there, the hospital engineering department has to approve it. Then she would have to unplug either the bed or the IV machine. It would also tie up the phone line she shares with a roomate. All in all it doesn’t seem to be worth it, so we’ll have to get along without her for a while longer. Easier for you than for me.
Thank you for your prayers, something does seem to be happening, though not nearly as fast as we would like.
Awww. I hope she feels better. sends cookies Genia’s homemade cookies are good. Maybe I’ll bring them to a competition and pass them on thru you or something…fun times. Prayers go out to her.
Thanks for the update, Chris. And I am praying for Karen. Just let her know we love her and can’t wait until she’s back on here again. Stay strong for both of you. =)
Always,
Dori
I wish it was that Karen is going home from the hospital, but that probably won’t be for a while yet. But even though she can’t read CD regularly while she is there, she can get your e-mails. One of our team members discovered the hospital has a system to send e-mails to patients.
Put Karen Husmann in the appropriate fields, add your e-mail address and type away. I’m sure she would love to hear from you all. Just remember she can’t reply except through me. So don’t be offended if you don’t hear back.
BTW while I’m sure she would love some of Genia’s cookies, she wouldn’t be allowed to eat them. Right now she is on a liquids only diet. Fortunately the kitchen there is pretty good so at least the stuff is edible (or so she tells me). But she does miss chewing. Maybe when she comes home …
