Birders, I am sorry to report that Linda Northrop has suffered a sudden medical crisis and is in very critical condition. In my previous list serve report on Linda, I indicated that she had returned home from Johnson City Medical Center. This occurred on December 18. At home, she showed sporadic improvement in some areas while continuing to have frequent bouts of nausea. The pneumonia appeared to show improvement, and Linda's spirits were generally on the rise, although there were both good and bad days. On December 25, after experiencing intense pain in the lower right side and after another episode of nausea, she instructed that 9-1-1 be called. She was taken to Takoma Hospital in Greeneville and has been there ever since. Yesterday doctors diagnosed a recurrence of the pneumonia and determined that Linda also has an infection of Clostridium difficile. C. difficile is a stubborn bacterium that may attack the intestines, especially when the normal intestinal bacteria are under stress, and it produces a variety of flu-like symptoms. A powerful antibiotic was prescribed for the Clostridium, and a specialist was summoned from Johnson City Medical Center. Doctors noted that Linda's small intestine had ceased to function but felt that this was a temporary result of the infection. Today Linda's situation declined suddenly. Around mid-day, her kidneys shut down, and she was placed in intensive care. Attempts to re-start her kidneys failed. At last report, Linda was drifting in and out of consciousness. Late this afternoon, doctors recommended that her family be summoned. All of us here who have kept in close touch with Linda over the last month are stunned by today's turn of events. Please join us in our prayers and hopes for her. Don Miller Greeneville, Greene Co., TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the count in which the birds you report were seen. The actual date of observation should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp _____________________________________________________________