10/03/06 - Laughing (at us)

Greetings,

Great day for Mom.  I put her glasses on her face for the first time this a.m. and she looked at me like "Well finally!"  I was holding her left hand and said "Now Mom, squeeze my hand…" to ask if she could see better but she started squeezing before I finished my question.  I said "Hold on mom, I didn't ask the question yet" and she just kept squeezing, then the left side of her mouth curved up and she started making noises...of course laughing at me for trying to get her to communicate something she was already communicating. 

We laughed for awhile about that.  She is now pointing to the food she wants on the tray and turning food away that she doesn't like (the mash potatoes suck...I'm sure she would use that word).  With assistance from the OT and PT, she sat on the edge of the bed and balanced herself a bit, stood and then sat in a chair.  After the therapists left, I gave Mom the newspaper, and there she was, sitting in the chair wearing her glasses and looking at the paper.  After awhile she fell asleep in the chair...everything is back to normal. 

Dad brought in Mom’s cat that is soft and purrs when you squeeze it; she has been petting it and such.  At least she doesn't have to clean out a litter box.  The speech therapist gave us a speech chart to use with Mom. 

The chart has pictures of basic things she may want and then a big Yes  No ?  in the middle to point to in order to answer questions.  As I was feeding her peaches for lunch, Dad whipped out the chart and asked, "Peggy, do you want more peaches?"  She rolled her eyes (progress), took the chart from him, shoved it under the table and pulled the peaches closer to her.   Then she laughed, we got a kick out of that.  After lunch, she reached for Dad's hand and pulled him closer to her.  He went to kiss her on the lips and she grabbed his baseball hat off his head.  Just then the nurse came in and we turned to look at her. When we looked back at Mom, she had the hat on her head.  She seems to be getting a little enjoyment out of this experience...at our expense but we love it.

Once Mom is medically stable (maybe later this week), she will either be moved to the 4th floor for intense physical therapy or moved to another facility for more moderate therapy.  We are pushing for the 4th floor (but not the 5th...I think that may be the psych ward and they might not let us out).  Many of you have asked about sending cards.  Feel free to send them to the house and we can take them to her.  Flowers would make mom sneeze, just letting you know.

Mom has a phone in her room, but if we are not there, it just rings and rings.  If you feel the need to call, please call the house and we can return your call when we get home.  If you have been forwarded this email and would like to be added to this list, please email me and I will put you on it.  Some people have asked about visiting.  At this point, I think Mom would enjoy receiving cards and good wishes rather than an actual visit. 

When she gets to the point that she can feed you, we'll be sure to let you know!

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts, they seem to be working!

Much Love,

Peggy Anne

10/02/06 - Progress

Greetings All,

Mom is doing well.   A general overview:

On Saturday A.M. Mom slumped over the stove while cooking breakfast (no burns).  Dad got her to the floor and called 911.  It has been determined that she has a hardening of a blood vessel in the left side of her brain.  There is a little blood that seems to be getting through, but the blockage caused a stroke.  Her blood levels were low for clotting purposes (meaning she could have thrown a clot anytime) so she is on meds for that and for her high blood pressure.  Both of those things are stable now.

 

 At this point Mom is able to use her left hand and arm and move her left leg and foot, she seems to understand simple questions and commands, she will squeeze your hand in order to answer yes to things like "do you want to sit up more?".   She is able to follow some commands like comb your hair and raise your arm.  She looked at the moon outside her window last night when I pointed it out and has been watching the rainbows on the sheets from the crystal that Paul rigged up in the window.   She is also able to swallow - YEAH! - and is eating pureed foods.  What a blessing from Saturday when she was mainly unresponsive.  Mom is not able to usefully move her right arm, hand, foot or leg, and she is unable to speak.

As of today she is receiving speech, occupational and physical therapy. 

There is hope that she can regain some movement on the right side since there seems to be a small flow of blood getting by the blockage but whatever happens, it's going to be a long row to hoe.  The staff at Chambersburg Hospital is dynamite.  They are all friendly, loving, and professional, treating Mom as if she was their own mother.  What a blessing.

Dad is doing well.  He spends the day at the hospital, encouraging Mom and harassing the staff (they like him).  We are all trying to take good care of ourselves so we can help to take good care of Mom.  We all know how Mom cooks and freezes stuff...now I wonder if she was preparing us for something like this.  With her, I wouldn't be surprised.  Needless to say, if we complain about eating too many hot dogs, pop tarts or ramen noodles, it's our own fault for not opening the freezer door.

Continue to keep praying and sending good thoughts Mom's way, she is making progress and that is a great thing.  I'll try to keep up the email reports, please forward this on to anyone you don't see on the list.

Much love,

Peggy Anne

At The Hospital

It’s sort of a blur, I will try to recreate seeing Mom for the first time after the stroke (she had one, you know).

Before we entered Mom’s room on the 2nd floor , Dad came out; we exchanged hugs and general greetings.  Dad reiterated that Mom was “out of it” and to gave us some info on her status…can’t quite remember all those details.

The room was dim, quiet and smelled of hospital.  Mom was in the second bed, closest to the window.  When I went in her eyes were closed, she was breathing on her own and she just looked worn out and disheveled.  I went over and rubbed Mom’s left arm and held her hand.  She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me.  She seemed to have a look of confusion; hooded eyes, squinting as if thinking “Now who are you again?”  I can’t recall major details, only feelings:  loss – this is NOT Mom;  fright – is she in pain?; inner strength – I must stay strong to put Mom at ease; anxiety – what am I suppose to do now?

Various medical professionals told us the quick and dirty of stroke recovery…pretty much a wait-and-see type of game.  No one knows how much damage was actually done to the brain and which of Mom’s facilities could be affected; literally only time would tell.

Meanwhile Dad, Paul, Mike and I shuffled around feeling uncomfortable and scared; trying to figure out what Mom may want or need, trying to remember what medical professionals were telling us, trying not to be at such a loss.  It was getting late and we all had had a long day.  Immediate decisions were made; I would spend the night with Mom in her hospital room on the barker lounger and the boys would head home to get some rest.  I was supposed to call if anything earth-shattering happened.  Everyone would come back in the morning and I would return to Mom and Dad’s to rest after a barker-lounger-sleepless night.

That first night after the stroke was possibly the longest night of my life (as I write this I have two children, ages 3 and 5 so that’s saying something).  I was pretty comfortable in the chair and the nurses and support staff were caring and tolerant of me.  I was offered blankets, pillows, juice and crackers, up to the minute information about Mom’s status, comforting words, and a couple soft pats on the shoulder.  Throughout the night, anytime Mom moved or made a noise I was silently up and by her side to assist or to just give her comfort knowing someone was there.  It eased my mind in the midst of my turmoil to think that I may have been a comfort to Mom, but who knows, I could have been bugging the stuffing out of her.

At some point the sky outside the hospital room window began to brighten, the boys returned and Mike took me home to Mom and Dad’s.  I was so wired that I couldn’t think of putting my head to a pillow, so I sat at the computer and began typing an email to our family and friends.

Before The Hospital

Mike and I met up with Paul at Mom and Dad’s before going to the hospital.  We arrived around the same time and as we walked into the house there was a creepy feeling of – a tragedy has happened here – a feeling that one should not have when entering their parent’s home.  Nothing really seemed out of place until we entered the kitchen.  Even then, it just looked like time had stopped around 9:00 A.M. that morning.  The cast iron skillet was on the back burner with two burnt pancakes in it.  A Corelle saucer was next to the stove.  Pancake batter (with flax seed instead of egg – Dad’s allergic – an important detail that Dad religiously includes when he retells the encounter) was spilled in little drips onto the counter.  Dad’s cold coffee was still at his place at the kitchen table, Mom’s was on the counter next to the stove.  Dirty dishes were piled in the sink (not so unusual, sorry Mom).

“This is creepy,” I said.  Mike put his arm around me and squeezed, Paul stood at the stove and ate the pancakes.  As if we were a forensic team on T.V., we tried to piece together the little details that Dad had passed along with the scene before us in order to recreate the events of the morning.  Some things are obvious – the flax seed pancakes, Mom’s slippers on the floor…some details are a mystery – how did the crew get the stretcher out?  Was the room noisy or relativity calm?  Does any of that really matter? 

My mom had a stroke.