Today started off well but..................

Yesterday (Sunday) Erik had breakfast with his mom and then was off to the airport. Louie took the next shift and was able to go to occupational, physical and speech therapy sessions with Donna. He says it was VERY informative and eye opening!

Remembering that Donna arrived in Memphis on January 15, having just been diagnosed with 3 bulging discs in her back. She "limped and wimped" around the house for several days and on the actual day of the wedding, Jan. 18. she decided to stay home because she felt so bad. She had lost weight and we thought she was dehydrated from not eating/drinking enough then she crashed! Since all this happened she has not complained about her back hurting. The MRI (at Baptist Hospital) showed that while she did have evidence of slightly bulging discs, she also had signs of a little arthritis, normal for her age, and definite signs of "the" infection in her back. The doctor suggested that the infection may have been what was causing the back pain. So, meanwhile she has been grunting and groaning when moving about but not able to identify exactly what was hurting. We thought maybe all the time she spent in bed had helped to ease the bulging disc pain and the pain she was feeling would ease as she began to move around more.
She has been in great spirits, talking a lot, smiling, joking and making it clear she is ready to work hard and get well.

This morning she began the physical therapy session and apparently had just begun when she started complaining that her left leg and back began to REALLY hurt, then her blood pressure dropped alarmingly low, she almost passed out. They immediately took her back to her room, elevated her feet (a lot) and had her head down. She had turned quite pale, loosing all color. I just saw her and she had some color in her cheeks, although her lips looked bluish and her forehead pale and white. (I had promised to bring lunch and we were going to fix her hair, put on some makeup, etc.) Unfortunately, the concern now is about blood clots - they have just taken her down to inject dye and take a look at what might be going on. When I saw her, she was talking and in good spirits, a bit confused about what the heck all this was about but was taking it well. Louie is with her now and I will write an update as soon as we hear more.