Carrie's husband writes about her recovery

BJ Alums received this email from John Krack, husband of Caroline "Carrie" Moore Krack, who is BJ newsroom retiree Tom Moore's daughter.


This is the letter I’ve been waiting for 5 months to write. We brought her home to Minnesota on Monday, June 6. She’s doing very well. Her balance has improved. She’s able to walk most places with a single cane, and walks around the house with no support. She still has some weakness in her right side, but that’s expected to resolve as she (as she puts it) “gets back to being an adult,” and resumes her normal activities. She still needs a little bit more therapy, and we’re working on getting that set up. Every indication is that she will make a complete recovery. She’s lost about 40 pounds, and looks great. (I guess I'll have to buy her a new wardrobe, but I don't mind one bit!)

We saw the cardiologist May 31, and he said her cardiac ejection factor is 60%, which is spot-on normal. She has no apparent heart issues, and he was absolutely amazed that she has done so well. She did a driver evaluation June 2, and the examiner said she’s very close to being able to drive. The biggest problem was that the right-side weakness kept her from moving quickly enough between the accelerator and the brake, and that should improve as she gets stronger. She also needs to process information more quickly, and that should also get better. We don’t have a timeline, but I’d expect her to be driving again in a few months. Meanwhile, she's got a captive chauffeur, though we may need to enlist some of you to help from time to time..

She saw the ophthalmologist today, who said her eyes are very healthy. Next are follow-up appointments with her other doctors to transition her monitoring and care to MN.

I drove to Akron on May 30, and spent the week there. In addition to the doctor appointment and last few therapy sessions, we stopped by the ICU and specialty hospital where she spent January and February, and showed her off to the nurses and therapists who worked with her. Carrie, of course, didn’t remember many of them, but was glad to meet and thank them, and they were very happy to see how well she’s doing. Carrie took a bunch of scrubbies along and handed them out to the nurses. Most of the docs I wanted to see weren’t available, but we did run into the doctor who was in charge of her respiratory care at the specialty hospital (oversaw her swallowing tests and trach tube removal) . She (the doctor), who I pegged as pretty matter-of-fact and not particularly warm, almost went crazy with surprise at how well Carrie was doing. We think she even surprised some of the interns who were with her by her reaction. It was fun all around to see these care-givers again under more positive circumstances.

We drove to NW Pennsylvania for an overnight to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and my mom and sister and aunts/uncle. It was a trial to see how Carrie would do on long-distance travel, and she did fine. We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with her family on Sunday, and headed home Monday. I had planned to spend a night on the road, but she said she was feeling well and wanted to keep moving, so we got in late Monday evening, to be welcomed by lots of beautiful flowers left in our yard by friends. (And she was able to use the ladies' room entirely by herself!)

She’s been to several get-togethers with friends in the past week, and we’ve spent a lot of time cleaning up the house. She still tires easily and needs to take naps, but is able to do light housework and other activities with no problem.

So, things are moving forward and getting back to normal. The doctors all say she’s a “miracle lady,” and we would have to agree. We’re certain that your love and kindness and prayers and support throughout this journey had a great deal to do with her remarkable recovery. Her parents have been absolutely wonderful through all of this, providing her with loads of support, and a quiet place to recover, as she continued her therapy. Overall, we couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.

We thank all of you again, and look forward seeing you in the weeks to come.

You can email her at cjkrack@gmail.com

God Watch! Love and Hugs.

Carrie and John



Caroline/Carrie came down with meningitis in January and was in a coma for weeks.

Click on the headline to read earlier stories on her health situation.