Foot Therapy

I wanted to post this before I left WA but never got a chance...But I thought it was so cute! One evening when we were all sitting in the waiting room waiting for mom to be done with the nurses, we were talking about our options for mom and hoping to get her into an intense rehabilitation hospital, Kerri sat on the floor took her shoes off and said in a very tired voice "I need foot therapy!", We all started laughing...but I bet we all could of used a little bit of foot therapy that night!

New Address info

Here is her new address:

Good Samaritan Rehab
C/O Linda Hoffman, Room #33
401 15th Ave SE
Puyallup, WA 98371

You can also send cards to her home at:

203 East 8th St
Aberdeen, WA  98520

She has a phone in her room you can reach family or a nurse at.
253-697-5880 this is the nursing station and then ask for Room #33

You can contact dad at 360-589-3652

Heading Out!

This morning we took grandma and Robin to the airport.  We were so sad to see them go and they had a hard time leaving. Robin is 6 months pregnant and has doctors visits to make and grandma is settling things at home and heading back up here.  I extended my ticket again for Monday (I highly recommend flying Southwest, They have changed my ticket 4 times and this last time I only had to pay $7!)

We were sooooo Happy to be moving out. Mom was a bit nervous until we explained everything to her.  Transport was here this morning at 9am sharp.  Dad was able to ride with her and Kerri and I followed the ambulance. Kerri kept hoping the ambulance would turn the lights on. I told her to lay her head back and go to sleep and she said I can't I might miss the ambulance lights!

I was so impressed with Good Samaritan.  Within 1 hour we had met with 2 nurses, the head supervisor, and Physical Therapist, Admit Clerk, and the Doctor.  I love that they have a doctor on site to see her 7 days a week.  He was examining mom and felt that she moved her right leg 2 times on her own!! Not a whole lot of movement but we were very encouraged.

After 1 hour they started Occupation Therapy on her for 1 hour. We were thrilled to see "action" so quickly.The rest of the therapists had already gone home.  We were so excited and she did really well but she was exhausted.  They had her sitting up in a wheel chair by herself.  They were working to teach her how to dress herself and they gave her a bath.  The OT asked if she had any clothes with her.  Mom panic and looked at me for help.  I told her Robin and I had packed a suitcase and I would go get her clothes.  The look on her face was priceless, but not as priceless as when I opened her suitcase and pulled out her pajamas.  She was SO EXCITED!  It was really fun.  She was soooo happy to put on clothes! 

She will have therapy for a minimum of 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. They have all kinds of therapy, OT, PT, Speech, Recreational. They even teach them to drive! They have an apartment setting where they help them do laundry and cook and manage finances. We are so glad Good Samaritan took her in. We are very hopeful that we will see results.  She will be here around 45 days and then she will have therapy done at home.  Providing she gets well enough to be home.  We know our mom......She is a fighter and she wants to be independant.  Family and friends are strongly encouraged to help her along.  She will be in therapy most of the daytime with breaks in between. You can visit anytime but the best time for visits is after 4pm after therapy is done. Sunday is also a great day.  She does not have any rehab on Sunday. It is their day of rest. If you are in the area, please visit her. This is going to be tough for her and she will need lots of encouragement from family and friends.

Grandchildren

Mom gets so excited when the grandkids come into the room. Robins children talk to her on the phone from Missouri. She loves to listen to them.

Maddie fell asleep and so I laid her up next to mom.  Mom just laid her head on her and "snuggled" with her for a bit. It was a tender moment. 

Her grandchildren have always meant so much to her.  Todd and Stephanies children wrote her letters and drew pictures for her.

She loves hearing your cards and notes.  Some make her smile and laugh.  She also enjoys hearing your comments on the blog. Thank you so much!

Good News!

This morning we had a surprise visit from a representative from Good Samaritan Rehap center in Puyallup.  We were impressed that she drove up to meet us.  After visiting with her we deicded that this would be best for her since she could get a minimum of 3 hours of intensive rehab vs 1hour. We were impressed with their facility and they were willing to take her and felt she could handle the rehab.  So she met with mom and explained everything to her. The social worker put in a request for insurance. We needed approval by 4:00 for her to be moved today. Unfortunately the insurance rep said she was too busy to handle it today. So Harborview asked her to transfer it to someone else. Supposedly, she did. We also needed approval by 5:00pm to tranfer her on Saturday. If we didnt get it then we would have to wait until Monday to transfer her.  Robin, Grandma and I are all flying out on Saturday and we really wanted to move her today.  Good Sam and Harborview both called all day long and couldnt get the insurance rep to return their calls. We were pretty frustrated.  Then at  5pm the social worker (who stayed 1 hour longer at work)  came through the door and said the Good Samaritan got special permission to take mom without permission from the insurance company.  They said they felt she met all criteria and they would get permission on Monday from the insurance.  This made us a little nervous but they assured us they would cover all costs if the insurance company turned us down.  I guess they had verbal permission but needed it in writing. So hopefully all will go well.  We move to Good Samaritan tomorrow at 9am!  WOOO HOOOO!!

A highlight of the day was a visit from moms sister Berniel and her husband Brent from Prosser Washington.  I forgot to tell mom they were coming.  While we were at lunch they showed up and surprised her. I was so amazed at how good she looked when we walked into the room. She has so happy they came and was actually smiling.  She really enjoyed their visit and it was a great boost for her. Thank you Aunt Berniel and Uncle Brent!

See the smile on mom's face :)

Child's Play

Today Gina visited mom with her two boys, JD and Corbin. Mom lit up when she saw them, she smiled a very big smile...When JD came in she tried to say HI to him and he talked her ear off about Grandma Joan's visit...then as JD does he got busy exploring so to get his attention mom moved her foot over by the side of the hospital bed and JD tried to grab it then she would hurry and move her foot out of his reach and he'd try to grab it again...This game brought lost of laughter from JD and even mom was laughing...She was really laughing! It was so much fun! Soon JD and Gina left and mom tried to move herself over to the side of the bed...I guess in all her child's play she scooted herself to an uncomfortable position!

Change of Plans.....Maybe.....Maybe Not

Today we received word that everything was ready for mom to go to Mark Reed hospital in McCleary.  We are very pleased with this hospital.  It is very small and we feel that mom will get a lot of personal attention. One of her Doctors offices is connected to the hospital and she said she would visit her everyday.  She also has a good friend that works there.  The nurse to patient ratio is much less than other facilities. They also have a private room that is ready for her now.  Our only concern is that she will not have the intensive therapy there that she would in a rehab facility. But they do not feel she is ready for 3 hours of rehab yet. We waited all day today for the insurance to give the ok. She had to be ready to move today by 1pm in order to get to McCleary in time before the Doctor left for the day. We didn't receive word from the insurance until 4:30 pm giving approval.  So now we move tomorrow.  HOWEVER........

Unexpectedly we got word from a rehab facility in Pullyap (not sure on the spelling....can't pronounce it either) Good Samaritan Hospital that after reviewing her files they feel she is ready for Rehab. YAY!! We were so surprised. The only problem is that it is so far away from home. So we decided to wait until tomorrow to make the decision of where to move her in hopes that St Peters Rehab unit in Olympia (Same town as Gina) will also decide to take her.  We really want her to get into a rehab center and get more intensive therapy sooner.  So pray with us that they will want her and take her if it is the best thing for her.

Today mom seemed to be a little bit better.  The speech therapist was pleased and said she showed much more improvement.  She swallowed a bit better. She had 6 spoons of applesauce, but choked on the ice chips. She understood Yes and No a bit better. If she was asked questions about her self like "Are you a Girl?" or "is your birthday in October?" She knew the answers 100% but if asked questions not about herself like "Do apples grow on trees?" she would get those type of questions about 50% right.   She had trouble identifing letters.  The therapist said she feels like she understands everything said to her but her brain has trouble telling her body how to respond.  It is called Apraxia. The therapist said she would like to see her make more noise from her mouth.  I told her we heard her quite a bit, especially when we brought the baby in to see her. She seemed surprised and I said let me show you. So we put Maddie up to her and mom started "Talking" and making all kinds of noise. It was so AWESOME! The therapist was THRILLED.

She was trying to figure out where we were sending her.  Dad drew to pictures one of a small rectangle box labeled Mark Reed hospital and another with tall buildings and labeled it St Peters.  When I came into the room dad told her to tell me where she was going.  She kept pointing to Mark Reed and then would point to St Peters. So she understood she was going to Mark Reed first and then to St Peters.   About that time the social worker came in and told us of the news that the rehab center would take her. My got really flustered while we were trying to decided what to do.  So we asked her what do you want to do.  She shook her head like I dont know. I said point to the paper.  She seemed really frustrated.  I said lets wait until tomorrow and take tonight to think on it.She took the paper from me and with her one hand folded it up. It was funny to all of us.

Another tender mercy for me tonight was when we decided to have family prayer and pray that we would make the right decision best for mom. As soon as we started mom closed her eyes for the prayer and opened them as soon as we were done.  Another witness to me that she KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS what is going on.

Each day is little improvements.  She is looking so much better, her rash is gone, her swelling and puffiness is about gone.  She is more awake and her countenance is getting better.  She listened on the phone tonight while her granddaughter Sadie talked to her. She seemed to really enjoy that.

Thank you again for all your prayers.  We read her your comments and she seems to enjoy them.

Pictures

 

Cousins- Corbin and Madeline

Cousins - JD and Madeline

Mom and Kerri

Dad and Kerri

Robin and Mom

 

Going to a new home

Well, today was very ENCOURAGING!  The surgery went well yesterday. Today they took the feeding tube out of her mouth and she has shown much more improvement today.  Knowing my mother I am sure that feeding tube in her nose drove her nuts!

The stomach tube is doing well.  Today the physical therapist said she showed a lot of improvement. She is sitting up and holding her head up better. The therapist had her standing up for the first time, with help of course. She also had her scooting across her bed.  She is trying to talk and make sounds. She laughed at the nurse.  She tried to say Kerri. 

Gina and Jeff came up tonight.  When we brought the babies (Maddie and Corbin) in to her each time she would try to smile and hold their hands and talk to them.  She made several noises talking to them. She was also very emotional tonight and cried alot. She is frustrated that she can't communicate.

Unfortunately they still will not refer to to rehab. They feel she needs to be in a nursing home first until she gets a little bit better. We have heard several times how important early rehab is. We would like to see her get intensive rehab soon.

We asked them to send referrals to two rehab centers anyways and see what they say.  We also are sending two referrals to a hospital in McClearly and a nursing home in Aberdeen. They are thinking they will discharge her tomorrow.  We also asked them to evaluate her one more time before they discharge her. 

Surgery

This week has been very discouraging.  We are not seeing much progress with mom. They are thinking of sending her to a nursing home instead of a rehab center because she cant endure a rehab center. She still has the feeding tube in her nose.  Nursing homes and rehab centers will not take her with the feeding tube in her nose.  So, Wednesday they are going to surgically put a feeding tube in to her stomach.

She is not speaking, swallowing or moving her right side.  I feel that if they can just give her time to get feeling better then once she feels better she will be able and feel like trying.  She is dealing with FOUR major issues.
1. Recovering from Knee Surgery
2. Major Stroke
3. Pnemonia (not sure of spelling)
4. Had allergic reactions TWICE to medication. Has very itchy, burning miserable rash on most of her body.

Who WOULDNT feel like doing NOTHING!

So now we are looking for somewhere for her to go sometime the end of this week, until we can get her into a rehab center. 

Video to Grandma

Great Friends and Family

Flowers from the crew at Grays Harbor Hospital

I have been trying really hard to see the blessing and good things in the situation we are in. Somedays it is REALLY hard for all of us.  But I am always grateful for the GREAT FRIENDS and FAMILY that we have.

I just want to tell everyone how THANKFUL we are for your notes, visits, and phone calls. We have learned from the rehab therapists that one of the best things for a stroke victim to recover is FAMILY and FRIENDS. They said that when they see family or friends it shoots a euphoria to their brain that keeps energizing their brain to keep going and working. I hope I explained that right :)

We have had so many phone calls. Thank you for THINKING of us. The notes are AWESOME!  We read them to her everyday.  I know she understands what we are saying and who they are from.  The Visits are WONDERFUL also. She recognizes those who have come to visit.  We know that everyone can't come to visit and we appreciate what you do.

We are so thankful for our Church Families.  My ward in Missouri has brought in dinner everynight since I have been gone.  Dads and Moms ward have checked on dogs and brought in meals when we are home. 

Moms work has been wonderful with letters and visits.  They sent flowers today. Mom LOVES flowers. When we brought them to her her eyes got big and she cried.  I told her to smell them and she looked at me funny. Then I realized she didnt know how to smell. So we spent few minutes trying to teach her how to smell.  I just told her they smelled great!

We truly are thankful for all our friends and family.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

The Lords Tender Mercies

 

 

Madeline Wilkins and Grandma

Before I flew out to Seattle, my husband reminded me to always look for the tender mercies from the Lord. When I first got out here, I asked mom if she would like to see Maddie my 9 month old little girl. She looked me right in the eyes and I could feel she wanted to say something. So I went ahead and got her and brought her in. She actually reached her hand up to her and grabbed her little hand and tears slipped from her eyes as she watched her for a few minutes. I KNOW she is aware and knows what is going on. I am so thankful for little Tender Mercies the Lord that gives us.

Seattle SNOW Storm

1/15/2012 Downtown Seattle

 

Grandma flew into Seattle on Friday the 13th and I (Cindy) flew in on Saturday the 14th.  Gina and I were leaving our hotel about 5 minutes away from the hospital when all of a sudden it started snowing like CRAZY!  It took us 45 min to get to the hospital.  It was actually kindof fun to be in the middle of it all. Of course it was more fun because were were in Dad's 4wheel drive truck and didn't have the problems getting around that others did.  Downtown Seattle is all hills and some roads are BIG HILLS.  They had to block off several roads.  Cars were sliding all over the place.  There was a 25 car pile up right down town. 
Dad, Kerri and I headed home to Aberdeen and Gina went home to Olympia. Grandma volunteered to stay with mom. We had to get some things taken care of at home.  We planned on only staying a day or two and ended up staying 4 days because we couldnt get up to Seattle with all the snow. We had 8 inches, but Gina had 15inches of snow and ice. She had no power for 2 days.  So poor Grandma was stuck in the hospital for 5 days!  She was such a trooper. She became one of the nurses.  She was so good to mom and took really good care of her.  I am so thankful she was able to stay.

As inconvenient as the storm was it was very BEAUTIFUL. The first day it snowed the news said there was around 250 accidents in or near Seattle.

A Life Changing Experience for Everyone

Bob and Linda at Harborview Hospital in Seattle Washington. 1/19/2012

 I thought I would start a blog to journal mom's journey these next couple of months...maybe even years. Hopefully, this will also help to keep everyone informed. Please feel free to comment or email me videos, pictures etc. to post on here. My kids emailed me a video to show mom and she has enjoyed viewing it. Someday she will probably kill me for posting pictures....I actually looked forward to that day :)

On January 9th 2012, mom had a routine knee surgery at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington.  The surgery went well and she was anxious to get home.  On January 11th, she was walking in the hallway and collapsed. She was life flighted to Harborview Hospital in Seattle Washington. A clot broke away from her knee, went up to her heart and found a hole in her heart and travelled up to her brain.  It lodged in a fork in an artery and blocked off two paths in her brain affecting two areas.  They classified her stroke as MAJOR.  She is paralyzed on her right side and cannot speak.