Homeward Bound

The big day is tomorrow. Marlene and Bob should be in their house tomorrow afternoon.

People have asked if they can bring food, and what Marlene can eat. Marlene has no dietary restrictions, but she does currently have a sensitivity to "dry" foods- bread, crackers, etc.., and she doesn't eat large amounts. Her sensitivity is getting better, but for the time being, think "nothing dry" if you would like to contribute food. Casseroles, things with sauces, meats, those are a good start, but hey, go nuts! And by the way, Bob eats anything.

Marlene continues to get stronger, and we're so excited to see them in their home. It's the beginning of a new chapter.

Release Date

We're expecting Mom to leave PacSpec on 1/20/12. My family and I will go down to Bend with Mom and Dad to help them get settled in over that weekend. She will have a nurse visit the house 2-3 times a week for a while just to make sure all is well. We're working on a PT/rehab schedule for Bend too.

If you are in Bend and have the time/energy/means to drop off a meal for their freezer or help with a task or just say hello, they would love it and all of us would be so grateful.

Mom had her g-tube removed yesterday. She was pushing to get that out early and is happy to have it out. She is eating well and food finally tastes good to her.

PT continues to work with her, although they say they've taken her as far as they can. She continues to progress though. Earlier this week, she practiced walking without any assistance: no walker, no helper, no cane. She managed a few laps around the small rehab room. She's also working on stairs: practicing holding Dad's arm to go up and down a few stairs.

Mom has had a couple outings over the past month and has enjoyed it a lot. My son's 4th birthday is this weekend and Mom might be coming over to help him celebrate on Sunday. If she's not up for that (afterall, it's a bunch of silly 2-6 year olds in one small living room, which is exhausting just thinking about it), we may take her for a drive to Multnomah Falls and the Old Columbia River Highway or something like that.

GREAT NEWS!

Mom will be released from Pacific Specialties in three weeks or so!

The plan is to have her and Dad move back to their house in Bend for a few months, then they will probably move to an assisted living facility close to us here in Portland.

There is a little work to be done to get their house ready, but we are all very excited. We are looking into getting some additional nursing or home care - at least someone stopping by daily to check in.

The staff is pushing her to spend the next few weeks living there as if she's at home: bed flat all the time, can't use the bars to help her get up from bed, resist using the nurse call button, administer her own meds as necessary, etc.

Mom is barely using her g-tube and eating all her meals normally. They have only been using the g-tube to give her some formula after meals to help stretch her stomach. She will probably have it removed completely after she gets to Bend.

Her physical therapy will continue after Pac Spec. We anticipate her strength and endurance will continue to grow and her fatigue to lessen.

More great news: Mom will be coming over to my house to spend Christmas morning with us. She'll stay as long as she feels up to it, although I'm sure the kids will wear her out quickly. We are excited to have her out on this fun 'field trip.'

Happy Holidays

Things are continuing to go well. Mom has recovered from an infection and a little cellulitis, which was caught fairly early and not at all as bad as past infections. Throughout that recovery, she was active and keeping busy. She's in good spirits and getting stronger and stronger.

Her voice sounds much better, as her throat continues to recover from all the irritation from tubes being down there for so long. She's also eating a lot more and getting a lot less formula through the peg tube. She's taking most of her medications via mouth instead of tube now too.

PT keeps pushing her along, too. She's been practicing her balance and rotating with out any assistance or walker (no hands). She's walking longer distances with the walker. Her endurance also continues to improve in all her exercises in the rehab room.

OT made her go down to the employee break room and make a pot of coffee. She said she put in an extra scoop and it was too strong. I'm sure she'll be happy to do it again until she "gets it right." They also took her down to one of the computers so she could play a little solitaire.

She's still knitting, doing crosswords, and passing time watching more TV than she ever has before.

She enjoys your cards and letters. Thank you so much for keeping them coming. Your love is helping her get through. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

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.

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.

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.