[Birdtalk] Kris Purdy update

[birderbetsy at comcast.net]

I visited Kris this afternoon, and she's doing pretty well, all things considered.  The neck brace is gone, but of course she must lay quite still on her back.  The pain she is having is caused by the weight of her upper body on that part of her upper back where vertebrae are fractured.  Pain medication and muscle relaxers make it tolerable, and she says she's feeling a tiny bit better every day.  She naps a lot as a result of the medication.  Her bed was turned back to its normal position - she said all she saw out the window was a magpie - although she continues to hope for the screech owl.  I told her she should have John bring in a video camera - point it out the window - and hook it up to the T.V., so she could have a continuous feed.  The only time the T.V. is on is when her kids are visiting, so its wasted most of the time.

The doctors have advised her that surgery is needed to remove a small piece of bone fragment (from one of the broken thoracic vertebrae) because they are concerned it may injure the spinal cord.  They offered her the option of transferring to the University for this surgery, or doing it at McKay-Dee, so she and John will be making that decision soon, and surgery would occur in the next couple of days.  It sounds as though the University would be able to offer a type of surgery that would be less invasive and painful, with quicker healing time, so that may be the way they will go.

I took her greetings from everyone who contacted me, and she is very appreciative of all the good wishes.  I could see from the pile of cards, flowers and fuzzy birds (3 snowy owls and now a long-billed curlew) that she was "feeling the love" as it were.  I'm sure she'll appreciate our continued support as she goes through surgery and continued healing and therapy.

Betsy Beneke
Perry
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