weaning

They are furthering the weaning process by turning the vent off for 15 minutes at a time each day. Then they will gradually increase the amount of time it's turned off each day and let her build up endurance and strength.

They did this a couple times when she was at Vibra, but they had it turned off for longer stretches of time which was a little too aggressive for her at the time.

We're glad they think she's strong enough to start doing this weaning.

back on track

Mom has been doing really well for the past few weeks. No infections or ailments to fight off, so she can spend her energy building up strength. She's getting a lot of PT during the week. I think we're starting to see some progress in the strength and mobility of her torso. It's wonderful. We got her some tennis shoes for her PT sessions, so I'm sure they'll be getting her up more and more.

She's also finally interested in DVD's and audio books. She now has a small portable DVD player that sits on her lap or tray table. They have many DVD's and books/magazines that she can check out to help pass the time.

The staff at Pacific has been very attentive and communicative with us, which we really appreciate. It seems like the staff is finally able to see how strong Mom can be and how hard she can work when she's not fighting off any other ailments. It motivates them to work with her more to keep up her progress (in my opinion).

Working Hard

I wish I had more to update. We are making slow progress in trying to get Mom moved back to Vibra. We are working with a health care advocate who will be a huge asset in this situation.

Mom had a good week last week. She has been alert and more active. Physical therapy has been going well. She sat up on the edge of the bed supported only by herself twice last week. She said it's really tough, but she is committed to working really hard.

G-Tube removed

On Saturday, 6/4, Mom was sent to the ER with severe pain at her g-tube site. It wasn't being held in place properly (probably because she has very weak abs due to the paralysis from botulism) and had migrated. Therefore, they removed the peg tube and she stayed in the ICU at Portland Adventist until yesterday (Thursday, 6/9). She is doing great now, thanks to the wonderful care of the staff in the ICU.

She is back at Pacific Specialties now. We are doing everything we can to find her another facility for the rest of her recovery. Pacific Specialties isn't able to give her the attention and care that her situation requires and her condition as regressed in the time she's been staying there.

We want her to stay healthy so she can get strong again. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers more than ever.

Thank you!

cellulitis & blue ice cubes

Cellulitis:
The "infection of the soft tissue near her ear" is actually cellulitis. She has some swelling in neck and redness around her trach and g-tube. She was in a lot of pain yesterday, but the antibiotics seem to be kicking in. She's not in any pain today, so far. She was much more alert and active today.

Blue Ice Cubes:
They are trying to get Mom to start eating 'solid' foods soon (jello, pudding, etc). First they need to make sure she can swallow correctly. To test this, they have her chew and swallow blue ice cubes. Then they check her trach tubes to see if they find any blue. They didn't. Mom is swallowing correctly!

Myra and Susanne left for home this afternoon. It was a great visit and we were happy to be able to spend time with them. (thank you again!)