Hi all,
thanks for being patient as I find out what I need to post next. There is nothing really new to report.
She is still in a minimally conscious state. There are times where she will make a connection with us and she'll try to say things or follow commands, but those times are few far in between.
She did say "no" the other day as she was in the bed with the therapist working on her, but that was it.
Over the weekend we did have the doctors clean her out of her meds and find out what her baseline is. Unfortunately, since not being on any wake up drugs she isn't really doing a whole lot and shes not responding to much.
They are going to start her out on another med soo and start experimenting more with different combinations. Pray that we are able to make a connection and get her to where she needs to be.
Good day and God Bless.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
her first words...
"MY ARM HURTS!!"
Yes thats right she is starting to talk, well forming actual words and not just making sounds. Its still a little hard to understand though.
We are working on trying to get this on camera or for the doctors to see so that she can continue on at Kentfield.
Yesterday I bought a flip camera that will hopefully catch all of her activity! YES!
For me, I think this is huge... for her to know that she is in pain, then to associate this pain with her arm and know this is what is hurting, BIG STEP!
Otherwise she is doing awesome! They started her on new meds to see if she will wake up but nothing too major yet, well other than her talk of course!
From a personal stand point, I have several people that I can talk to about what I am going through and all of you have been wonderful enough to let me know that you are all here for me and the family, which we appreciate. That being said this blog is my outlet, a way for me to share things that allow unbiased opinions or a way for me to vent so that I can get it off my chest without having to tell someone the story and hear their reactions. I want all of you to know that I appreciate your concern, but it is very difficult for me to share my feelings, opinions and what is actually going on with her, if I or anyone in my family has to field a panel of questions following it, its exhausting! Yes, this is all scary and we are hopeful for a speedy recovery. However, this road to recovery has its ups and downs and we all have to take it with a grain of salt and take the good in with the bad. This blog is a fact, not sugar coated to make this process easier. On the days that I write not such great news, its not that I want to write that, but it is what it is, don't question it.
I am not saying these things so that you do not call and continue to ask how she is doing or how that family is doing. I want the continued support, prayers and best wishes. This blog is fact... so trust that I am telling you what we know and trust in the process. It is a long road ahead of us, and I want to take you along the way.
I hope everyone has an awesome Monday, good day and God Bless.
Yes thats right she is starting to talk, well forming actual words and not just making sounds. Its still a little hard to understand though.
We are working on trying to get this on camera or for the doctors to see so that she can continue on at Kentfield.
Yesterday I bought a flip camera that will hopefully catch all of her activity! YES!
For me, I think this is huge... for her to know that she is in pain, then to associate this pain with her arm and know this is what is hurting, BIG STEP!
Otherwise she is doing awesome! They started her on new meds to see if she will wake up but nothing too major yet, well other than her talk of course!
From a personal stand point, I have several people that I can talk to about what I am going through and all of you have been wonderful enough to let me know that you are all here for me and the family, which we appreciate. That being said this blog is my outlet, a way for me to share things that allow unbiased opinions or a way for me to vent so that I can get it off my chest without having to tell someone the story and hear their reactions. I want all of you to know that I appreciate your concern, but it is very difficult for me to share my feelings, opinions and what is actually going on with her, if I or anyone in my family has to field a panel of questions following it, its exhausting! Yes, this is all scary and we are hopeful for a speedy recovery. However, this road to recovery has its ups and downs and we all have to take it with a grain of salt and take the good in with the bad. This blog is a fact, not sugar coated to make this process easier. On the days that I write not such great news, its not that I want to write that, but it is what it is, don't question it.
I am not saying these things so that you do not call and continue to ask how she is doing or how that family is doing. I want the continued support, prayers and best wishes. This blog is fact... so trust that I am telling you what we know and trust in the process. It is a long road ahead of us, and I want to take you along the way.
I hope everyone has an awesome Monday, good day and God Bless.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Happy Birthday Valerie
Good Morning and Happy Monday!
Sorry for the every two week posts now. Unfortunately, I only want to post if there is a lot to say.
Last Tuesday was her birthday, a very hard day, but she had a lot of visitors and a lot of activity which made it a good day for her.
People brought flowers, balloons, cake, Lumpias, cards and best wishes for her speedy recovery.
As I missed being able to do my tradition of calling her first thing in the morning and singing Happy Birthday to her and then going to dinner with her at her newest favorite restaurant in Tracy, we had to settle for singing to her in bed, eating hospital food and laying in bed with her, and hugging her so that she knows we are all there for her.
In terms of her progress, as per what the doctor has told us, her tremors are inhibiting her from waking up. Her seizures are under control. But in order to make her tremors stop, they have to sedate her to some extent, but sedating her will make her sleepy and not able to wake up anyways, so its a catch 22.
I ask of you all now, if you have a chance, and if it is not hard for you to do so, please go visit her. The visitors have dropped off and I feel her everyday life was filled with different people everyday, and she had such deep connections with all of you, that she is missing that. I know it is a far drive, but if you have a chance to do that, that would be great. I know she would love it, and the family would love it too.
She is at Kentfield Rehabilitation & Specialty Hospital
1125 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Kentfield, CA 94904
Hope all is well.
Good Day and God Bless
Sorry for the every two week posts now. Unfortunately, I only want to post if there is a lot to say.
Last Tuesday was her birthday, a very hard day, but she had a lot of visitors and a lot of activity which made it a good day for her.
People brought flowers, balloons, cake, Lumpias, cards and best wishes for her speedy recovery.
As I missed being able to do my tradition of calling her first thing in the morning and singing Happy Birthday to her and then going to dinner with her at her newest favorite restaurant in Tracy, we had to settle for singing to her in bed, eating hospital food and laying in bed with her, and hugging her so that she knows we are all there for her.
In terms of her progress, as per what the doctor has told us, her tremors are inhibiting her from waking up. Her seizures are under control. But in order to make her tremors stop, they have to sedate her to some extent, but sedating her will make her sleepy and not able to wake up anyways, so its a catch 22.
I ask of you all now, if you have a chance, and if it is not hard for you to do so, please go visit her. The visitors have dropped off and I feel her everyday life was filled with different people everyday, and she had such deep connections with all of you, that she is missing that. I know it is a far drive, but if you have a chance to do that, that would be great. I know she would love it, and the family would love it too.
She is at Kentfield Rehabilitation & Specialty Hospital
1125 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Kentfield, CA 94904
Hope all is well.
Good Day and God Bless
Monday, May 9, 2011
mothers day
Hi Everyone,
thank you for being patient with me. As I said before, if there are little to no improvements there will be no post, so just continue to bear with me as I post on this as much as time allows me.
SO far she is still improving a little each day. she is still in a minimal conscious state and is trying to wake up and do somethings.
According to Dr. Waters, its seems that they have subsided the seizures. Now they arer working on different medications to try to wake her up.
She hasn't had any new tests run.
she has more regular sleep and wake patterns is seems, and she has been awake more and trying to do little things.
She can still follow some simple commands, it just takes longer to process.
She is trying hard to talk and do somethings its just more difficult for her to do them at times.
Yesterday I spent a nice day with her. It was somewhat warm and we were able to take her outside and and we brought buddy to the hospital and he was able to jump up and lick her and she winced like she didn't like it. It was nice to finally have her outside, you could tell she liked being in the sun and soaking up the rays. She is with us, she can hear us... she is taking some well deserved time and rest.
Keep praying. Good day and God Bless.
thank you for being patient with me. As I said before, if there are little to no improvements there will be no post, so just continue to bear with me as I post on this as much as time allows me.
SO far she is still improving a little each day. she is still in a minimal conscious state and is trying to wake up and do somethings.
According to Dr. Waters, its seems that they have subsided the seizures. Now they arer working on different medications to try to wake her up.
She hasn't had any new tests run.
she has more regular sleep and wake patterns is seems, and she has been awake more and trying to do little things.
She can still follow some simple commands, it just takes longer to process.
She is trying hard to talk and do somethings its just more difficult for her to do them at times.
Yesterday I spent a nice day with her. It was somewhat warm and we were able to take her outside and and we brought buddy to the hospital and he was able to jump up and lick her and she winced like she didn't like it. It was nice to finally have her outside, you could tell she liked being in the sun and soaking up the rays. She is with us, she can hear us... she is taking some well deserved time and rest.
Keep praying. Good day and God Bless.
Monday, April 25, 2011
our first holiday without her...
As Easter morning came... it definitely was not something I was looking forward too. I missed the fact that she always thought of everyone on Easter, candy, baskets, toys, flowers... but the best thing was her cards, she always spent her time in the store looking for the funniest most inappropriate cards that would bring out the biggest laughter from everyone. I definitely do not want to spend another holiday without her...
In terms of how she is doing... for the most part it is the same.
She has been taken off of one of the medicines to stop her seizures, and they are scheduled to do an EEG and test to make sure they have stopped before they continue to run new tests and try new things to wake her up.
One new thing that we have started to do was the doctor gave authorization to us to cap her Trach so we can hear the noises she has been making... during last week she tried to say her name and then yesterday while I was washing her face and cleaning her up, it was a little uncomfortable for her and she said ouch twice!!!! It was amazing!!!!
Other than that... we are praying for her quick recovery so that she can continue to stay at the hospital that she is at for as long as she needs too.
Hope everyone is all doing great, good day and God bless!!!
In terms of how she is doing... for the most part it is the same.
She has been taken off of one of the medicines to stop her seizures, and they are scheduled to do an EEG and test to make sure they have stopped before they continue to run new tests and try new things to wake her up.
One new thing that we have started to do was the doctor gave authorization to us to cap her Trach so we can hear the noises she has been making... during last week she tried to say her name and then yesterday while I was washing her face and cleaning her up, it was a little uncomfortable for her and she said ouch twice!!!! It was amazing!!!!
Other than that... we are praying for her quick recovery so that she can continue to stay at the hospital that she is at for as long as she needs too.
Hope everyone is all doing great, good day and God bless!!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
8 weeks
Hi all,
I know it has been 2 weeks since my last post, but life has caught up with me ap bear with me on this one. Here is an update in what we know.
She is still in a minimal conscious state.
She is making some progress in terms of new things she is doing but not much.
Her therapies are all going great, but in order for them to be able to push harder needs to wake up.
After speaking with the doctors we were able to get an update on her condition and sort of figure out what we have to look forward too in the next coming weeks and for the long haul.
From what the doctor understands, she has been having what they call break-through seizures, which they believe is what has been inhibiting her from waking up.
Thus they have started her on 2 new medications to stop the seizures from happening and hopefully she will wake up.
She had an EEG and an MRI done last week and it appears that her swelling has gone sown and they are not concerned at all in terms of swelling.
The good news is that she will live a quality life, just not how she had planned on doing so.
Now Dr. Dougherty's program is 8 weeks, this coming Thursday will be week 3. If she does not wake or have significant leaps of improvement we have to start looking for new places to go for sub-acute and long-term care. We are hoping that since she is being given those medications to stop her seizures, that she will at least wake up and she will be able to stay for a few weeks longer to give her time to develop and make significant improvement.
I know my mom is going to be fine. Yes, it wont be like she is going to wake up and everything is going to be like it was before, but she is still here and going to be able to share and enrich her life as she has ours. I know I miss her like all of you do. Keep praying.
Good day, God Bless and Happy Easter.
I know it has been 2 weeks since my last post, but life has caught up with me ap bear with me on this one. Here is an update in what we know.
She is still in a minimal conscious state.
She is making some progress in terms of new things she is doing but not much.
Her therapies are all going great, but in order for them to be able to push harder needs to wake up.
After speaking with the doctors we were able to get an update on her condition and sort of figure out what we have to look forward too in the next coming weeks and for the long haul.
From what the doctor understands, she has been having what they call break-through seizures, which they believe is what has been inhibiting her from waking up.
Thus they have started her on 2 new medications to stop the seizures from happening and hopefully she will wake up.
She had an EEG and an MRI done last week and it appears that her swelling has gone sown and they are not concerned at all in terms of swelling.
The good news is that she will live a quality life, just not how she had planned on doing so.
Now Dr. Dougherty's program is 8 weeks, this coming Thursday will be week 3. If she does not wake or have significant leaps of improvement we have to start looking for new places to go for sub-acute and long-term care. We are hoping that since she is being given those medications to stop her seizures, that she will at least wake up and she will be able to stay for a few weeks longer to give her time to develop and make significant improvement.
I know my mom is going to be fine. Yes, it wont be like she is going to wake up and everything is going to be like it was before, but she is still here and going to be able to share and enrich her life as she has ours. I know I miss her like all of you do. Keep praying.
Good day, God Bless and Happy Easter.
Monday, April 4, 2011
slow and steady wins the race....
My mom is slowly and steadily improving. As I am looking for the biggest improvement with her everyday, there are small steps. In terms of her improvement, to me, her progress has plateaued. As I hope everyday that she is making huge leaps of improvement, we have to wait it out and see.
She is still in a Mid-level Conscious state.
Being in a new place, were still trying to get all the kinks worked out with the staff and get her back on a regime.
Today she starts her 6 day a week Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Therapy (ST).
She is going to be stood up today, and hopefully that wakes her up!!!
PT comes in everyday, and depending on the day will work with her on a small or large level to get her moving again.
OT has started and is working to keep her hands open so she may get back to cutting hair in no time.
ST is going to work on having her follow simple commands, the first, swallowing her own secretions, once she can do that, she will be able to have the Trach cap put on and she could possibly start to talk and even go outside! And once outside.... we can bring BUDDY the puppy!!
Thats all for last week, enjoy this week and hopefully you all can go visit her sometime.
Good day and God bless.
She is still in a Mid-level Conscious state.
Being in a new place, were still trying to get all the kinks worked out with the staff and get her back on a regime.
Today she starts her 6 day a week Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Therapy (ST).
She is going to be stood up today, and hopefully that wakes her up!!!
PT comes in everyday, and depending on the day will work with her on a small or large level to get her moving again.
OT has started and is working to keep her hands open so she may get back to cutting hair in no time.
ST is going to work on having her follow simple commands, the first, swallowing her own secretions, once she can do that, she will be able to have the Trach cap put on and she could possibly start to talk and even go outside! And once outside.... we can bring BUDDY the puppy!!
Thats all for last week, enjoy this week and hopefully you all can go visit her sometime.
Good day and God bless.
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