Hello everyone.  We have been spending the last few weeks staying very busy.  As you all know mom's surgery was a success and we couldn't be more grateful.  Since her surgery she has been dealing with quite a bit of water retention in her lower body.  Her blood levels are still struggling to recover and she did end up in the emergency room to get an IV filled with potassium.  It is very difficult for her to get around with the swelling in her feet and legs.  We are following doctors orders but have not seen an improvement yet.

Because of some of the outstanding difficulties that mom is having she reached out to the National Health Institute (Fauci's group).  It was hard to see her email which was begging for some type of help.  Mom and dad both had a bad bout with COVID in October last year. There is a possibility that some of these things could be related.  Surprisingly the NHI team reached out to mom the following day.  We went through the entire experience with their team and they want to take her case on. There is currently a COVID long hauler study that is being conducted.  We have decided to participate.  Sometime in July mom will travel to Maryland to start the process.  She will be there for a week having every test possible completed.  After the week she will be placed in one of two groups.  Group one will head home and do a series of tests etc... for 10 weeks.  Group two will stay in Maryland for the 10 weeks of exercises and tests.  We won't know what group she is in until after her initial assessment.  At the beginning of the study each person will be given a fit bit type device that they will wear for a year.  The device will submit information back to the doctors in Maryland.  There will be another follow up after the first year is completed.  This may seem a bit far fetched but mom's body is a mystery to the doctors here and we would like her to regain most of who she was prior to last October.  In the end, a full check up by some of the greatest doctors in the world certainly isn't going to hurt any of us.  We are more concerned about how much more testing mom can endure.

However, there are A LOT of GREAT things going on.  We expect that the Wentworth house will be sold before the end of June.  Mom and Dad will be moving to the cabin for the summer.  Ground will be breaking on their new townhome in 6 weeks.  Farmington will be welcoming mom and dad sometime between November and January (depending on how quickly their house is built).  Welcome to the south metro! They have chosen a new 55+ development.  The house will be one level (no stairs) with an attached garage.  The property will have an amenities building that includes a fitness room, pool, sauna, speakeasy, tennis & pickleball courts along with other fun things.  We are very excited to have found this property. Mom has talked about something of this nature for years.  Mom is taking a trip to San Diego with her friend Sue in a few weeks.  Dad is going on a fishing trip to Alaska in August with my uncle and some other family friends.  We are moving forward with some of the things that they both looked forward to in retirement.  

Thank you so much for all the thoughts, prayers and patience.

Peterson Strong