Update from David

Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 4:41 PM

Aloha to our Ohana,

For those of you joining this update for the first time, it will be easier to read from the bottom up.  I am thankful to The Queen's Medical Center for the free internet access however their filters are overly aggressive to the point that Outlook Express cannot access external mail servers.  For this reason, it was necessary to switch to a web-based mail program and after migrating the contacts, there are new members to this list.  But enough about the technical details, let's get on with the update.

It's been almost 42 hours post-surgery and Theresa is finally starting to come around.  She opens her eyes to sound, nods her head a little, and seems to blink in reply to simple questions, but so far has not moved her limbs on command.  Anesthésia has always had a strong lingering effect for Theresa so I asked the physicians and surgeons to give her more time to shake it off before concluding their evaluations.  Apart from the surgery, Theresa's overall vitals are being controlled as she is slowly weaned off the ventilator and the sedation.  With God's healing love and our prayers, Theresa's stay in the ICU should not be long term.

The astute among you may notice that the name of this e-mail update has changed.  Now that the major surgeries are complete, I feel it is no longer appropriate to describe the update as "Theresa's car accident," but "Theresa's recovery" does not properly tell the path we will follow.  So Theresa's Healing Journey it is -- the path does not necessarily lead to recovering what was lost on November 19, 2010, or even on December 25, 2008, as I have learned that trying to revive past memories or goals is usually disappointing and fraught with frustration.

With Theresa's renewed mind and body, her spirit has a new vehicle to begin its next journey.  In addition to the platinum and titanium in her bones, Theresa's bodily fluids now consist of at least 80% Hawaiian blood (our thanks to the local donors) and 4 liters of Hawaiian Springs water (coincidentally, Theresa's favorite) used for infusions.  It was Zora who recommended the use of Hawaiian mineral water after noticing that Theresa was becoming dehydrated with the regular sterile water.  Thank you to our Lord for sending Zora with her healing advice, and to our old friend Geoff for supplying the water.

Mahalo for your continued support and prayers,

David