Derry Dunn writes open letter to citizens of OC

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, I was officially released by my wound care doctor at Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. This brings an end to my ordeal with "flesh eating bacteria" that began on the night of Aug. 1. The purpose of this letter is to express my appreciation to all of you who prayed for me, put my name on prayer lists, brought food to our home and helped in so many other ways. My wife, Jane and I consider my recovery nothing less than a miracle and have so many people to thank for supporting us during the past 14 weeks.

Special thanks go to the ER staff, nurses and doctors at Baptist Hospital Orange, of Southeast Texas who recognized quickly from my symptoms that I was dealing with necrotizing fasciitis which is commonly referred to as "flesh eating bacteria".

The response and application of the proper protocol by Dr, Konjoyan (ER), Dr.

Palafox (Surgeon) Dr.

Parker (Hospitalist and Dr.

Gordon (Hospitalist) were credited by the Medical Center doctors as the effort that saved not only my leg, but my life as well.

After five days in the Baptist Hospital Orange, where I received exceptional care from attentive, compassionate and knowledgeable nurses, I was sent to Memorial Hermann to be under the care of an infectious disease doctor and a wound care specialist for 10 more days.

The recovery has been slow but successful and the doctors say that by the end of December I should feel normal again.

Again, Jane and I would like to say thank you for the love, compassion and concern that was expressed in our behalf. Orange County is a great place to live - just be very cautions when you go to the beach.

Sincerely,

Jane and Derry Dunn