Thursday, July 9, 2009

Wednesday, July 8

She had a very good night. She is able to eat in her room for now but may be able to go to the dining hall, which is right across from her room, soon.

I got there in the afternoon and she was in bed. She said she had been in bed the whole morning and wanted to get out. So we called the nurse and she got into a wheelchair. I had the kids with me and noticed there was a playset out in the courtyard, so I wheeled her outside to sit and watch the kids play. We sat out there for 45 minutes and then she had had enough.

She got her supper but didn't like anything so she didn't eat a whole lot. There are really no menu choices like the hospital.

Tuesday, July 7

Day 20 - Well today is the day. She is going to be moved this afternoon to rehab in Zeeland. She will be going to Providence Rehab Center.

She is now on semi-solid foods, no more tubes or wires.

The ride went good and she does have a roommate, but we are trying to get her a private room. For now it's OK.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Monday, July 6

Day 19 - Well it keeps getting better and better. She did however pull her feeding tube out again without realizing it, but she was scheduled to have a throat study done today anyway and she passed it. She can swallow pretty good.

She sat in a chair again, but it does seem to tire her out quite fast. But the more she wants to the better because she takes steps to get there.

They did start her on a special diet of pured food. She has her own menu that she can choose from for all three meals. She has mashed potatoes with gravy, roasted turkey and a strawberry smoothie for supper. She didn't like the turkey but ate most of the potatoes and smoothie. She said it tasted wonderful!

The doctor came in and said there was no reason to keep her at the hospital anymore, so tomorrow could be the day she moves on to rehab.

Thank you for all your prayers. I don't think her or us could have gotten this far without them!!!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Sunday, July 5

Day 18 - Another good day. Mom was awake pretty much the whole time we were there today. The Nuerologist came in and said she was making good progress.

She wanted to sit in the chair today, so the nurses came in and helped her and said that she did very good getting herself in the chair with their help. The more she does that the stronger her legs will get. She sat there for about 45 minutes and that was about enough. She got very tired.

So we all sat around watching a movie and the next thing we know mom is sleeping.

Tomorrow there is a video schedules to watch her swallowing. Hopefully that is good enough to let her eat some solid foods.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Saturday, July 4

Day 17 - Happy 4th of July!!!

Well it was a very good day today. My brother Randy went up to hospital this morning early to see mom and she was awake and talking.

My dad and sister Karen got up there around noon and she was still awake. Sam and I got up there around 1:30 and she was still awake and very happy to see us. She was very talkative.

So over all it was a great day!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Friday, July 3

Day 16 - Well I went and picked up my sister Karen from the airport at 1am and she plans on being here for the next 4 weeks.

We got up to hospital around 10:30 and found out that mom got a little wild during the night and pulled her feeding tube out along with the tube that was in to stop the nose bleed. Well right away they gave her a sedative to calm her down.

I left the hospital at 3pm and she was still sleeping.

Updated at 5:15pm - she is still sleeping. They won't put the tube back in her nose to feed her until she wakes up. They really wanted her to try and eat some more applesauce today to see if her swallowing has gotten better, but of course that didn't happen either.

Updated at 6:50pm - My brother Randy just called and they put the feeding tube back in and that woke her up and now she is talking very good. They are waiting for xray to come and make sure the tube is correctly positioned so they can start feeding her again.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Thursday, July 2

Day 15 - Well it's been two weeks now since she had her stroke.

I was eating lunch with my kids and got a phone call from my sister-in-law Barb saying someone wanted to talk to me. My mom got on the phone and I could actually understand most of what she was saying. She was sitting in a chair and was wondering when I was coming up with the kids and she looked forward to seeing us. WOW!!!

I got up to the hospital around 1:45pm and she was back in bed. She was wide awake though and was excited to see us. She was laying watching TV. We propped her head up a little bit more so she could see the kids better and she just talked our ears off.

We did try and get her to take a nap, so we went for a walk. I think she only slept for about 30 minutes though.

When she woke up a therapist came in to check her throat to see if she could swallow at all. The therapist gave her a little bit of water on a spoon and she seem to be able to swallow that OK, so out came the applesauce. Mom was able to feed herself and the therapist checked to see if she was swallowing that OK. Some swallows were very strong and some were not. She got to eat about a 1/4 cup of that. She said that tasted very good!

The therapist plans on being back at least 1 more time this weekend to try again and then they are going to do more on Monday.

She knew my brother Randy would be coming up to see her, so she wanted to get in her chair to surprise him and boy was he surprised. She actually took some steps to the chair herself with lots of help. Big improvement from last week.

Updated at 8:34pm:
Got a call from my brother Randy and they are moving her out of ICU up a floor to the intermediate floor, so that is a great big step forward. Of course she thinks she is going home, she even wanted to call everyone to tell them that they didn't have to go to the hospital anymore to see her.

She is still confused about a lot of stuff, but that may get better over time.