The doctor took a quick look and said, “You’re all good.”

I in disbelief said, “Really? Please take a close look.”

He looked at both the wrist and incision and said it looks fine that likely only inflammation remains.

I said, “Are you sure? Canada was very worried about a deep space infection.”

He then showed me the CBC and CRP values and said, “You are fine.” The culture came back negative for aerobic bacteria so we are winning.

He said that since the upward movement of redness had been halted quickly that he was confident that the choice of antibiotic was ok and so I’m on the same one orally for the next ten days. He wants me to keep using antibiotic ointment on the incision-there is just a small gap left to close (it’s actually about 5 days ahead of the left one was in healing on the same day i.e day 21 post surgery).

I said, “Canada was worried I could lose my hand.”

He said, “It’s going to be OK.”

I said, “What signs should I worry about or when should make me return? Like if goes back up my arm again?”

He said, “It’s not going to go back up your arm. Go have a great visit to Mongolia and then came back and visit Mongolia another time.”

So…very unexpectedly, it was option 3) and we’re cleared to go out and see more than Ulaanbaatar. We’ll have one more day here and then we are headed out for a four day adventure in Central Mongolia and then plan to continue with our travels. I will, of course, be watching the remaining wrist redness border like a Mongolian eagle, watching for any sign of unwellness or fever, etc…and seek out additional care if needed but for now we’ve been freed from the bardo and I spent the day feeling much lighter and hopeful.

Today we visited a museum of puzzles and traditional Mongolian games and followed that up with a visit to the large park at the south of the city. It was fabulous to be outside and enjoying the sunshine (though with lots of sunscreen and a hat since the antibiotic I am on can make me more sensitive to the sun). We took a spin around the park on a double bike that could make a fine adventure mobile one day.

Thanks for all your well wishes and support-they mean a lot to us!