Mom is doing very well. She's recovering from surgery; still has some pain but that's understandable since she's not taking much pain med (doesn't like the side effects).
She was a bit tired yesterday, but weathered through some PT (walked with walker down the halls and did more strength building exercises) and was sitting up in her chair when we visited late-morning.
The staff at Pac Spec has been very attentive and considerate. Seems like they still may need to work out her tube-feeding schedule so it doesn't conflict with her meal schedule - she's just not hungry enough to eat much solid food.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
G-Tube Surgery today
Looks like my post from last week didn't post. Things continue to go well for Mom. She continues to get stronger and build her endurance. She uses her walker and is able to travel longer and longer distances on foot. She has a new wheel chair - much more comfortable, she says, so she is able to sit up for longer periods of time. PT is going really well. They have her doing more standing exercises and more variety on the machines.
Speech therapy is also going well. She's regularly eating soft solids at every meal, without assistance. Also, she's drinking liquids of all thicknesses unsupervised.
G-Tube surgery was this morning. I just got a call from the surgeon who confirmed that it all went well. No challenges or problems. They are keeping her in the hospital overnight for observation. She is thrilled to have the tube out of her nose finally.
Speech therapy is also going well. She's regularly eating soft solids at every meal, without assistance. Also, she's drinking liquids of all thicknesses unsupervised.
G-Tube surgery was this morning. I just got a call from the surgeon who confirmed that it all went well. No challenges or problems. They are keeping her in the hospital overnight for observation. She is thrilled to have the tube out of her nose finally.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The up-swing continues
Mom says she's feeling the best she's felt in the last 10 months. She seems very strong and is doing very well.
She continues to push herself during PT. She walked the length of her room (about 12 steps) using her walker, rested, then continued down the hall another 10 steps or so. Longest walk so far.
She has started complaining about being bored - a great sign, I think. She's actually enjoying watching a little TV; she has finished every crossword she has so far; and - most importantly - she is knitting again (slippers).
On Thursday we had a consultation with a surgeon to install a G-Tube. She is looking forward to getting this done. The tubes down her nose/throat cause her so much irritation and are hindering her eating solid foods. It will be more comfortable for her all around. I hate for her to go through the procedure and have one more thing to recover from, but the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort.
We may be possibly seeing the scant beginnings of a dim light at the end of this long tunnel. Maybe. She still has some milestones to overcome, so who knows what might still happen while she's staying in that facility. No one will even try to speculate on how long until she can go home, but she is motivated and eager to get there.
She continues to push herself during PT. She walked the length of her room (about 12 steps) using her walker, rested, then continued down the hall another 10 steps or so. Longest walk so far.
She has started complaining about being bored - a great sign, I think. She's actually enjoying watching a little TV; she has finished every crossword she has so far; and - most importantly - she is knitting again (slippers).
On Thursday we had a consultation with a surgeon to install a G-Tube. She is looking forward to getting this done. The tubes down her nose/throat cause her so much irritation and are hindering her eating solid foods. It will be more comfortable for her all around. I hate for her to go through the procedure and have one more thing to recover from, but the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort.
We may be possibly seeing the scant beginnings of a dim light at the end of this long tunnel. Maybe. She still has some milestones to overcome, so who knows what might still happen while she's staying in that facility. No one will even try to speculate on how long until she can go home, but she is motivated and eager to get there.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
On the mend again
Marlene's journey has a lot of ups and downs, as everyone reading this blog knows. This week it's been on the upward swing.
Since Kristin's last post, Marlene has rallied again. Her lab results showed the infections have cleared. They've cut back on her painkillers, we think. At least they were supposed to. We have to look at their records. Kristin, Bob, our HAS advocates and a number of PacSpec personnel had a meeting last week to re-jigger Marlene's care plan, and so far so good.
Kristin has seen her behaving differently, and she seems to be responding well, is more awake, and had a really great conversation with Kristin last night. She was able (with help) to sit up on her bed with her feet on the floor several times, resumed her physical therapy, and had gone out into the autumn sunshine (in a chair) and enjoyed the colors of the trees quite a bit. Margie, the RN from HAS services, has been visiting with her regularly, as has Kristin. Bob has been shut down with a bad cold, so he's not allowed near the place. It's frustrating and boring for him, although he's been doing a lot of activities with the kids. They already have colds, of course- no harm no foul! We hope that once again, Marlene can move forward. Her next big hurdle is eating on her own. She is still being fed via the NG tube, and her digestive system and swallowing capabilities have to recover properly, and of course real food is way better than tube food. We're keeping our fingers crossed once again that she keep going forward, without the hindrance of infections, and hope y'all will do the same.
Tom
Since Kristin's last post, Marlene has rallied again. Her lab results showed the infections have cleared. They've cut back on her painkillers, we think. At least they were supposed to. We have to look at their records. Kristin, Bob, our HAS advocates and a number of PacSpec personnel had a meeting last week to re-jigger Marlene's care plan, and so far so good.
Kristin has seen her behaving differently, and she seems to be responding well, is more awake, and had a really great conversation with Kristin last night. She was able (with help) to sit up on her bed with her feet on the floor several times, resumed her physical therapy, and had gone out into the autumn sunshine (in a chair) and enjoyed the colors of the trees quite a bit. Margie, the RN from HAS services, has been visiting with her regularly, as has Kristin. Bob has been shut down with a bad cold, so he's not allowed near the place. It's frustrating and boring for him, although he's been doing a lot of activities with the kids. They already have colds, of course- no harm no foul! We hope that once again, Marlene can move forward. Her next big hurdle is eating on her own. She is still being fed via the NG tube, and her digestive system and swallowing capabilities have to recover properly, and of course real food is way better than tube food. We're keeping our fingers crossed once again that she keep going forward, without the hindrance of infections, and hope y'all will do the same.
Tom
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
rough time
It's been a difficult few weeks. As she was recovering from pneumonia, she aspirated on applesauce (nurses didn't prep her for eating like they should have), she went to ER on Friday 10/7 for more x-rays and tests. She went back to Pac Spec with antibiotics for UTI and aspiration pneumonia. Lab results came back on 10/10 saying she had a drug resistant ecoli (!). Although its very serious, it is apparently very common for women in nursing homes who have been on antibiotics and have UTI.
The meds she was given made her alarmingly confused and mentally altered (hallucinating, trying to leave, pulling out feeding tube twice). After two or three days she started to show improvements.
Additional tests are showing no growth and she hasn't had any fevers or temperature spikes.
She continues to improve and is even looking forward to getting some physical therapy today.
I know she is so tired of being in a nursing facility away from home. She is really wants to get home.
Please help us encourage her to stay strong and motivated so she can get home soon.
Thank you so much for all the birthday cards, letters and wishes. We greatly appreciate your love and kind words.
The meds she was given made her alarmingly confused and mentally altered (hallucinating, trying to leave, pulling out feeding tube twice). After two or three days she started to show improvements.
Additional tests are showing no growth and she hasn't had any fevers or temperature spikes.
She continues to improve and is even looking forward to getting some physical therapy today.
I know she is so tired of being in a nursing facility away from home. She is really wants to get home.
Please help us encourage her to stay strong and motivated so she can get home soon.
Thank you so much for all the birthday cards, letters and wishes. We greatly appreciate your love and kind words.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
getting better
Mom continues her recovery from pneumonia. She seemed to be doing really well last week, but maybe she overexerted herself because she was very tired and sick Friday through Sunday. She's improving again, but still not up to doing any PT. It frustrates her that she's not feeling up to PT, which I take as a good sign that she's motivated to get better.
Which reminds me, she's also having vivid dreams that she swears are real. In one dream, they were having a $64 bottle of champagne in the hallway outside her room and she was yelling for Dad, me, and the aides to help get her out of bed because she couldn't move and she wanted to get out there. Sounds like she is very mentally ready to move on and join her life again.
Speech therapy is going well. They've been working on her swallowing and getting her to tolerate more solid foods.
Which reminds me, she's also having vivid dreams that she swears are real. In one dream, they were having a $64 bottle of champagne in the hallway outside her room and she was yelling for Dad, me, and the aides to help get her out of bed because she couldn't move and she wanted to get out there. Sounds like she is very mentally ready to move on and join her life again.
Speech therapy is going well. They've been working on her swallowing and getting her to tolerate more solid foods.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)