Doing Well

Chukka is definitely getting better.

I got this email from Magda:

"The nurse spoke to us at length. He said (to all three of us) that Chukka was really lucky, that a train accident is usually fatal. He said she got there so quickly that she lost less blood than many accident patients, when they have severance of such major arteries.

"He spoke to mum and I alone in the corridor before we left and assured us that us being there is really important for Chukka's recovery and spirits. He said again that she was doing better than many amputees he has seen. He could not say how long she will be there. It sounds like a long while longer, though, I think. She has these other operations and some rehab to come before she can be moved.

"The Marienheim is really a godsend, it is so much easier to prepare little meals and keep food in the fridge and so on. And everyone there is in the same boat, so you just say hello and again hello when you see them in the hospital."


[Eliza again]
Magda doesn't say whether Chukka is doing better than average physically or mentally, but I suspect both. The mental component is really crucial -- depression is a major risk with amputation and a patient who gave up now would not have the persistence to make it through rehab and so to start seeing improvement. And as you all know, that's where her friends and community come in! Just to know how supported and loved she is, is really important.

I went over to my mother's place to pick up the mail and I found some photo albums. Mostly from when we were kids. I would have liked some pictures of her as an adult, but at some point my mother gave up and just started putting pics in boxes, and they are much harder to thumb through quickly. I hope to scan some in soon!