Monday Meeting

I talked to Amy, the dietician, over the phone this morning. She said no problem making the changes we need. She thanked me for the call.

I saw mom just before dinner time. Our grilled cheese sandwich dinner came w/o bread or cheese. The plate had tomato, pickle and bacon. We had a laugh and gave the bacon away. The dining staff supplied us with a sandwich. The yogurt request was honored as was real salad. I've left Amy a message that mom does not require pureed bread and that we'd like regular bread with meals, preferably wheat.

The patient care evaluation was simply their venue to tell us mom's discharge date, which is tentatively Aug. 22. They were finished, but I wasn't. I had my list ready to go: bed transfers (standing instead of sliding), pain medication being given after therapies, missing Mysoline for tremors, improper use of the arm trough (it was on backwards) and the staff's inexperience using the sling. I emphasized that these issues would make rehabbing very difficult in the time they've tentatively allotted for mom's recovery and that if she doesn't have the necessary tools to succeed, we are all wasting our time. Dr. Mupa thanked me for the feedback and was very nice about it. Nurse Frumpy didn't have much to say, but took excellent notes. Caseworker Stacy was floored that I gave them flack over these issues... I guess her mom hasn't gone through rehab.

She will be getting Ultram (pain med) 3x per day, unless she doesn't need it - ie. refuses it. She will be getting her Mysoline 2x per day (7 am / 5 pm). Blood sugar was 109 tonight.

She had a shower before dinner and was clean and shiny! There was a really nice flower/plant arrangement in her room, but the message on the tag was incomplete. I called the flower shop to find they were sent by Mike's parents in California. Mom (and we all) says "thank you!".

John stopped by before dinner for a visit and Kris stopped in as I was leaving.

Day of Rest

Last night, John and Kelly brought mom a really nice tempurpedic head rest. She was enjoying it today. They also gave her a manicure and brought yogurt. Today was a no therapy day, and Kris went mid day to visit. The Cubs were on, and mom took a pretty good nap. After Kris left, Joanne from Premier stopped by with fresh flowers. Mom was resting when I arrived just before dinner. We had dinner with Lou, and mom was thrilled to have crackers with her tuna! Texture is a real treat these days. I also brought her some little yogurts, and she ate one with dinner. The other three are marked on the packaging. They are in the chart room down the hall in that fridge. Please see to it that she has some if you are on duty. She ate well, and we had a nice bright window, so we did almost a full game of Scrabble after dinner. She was in good form, and was playing well, (ie pundit, devoid, among others) . We saved the game to finish another time. At 8 she was getting ready for bed and she was wide awake. Looking for a Sox game, but we settled on Desperate Housewives. I forgot to do her dentures.....I hope the staff has the wherewithall to do that each night. (?) I will bring up these things tomorrow at the 2:15 meeting. If you have concerns, let me know so I can ask. We only get a chance every two weeks to talk directly with them. Kris found out that showers are Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Please make an effort to see that she gets a shower...I told her tomorrow to expect one. She is so damn concerned about the poor little girls working there that she doesn't want to trouble them. She will let me help with this, so I know she will let Lisa, Sara or Susi also.

Keep up the encouragement! Thanks.

Learning Curve on the Uprise

Mike and I learned a lot today...

Mom was in physical therapy when we arrived around 10 am. We met her pt, Ginger and another pt from Marianjoy which will keep us connected to all mom's favorites over there. Therapy went ok, mom still listing, but the fact that she can tell she's listing is good, means she knows she's off balance.

We watched some HGTV and had lunch. Lunch was decent, and mom ate well. Her stomach is less upset, and she's been regular. Yeah! I put a call in to dietary to request yogurt in her daily diet. If you are looking for a treat to bring, yogurt is an excellent choice. After lunch, she had occupational therapy(?) with Mercedes. Her regular ot is Megan. Mercedes gave us a packet with exercises for her left arm, shoulder, and hand. She taught us how to do them, and there's a picture guide in the pouch of mom's chair. She suggests doing them twice a day, once at the minimum. If you are there please be diligent about this. They only take 5-7 repetitions each and there are about a dozen.

She also suggested once a day to practice reading out loud, doing word puzzles, crosswords, etc. The Scrabble is down under the bed, too. She also suggested we encourage this every day, to help her retrain her pathways. I have a work puzzle book from the dietary staff, which I will enlarge at work on the copier. I'll put the puzzles and pencils in a book bag . She suggested the large print Reader's Digests. Mom always liked those, too. I will stop at the library to check one out. Other large print books are also welcome and might be a good gift idea.

The other thing Mercedes did was to give us a new arm piece for lefty. It should stay on the wheelchair, it's called an arm trough. It is much more supportive than the slippery thing she was resting on before, which it turns out was not a proper fit to that chair, causing it to wobble. This trough will give her much more support for her shoulder, you can lay a terry towel in it and it's not sweaty. Please check to see that this piece is on the chair at all times, and no one removes it. The sling is found, and needs to be worn on every transfer from chair to bed, bed to chair, etc. this is extremely important to support the shoulder and protect from dislocation. The nice soft sling that Lisa made is too loose, so please use the white one. It is only necessary to wear it during the transfer, so it shouldn't cause a problem with her neck hurting, as it only needs to be on for short spurts of time.

Mom's shakes were extreme today and I asked if she was getting that medication twice a day or only once in the am. Mom always takes it twice a day at home to get the best control of her tremors. It turns out that medication was somehow missed since the transfer last Tuesday! No wonder she was shaking so badly. The nurse, Irma called and had it ordered ASAP so she will have it today. She apologized for the mistake, and this is just one example of why we need to be present. They don't know that her shakes are never that bad, so it never occurrd to them she might be missing a medication! We are her best eyes and ears because we know her the best.

I have been renamed 'Karla the Crusader'. We will all have new names in due time, so be careful what you do!

As we were getting ready to leave, mom was all set up to watch the Cubs game, and Keith, Ronnie and Elinor were on their way in. Perfect timing...John and Kelly are visiting tonight. Stay cool everyone.

Thursday night Powwow

We had a nice visit this evening. John was over after work, as was I. It is really on our ways home, respectively. After John left, we went to dinner as Kris and Sue were arriving. We had a discussion about Toby. It was brief, and she was in agreement that he is not able to live with her again. We can't take the chance of a fall. We are still discussing our two options...adoption into the Marino family at 438 Brewster lower level, or having him go visit dad.

My old client Carol had met mom yesterday for lunch, and we chatted with her after dinner tonight. Carol, her friend, and Kris and Sue and I talked about Toby, about Carol going home, and seeing me next season at Hinsdale Nurseries.

I called Susi and Sara about mom's sensation in her feet and legs that she is cold and wet. Also had it on her bottom, she asked the nurse to put a clean, dry pad on the chair. Is this something we need to research further? I mentioned it to the nurse, and did not hear back in the short time I was there. Susi wants to order massages, but we are not yet sure what time is available after therapies. Susi recommends we get yogurt in her diet on a daily basis to combat the antibiotics. yogurt treats are welcome!

Mike is off to walk Toby, and I'm off to bed.

Tuesday night, past

Mom had a busy day yesterday, with Lisa moving her in and helping to get a bed with a window, John and Kelly stopped by on their way home from work, and Diane Weniger came by, too.

Rest Haven has a very nice feel to it, with several small areas for visiting in groups, some outside, some inside. Dinner was interesting, as we met a lady and her daughter from Lombard also. She was quite a character. They serve in a dining room, and I even got offered coffee!

We stopped to admire the finches in the aviary, but had an early night. We caught the last inning of the Cubs game, and I stopped to see another patient who happened to be an old client of mine from work. She had a hip replacement and is going home this week. I hope she had a chance to see mom today and say Hi, but who knows. Mom was to have her assessments from their therapists today. Lisa will know more tonight.

Peg is doing very well recovering from her knee surgery, and is up walking already! Thank goodness no problems there. She has promised to make a visit as soon as she can get back to driving.

Monday Evening

We are looking forward to our next step in the journey...subacute rehab at Rest Haven West, starting tomorrow. Contact information will follow soon. Mom is feeling ok, alertness excellent, and had a nice visit tonight with Ppat and Alex Kapocious. We visited till about 9 pm and she was getting ready for bed when I left. We packed up for the move tomorrow. Lisa, please track down the blanket! I have laundry and clean clothes, vase, and cards. All jars and creams are in the little suitcase. Please don't forget her cane, our scrabble, and letter box from Ginger.

We will miss the nice people there. We had a great aide tonight, Virginia, who could do transfers all by herself. She has a technique which got her underneath mom, and mom's strength in her right leg is really improving too. thank goodness for small improvements....but we are back on antibiotics for a UTI. Encourage drinking LOTS of water, everyone! Thanks.

Backtracking, Saturday daytime

Mom finally got a long awaited massage, which she really liked. Followed by therapy from Alan PT where she practiced walking. She now says Aye,Aye,Aye instead of Ouch,Ouch, Ouch, but she did it. She is pretty wobbly yet. We have a lot of work to do in this dept. Occupational therapy followed. The ot gave me a name of some placemat type material that can help mom to get more traction and assist lefty to stabilize a jar or other container while opening.

We sat down stairs for lunch, and awaited Mike and Toby. Just as they arrived, mom had a call of nature, and apologized but couldn't wait for Toby. She was then so tired, that she just wanted to lay down, so Mike and I walked Toby around the beautiful grounds and I went back up for a little visiting time. She commented that Toby probably doesn't remember her, but that it's good he has all his brothers and sisters, Karla and Mike, John and Kris. Lisa escaped the list somehow! This makes our decision to try to place Toby with an adopted family even more critical and difficult. If anyone has any pointers on this, I would welcome the advice.

Thanks to Kris for trying to get mom to eat her dinner, and as usual, I know I'm in trouble for suggesting it. She certainly has tried, but is uncomfortable in the digestive area. maybe tomorrow she'll feel more hungry. Sunday night is shower night, so please make an attempt to convince her or help with the shower. Ladies only on the helping, though.

Sunday Afternoon

Mike and I had a good visit with mom. We started off with church, then lunch, and believe it or not, we started a game of Scrabble. We were talking a lot, so we didn't come close to finishing a game, but mom did well. She also ate really well, without help of course. She is in really good spirits, telling jokes and stories, especially when we have Mary, Mary quite contrary as mom has named her, for nursing duty. She's on the ball with all of mom's needs and really likes her. We did a transfer with no problems or ouches. Sugars excellent at 128 , swelling in both legs is minimal, but still no luck with bladder meds yet. We have to encourage the standing and pt work she can get done in the next week. Nurse Mary said that she is doing so much better these past days even since her ridlin has improved her mood tremendously. She has an I-can-do attitude, and has taken it upon herself to be the comic relief for the entire staff. Mary also said that Alan will make a determination whether she will eke out a few more days of pt there. I hope she does, because he has inspired her with the story of his 103 yr old patient, and her pain seems under control. She is tolerating 90 degrees on the CPM, which is very good. Still no new seat cushion has arrived (possibly Tuesday - deliveries are only Tues, Friday) and mom has not received massage from the mt, but Alan bless him has massaged her knee and I don't remember who did her left arm and hand. On her agenda for today's activities calender was a call to check on Ginger at her daughter's house, but Lisa arrived, too and the room was too crowded for all of us.

We left mom in Lisa's capable hands, and she was alert and resting in bed, airing out her legs from the hot support hose. She is using the blanket Susi got for her, and we have been cracking up over John's first water ballet move! Great photo, guys! Keep up the wonderful support!

Thursday Night

we had a great visit! Mom was in good spirits, very chatty, and high energy. we had a visit from Dr. Krieger during dinner (downstairs in the cafeteria). He was checking the special cushion, and ordered the better one. He asked her how she thought the therapy was going...accessing? He said our goals for this week are the bladder issue and standing longer. We also had a shower in the chair as opposed to the boat, which she tolerated beautifully. I helped the nurse, as she seemed to appreciate the extra female in the shower. Mom still has the male nurse issue, but is getting better. Chester and Ralph helped with two standing moves and she let them with no complaints. Not one ouch through all that commotion!

I put in a call to subacute Marianjoy in Downers. Admissions lady did call me back, but I missed her call while at the dentist. I'll contact her today and see if we can get on the list.

Keep up the encouragement. Mom just needs to stand longer...I feel she is just on the verge of lurching forward in her progress. Her outlook is much better the longer she's there. Our nurse Charisma, said wow, don't you look great! She noticed a big difference since last week...keep up the good work everyone! karla

Posting Pictures...

is easy! Lisa mentioned it, so I figured I'd give you a tutorial in case you would like to post a picture.














When you create your post, look directly above the area where you type your text. Click on the link on the far right (a little blue box), follow directions to link a picture from either the internet or your own computer, then click "Upload Image". Wait and follow directions.

You should see the image in your text box (unless it's too big, try selecting "medium" as the size if this happens). If you click and drag on the image, you can position it anywhere within your text. There is a "preview" link in the upper right corner if you'd like to view your post before publishing. Any questions, email me!

Mike

Sunday Night

Mom ate well, including some organic yogurt from Trader Joe's. She's still complaining of being bloated. Hopefully that medicine will kick in soon and get her some relief! Until then, she will eat less and less...

The swelling on the knee has gone down... she looks goood. Sitting up straighter. I asked her to remind her doctor to order the massage. I've got the phone number to order the massage, but it has to be prescribed by the doctor. Sara - how do we get that prescription? Lisa offered to make a call tomorrow to see what she could find out.

Resting and sleeping on her side is giving her some relief from back pain.

Ginger has left us her number as she is being transfered to her daughter's this week. She is pretty together, so I think it wouldn't hurt to keep in touch. She is also a good resource for info and mom does seem to like her. Ginger's sister lives just north of Hayward, Wisconsin...small world, isn't it?

We came up with new verbage for her arm...it's dormant, like a seed waiting for the right timing to sprout. It's important she think positively, so we lotioned and massaged both hands and wrists tonite. Please read the book Sara mentioned for the passive therapy ..we can work on that at our night time visits.

Peg has her knee surgery this week. Mom was disturbed, but not surprised that she couldn't talk Peg out of it. All of us wish the best outcome for her and will be thinking about her on the 11th!

Happy 4th of July!

Hi all,

Because of our collective over-zealousness lately, we kept the visit short and sweet today. We arrived just after lunch, wheeled down to 2nd floor to catch a bit of the cubs game, and our visit ended by 2 pm, when her physical therapy session began. Alan was very nice, pushing her forward, but really kind at the same time. Mom told him "Your gonna kill me, Alan", but it didn't phase him. We made sure she had her pain killers to get through the pt session, and left her to do her work...they are working on getting her to use a slide, which transfers you from your chair to a large mat. She also said she stood up this morning! She said it HURTS to stand. Her neck is still a bit sore. How do we schedule/arrange another massage? She is also looking forward to a glass of plain, old icewater!

I forgot the muffins again, but promised to bring treats for the staff on the weekend. Please keep an eye on the water in the flower vase, everyone. It gets yucky quick.

Sunday, July 2

I arrived to find mom with Peg, waiting for me to go to church. Just like the old days, we arrived slightly late. After church, Peg, mom, myself and Ginger had lunch on 2nd Floor and really spread out. Ginger and mom have a lot in common...knitting, gardening, sewing...but she's a Methodist, so she didn't join us for mass. Mom ate well and by herself. Her sugar was about 160ish...staying lower more consistently.

Mom seems stronger, speaking more and more, as long as the pace isn't rushed, she's not self-conscious. She speaks highly of the staff, especially the physical therapists and the speech therapist. She was in perfect, witty form allright today...she kept itching her leg, so I suggested she write, stretch her arm, do something to take her mind off scratching. She made a cute little rhyme, which went, "Whenever I itch , it makes Karla bitch". She had another one which was less profan, but I don't recall.

Monday is a regular therapy and schedule day, but she may have that bladder test. Tuesday the 4th, I plan on going in the morning to bring treats for the staff, and to see therapy. Kris is going at dinner time.

She would like to try sleeping on her side to alleviate back pain, so ask her if that was successful or not. I said I could ask the nurse to help position her, and she insisted she could do that for herself.

We had a nice long visit. She really is looking better and better!