He made it back home

Terry came back home last night. He is able to resume his physical therapy with no limitations but his pain threshold. He has a blood infection localized in his ankle for which he is on IV delivered antibiotics for 6 weeks. He has a pic line on his arm, and IV antibiotics are dispensed via a portable pump every 4 hours. Very cumbersome for him, and not a pleasant situation, but at least he is home and mobile. This set up is similar to what diabetics use, so he is not confined to his house. We believe that the infection was introduced during some dental work that he had done the week prior. We now know that antibiotic treatment will be required prior to any more dental work due to the metal in his body, and mouth cuts are extremely open to introduction of bacteria to the body, and metal sites are receptors!

He WILL be back home for Christmas!

Doctors performed surgery on Terry's ankle this morning, and cultures taken seem to indicate that this was the source of infection. He is on some very strong "big gun" antibiotics given by IV, and will continue these for 2 weeks. Hopefully the in home RN service that currently draws his blood (the "stingers" as Terry calls them) will be able to provide the daily IV support that is needed, and he can come home. The bone doctor has given him the green light to continue his physical therapy, and so he is hoping to be up on the prosthetic leg next week as planned, if the pain allows it. They will still do a heart scan before they let him go home to assure no infection at the graft site in the aorta. If all goes well, I hope he will be home Tues or Wed next week.
That infectious Grinch WILL NOT steal Christmas from Terry and his family!!!

December 4, 2008

Terry was admitted to the hospital last night because of a high fever, high blood pressure, and pain in his leg.
He'll be undergoing some tests today to determine the cause of the fever and pain. As soon as I have more information, I will post it. He is in stable condition, though.

The Aftermath

Hi folks, I'm home finally and awaiting the arrival of my new prosthetic leg. any day now isn't soon enough. this wheel chiar thing SUCKS!...I'm mostly all healed up now, back to weight training and daily exercises in the house...packing on the pounds. i'm expecting to be walking by Christmas and running by spring! I'm not sure how interesting any more updates would be but i'll make a few more posts in the near future for the far away friends and family that i havent gotten to see yet. again thank you for your continuing support through all this trying times.
Sincerly, Terry McDowell and family.

Posting from Terry

WOW! what an experience. knocked on deaths door and no one was home! so I'm back with y'all carring a 1 mil + price behind me......sucks to be allstate! Seriously, I want to say thanks to everyone for all thier generosity and support over the last few months!!!!!! I'ts really made a difference for us at this critical time when we needed it the most. you people really came through for us and and i can't thank you enough. especially AL and his faimly and my buddy Scott Powers for putting on that banquet for us, and jason Kussner for all his unseen work he put in, not to mention a bunch of others that went above and beyond for us. THANK-YOU. All you racers are a really great bunch of people, despite what my neighbors used to think....
TERRY (and faimly)I should be walking and raking by next spring, getting the runn ready, shovel in hand, awaiting the arrival of my good friends...............see you soon (FTR BANQUET), TERRY M.
Pheasant Runn, where the big air is! QFT.

I just set Terry and Dana up as co-owners of this blog, so I am turning it over to them to keep you posted. Terry is anxious to communicate with all of you. Again, thanks for being such good friends to my son!

One month home

Just an update in case anyone still checks this site:
Terry has been home for a whole month now, and looks like his old self again. He has gained back some much needed weight (back to pumping iron on his weight bench) and has some color in his face again. He is doing well, and we hope walking by Christmas. He can begin putting weight on his leg this month, and will start OT with a prosthetic soon. Dana is his full time aide and nurse, (a TOUGH job, for sure!) with OT and PT professionals coming out 3 times a week. He has a specially equipped van that picks him up for all his doctor appointments and out-of-home physical therapy. He gets outside everyday, preparing his blind for fall hunting, running around in his golf cart, using a plastic baseball bat to work the accelerator and brake. Quite a sight for sure. Controlling his blood pressure is still a big issue. Also, he still does not have use of 3 fingers on his right hand (nerve damage that will hopefully come back), and his right ankle is still sore and not much flexibility. But he is positive, energetic and ALIVE and home. He has been blessed for sure!

He is HOME

Terry returned home on Thursday, October 2nd. Dana had the entire main level living room set up for him, removing all furniture and decor to accommodate his "toys" while he is confined to the main level. What a gal! Terry and family had dinner at home at the kitchen table for the first time in over 2 months. The kids were so excited! He finally got his "family pile" as he calls it, when both kids jumped up on his bed to sit with him. Today I hear that he is out with his friend Rob, running some errands. Renovation for the lifts and the bathroom should begin soon. He still has in-home nursing service to contend with until the doctors feel that he is able to be on his own. It will be several months before he will be able to start his walking therapy. Until then, he has a wheelchair for mobility.
Life is good again. If you have time, call or stop by to see him. This will probably be the last posting to this blog. He is home, he is healing, and the family is back together again.
Thank you everyone for all your support and prayers!!!