Saturday, October 16, 2010

Home Day One

So our first day home with out have to go to any doctors or scans or anything!

It was a pretty much easy going day, we did a a few easy workouts and mostly got caught up on TV. We did have the Home Cares admin stop by for a little wile, she just had some paperwork to fill out and questions to ask. I am going to say that home PT starts on Monday and then on Wednesday, and Friday.

So thats about that for today, I know nothing really exciting. :)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Days 30 and 31

Hey everyone, sorry I keep posting eraticly lately.

Ok so yesterday we were released from rehab!!!! YEA!!!! It was still a full day of therapy and goodbyes. Dona still had to work hard and they made sure that I was able to contenue her therapy at home. So I have a lot of handouts to make into a therapy book for us to use. :) We will still have home therpy, it will just be three days a week tho. Once we get into a routeen we will get back into aquatherpy.

Dona was glad to get home at the end of the day, play the cat, and sleep in our bed. So it was an early night for us.

Today we slept in and just took it easy this morning. This afternoon we needed to get all the baseline scans done and pick up a rental wheelchair. The first scan venous scan where they do a sonogram of her blood viens. Then we had a couple of hours befor her MRI so it was off to the park for a walk in the sun and just hang out. And right now as I post this she is getting her MRI.

Then it will be off to the apartment for dinner and Grey's!

Sleep tight everyone!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Calling Dona at home.

All right everyone, I know you all want to talk with her and wish her well and all that good stuff.

If I could have you all do me a favor and just wait a little longer OK?

Please let her come home and rest before blowing up her phone. LOL!

I will let you all know when the phone lines are open and you can start calling and coming by then.

Thank you all for your understanding.

Joe

Day Twentynine

Well it was Dona's victory day!!!!!

So it was pretty much Dona showing off for everyone, she mostly got dressed by her self in the morning. Altho we did do a lot of chatting with our OT therapist, so it took longer then most days LOL! (no points lost for that ;)  )

Then it was down stairs for OT, where we went over things we will need to do at home to keep up her progress with her arm and hand. Its mostly stretches and some work outs. Showing off here she picked up small blocks that were on one set of pins that go thru the middle of the blocks, and then set them down on another set of pins. It was a great show of her fine motor skills!

Next up was TR, here she gets to just play around with her yarn. Today she got to use some toys that she ordered to help her keep tension on the yarn in her left hand. OK you knitting girls out there, she is going to need your help working out the details with that. :D  I am sure some one out there will help her out. LOL!

Now we are on to Speech Therapy, where today she really worked on her voice instead of her mind. LOL! We also got some homework here, so its a good thing I have noise canceling headphones. :) Just kidding sweetie!

Then it was on to our last brain injury class!!!! YEA!!!!!

MMMMMM Lunch! then a little nap.

After the nap it was on to PT, where she walked around for a little wile. Then it was on to the stairs, NOT Dona's favorite thing to do btw!


After the stairs we did work outs that will help keep her legs and hips strong.

Then back to the room for a better nap before we went to aquatic therapy, there it was just more workouts, and working on her balance. It looked like she was having fun with the therapist making fun of me! LOL I don't know WHAT I did to deserve that. ;)

Back up to the 8th floor for a shower, dinner, and get ready for her last night at the Immanuel Medical Center!!!

Sleep tight everyone, Dona will be home tomorrow!

Day Twentyeight

Hey everyone

It was just another day at therapy for Dona, and I was out running errands getting the house ready for her to come home.

Well it turns out when I am not here, Dona does new things to surprise me. :) She is now starting to use her left hand to pick things up and put things down. WITH control!!!! It's so cool to see her getting stronger and more control over her body!

Tomorrow we have a full day, it's her victory day! (as Dona rolls her eyes LOL) So what that means is we see how much she can do all on her own. That will be fun to see what she can do wile I just have to sit there an watch. :)

I be back tomorrow with a full report on how she did.

Have a great day everyone!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Days 25, 26, and 27

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I have taken the last three days off, but its been busy! We had Rachel, an outing, and lots of prep before Dona comes home. Not to mention two days of PT.

OK first things first, Dona is doing great and has let me tell everyone what is going on. At the doctors appointment on Wednesday we found out what was in her head. Some thing with a big medical name! LOL!! Alright so I can remember what they called it. But they way they grade tumors in the brain is 1 to 4, 1 being benign and 4 being OMG this is bad. What Dona had was mostly grade 2, but it was just starting to have level 3 growth when they removed it. So what this means is we have to treat it like it was level 3, so chemo treatments it is.

So chemo sounds really bad doesn't it? Well what we are getting is what the doctor likes to call "chemo lite", and what that means is a little nausia, constapation, and we will have to keep an eye on her blood counts. So the good news about this is the meds she is on now for nausia and constapation will not have to change to something stronger. The chemo meds are given on a 28 day cycle, so in the evening before she goes to bed she will take one pill a night for 5 nights and then we wait for 23 days for the next cycle to begin. The fact that Dona is taking it only at night should mean that the worst of the side affects will happen wile she is asleep. So for 5 days she will be feeling a little down and the rest of the time she should be ok.

They are going to start with 6 cycles and then do tests and scans to make sure its doing good. If it is then 6 more cycles. If not well we might have to look into radiation treatments.

Now for the brain flap, the doctor wants to wait for 8 to 12 weeks before she puts it back in. She wants to make sure that the swelling is all the way down, and see how Dona reacts to treatments before she puts it back in. Plus she wants Dona to get stronger before we do another surgery.

LOL well thats all the big doctor stuff in a nut shell! I am sure I have missed a few things as I haven't really slept in three days. :) Also the cat is attacking me, so now I have to go before she draws blood.

Have a good night everyone, Dona and I both thank you for your support!

Joe

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Day Twentyfour

Hey I hope everyone had a great day, Dona and I sure did!

Well we had another outing today, we came back to the apartment for our home assesment. Good news there, we don't have to do a major remodel to get the house set up! Just a tub bench and a couple of handles installed, the rest of the place is pretty much easy access.

After stopping by the house and playing with the cat, we went out to lunch with a few of the girls from rehab for our public outing. That was pretty much parking and going into a restaurant to see how our new status has affected our daily life. Well it looks like as long as we are careful and take our time it should not be a problem. Its a good thing that the world has be made more friendly for people with disabilities! :)

Then it was back to the hospital for a little PT and of course a swim!

It was a long day but oh so worth it, so I am kinda tired and I will get back to you tomorrow as we are back on our regular PT schedule.

Have a good night everyone!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Day Twentythree

Hello everyone!

As you all know we went to the brain doctor today. Well the news we got was good and it gives us goals to shoot for.

At Dona's request she as asked me not to post details on here yet until she has told her family all about what we found out. LOL they get first dibs from the horses mouth, I know you all understand.  :)

But we did get to go out in my truck with out supervision! It was so nice to get out of the hospital with Dona, even if it was only for a little wile. It was such a nice day we took out time coming back from the appointment. LOL we had Dona's day nurse call and check up on us wondering where we were at.

So those were our big adventures today, and tomorrow we get to go out again!  :)

I will fill you all in about the doctor soon, have a good night!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Day Twentytwo

Yeah!!! Today we found out that Dona gets to come home on Oct. 13th, next Wednesday! And tomorrow we go to the Brain Doctors for our check-up, we will find out what was in her head and what needs to happen next so we can get her skull put back together. LOL!

Also we got the results of her second report card today, and of course if was fantastic! Her four days off of therapy didn't really set her back much, her score before she was sick was 72, and her first day back it was 68. So not to bad I would say! Dona's score today after a full week back was 86 and we are aiming for 95 or better by next week, so no problem there!

As far as what she did today in therapy, she walked 200ft with out anyone holding on to her, it was just Dona and her cain. OK so we were close by incase she felt like she was going to fall or needed to sit down. But WOW! Dona also climbed up and down three flights of stairs twice, LOL altho she didn't like doing it! In the pool today, I was in there "working" with her. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work for both of us.

Well not a whole lot more to say tonight, but the next few days are going to have all sorts of updates, so make sure you check back. LOL

Have a good night everyone!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Day Twentyone

Hi everyone,

We don't have a come date yet, but we are getting closer! Today Dona did all the things we need to get her home. First thing she did was get in and out of my truck on her own! It was pretty cool, the therapist and I just stood there and watched her get in and out all on her own. The next thing she did was get out of bed, well she has been doing that from the hospital beds, but this time it was from a regular bed. So we are right on track, I think we will find out a date for us to come home tomorrow, but I am not sure.

We are still on for Wednesday for our trip to the brain doctors, I will have more info on that then. And on Thursday we have our home assesment, so Dona will get to come home for a little wile as we see how well she moves thru the house. :)

So its looking like we have another busy week ahead of us!

Everyone have a good night and I will have more for you all tomorrow.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Days Nineteen and Twenty

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I have to tell you that Dona keeps surprising me! When we were waiting for OT on Saturday she started to open and close her hand, her LEFT hand! And she just did it, no taping her on her fingers, no thinking really hard, she just did it! So now we have some silly putty and she squeezes that so we can see how much she can do. Its really pretty cool!

Dona's voice is really starting to come back, its still kinda of gravelly but the volume is getting louder and lasting longer. It kinda sounds like she is in the middle of a cold, but it keeps getting stronger everyday, and it will be back to normal before you know it.

Other then that it was pretty much an easy going weekend for us. This week tho is looking busy! We are going back to the brain doctor on Wednesday and we should find out what they took out. I know I keep saying we are doing this and we keep having to post pone, LOL. So we have to get Dona ready for car transfers starting on Monday so we are ready for Wednesday, and sometime this week we have the home inspection. That will be good to because I really haven't gotten the house ready for Dona to come home yet.  ;)

I want to thank everyone who came by this weekend, I want you all to know it really means a lot to both Dona and I. And she always seems to get stronger after you all come around, LOL, well I think its because she is showing off!  But hey if it works to get her home, you gals keep showing up and get her to show off.

Good night everyone and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Joe

Friday, October 1, 2010

Day eighteen

Wheeuu TGIF!!!

So another full day of therapy, with lots of hard work!  Yesterday Dona really pushed her self in PT and is now feeling the BURN! LOL! So today we took it a little easier and did more stretching and balance work then walking around. Not that she didn't walk, just not as much as yesterday.

The pool is really giving her a workout, now that she doesn't have to worry about falling and hurting herself in the pool, she is really going at it!

More good news about her voice, its getting stronger everyday! Its still a little raspy but her volume is starting to come back and it is lasting longer when she talks.

Well thats about it for today, we have an easier day of PT tomorrow and Sunday off, so we are looking forward to the weekend. No Rachel this weekend as she has Homecoming tonight and a party to goto tomorrow. Aawwww the life of a teenager!  :)

Everyone have a good night and stay safe!  ;) but not tooooo safe.

Visitors Welcome

Hello everyone!

Anyone who would like to visit is welcome to do so.

Here are the facts:      :)

Dona is at the Immanual Medical Center Room 847

We have therapy 6 days a week, Monday thru Saturday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. And Sunday is a rest day.

If you would like to come on therapy days, Please come after 5:00pm.

On Sunday, feel free to come anytime after Noon.

Thanks and we look forward to see you all.

Joe

Day Seventeen

Well today went great, lol I keep sounding like a broken record ;)

Dona had a full day today, we started off at 9 getting dressed and ready for the day. At 9:30 we were at ocupational therpy where Dona worked on using her left hand and worked on her balance. Then at 10 we spent an hour at theraputic recreation where she got caught up on the knitting guild news and gossip! Lol! And we worked on her fine motor skills in her left hand. At 11 it was speach therpy where she worked on her orginaztional skills. Then it was off to brain injury class(thank you insurance company!).

12:00 mmmm lunch with last nights left overs.

Then back at it at 1 with SP, some puzzles and the fact of the day. And then from 1:30 to 2:30 it's physical therpy, Dona walked 150 feet and then did two laps around the track on the bike machine. WOOT!!!! A 30 minute break is next, and off to the pool for the big workout of the day at 3:00!

We come back to the room at 4 then that's it for the day.

Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Random Fact

The pool at aquatic therpy has a floor that goes up and down. AND it is only one of three in the country!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Day Sixteen

LOL ok so I am posting on time tonight!

So we had a full day of PT and it was fantastic! Dona's strength is still there after her few days off, we just need to rebuild he stamina to get her back to where she was last week. She is getting more control of her left arm and is moving it around more and more each day. Also she started her aquatic therapy today, its looks fun! Dona thinks its great and its helping her with her confidence in her balance, plus its working out her whole body at once, not just parts at a time.

Good news for you gals who have asked, Dona is ready to have guests again! But just to let you know we are not back in the room until 4 after aqua therapy. So please stop by anytime after 5 so she has some time to settle in after her day.

Well thats about it for today, everyone have a good night and I will talk to you all tomorrow!


:)

Day Fifteen

Well good morning everyone! Sorry I am just getting to yesterdays post.

We had a good day, Dona is back on her regular PT starting tomorrow! So yea we are moving forward again, we will find out how far behind we are and just go from there.

The weekend off has kinda put all the doctor appointments on hold. So we will have to wait until next week to find out what she had in her head and when she will be comming home. :)

And to answer the question about Dona having guests, we are going to ask that wait just a little longer. We will see how she feels after her first full day back on PT and I will let everyone know then.

Have a great day everyone!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Day Fourteen

Good evening everyone!

OK so Dona is starting to feel better and the doctors are letting her restart her PT. It is only light PT for right now, we did about an hour today. Having the last few days off have just affected her stamina not her strength, so thats a good thing! As the week progresses we will be working on getting her back to her full PT of three and a half hours a day, I am not sure how this will affect her coming home date but I am sure we will find out tomorrow with her 2nd week report card.

I would also like to thank everyone who has sent cards, they really make her day!

Well thats about it for today, I have a cat attacking me who want to play! You would think I was at the hospital all day or something. ;)   I will let everyone know how tomorrows report card goes, and on Wednesday we go to the brain doctor for a check-up. So I hope we will FINALLY find out what they took out, and what we will need to do next.

Everyone have a good night and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Joe

Days 12 and 13

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Dona and I pretty much took the weekend off, she was not feeling well on Friday so the Doc said bed rest for the weekend. She is feeling better Sunday night and we will see what the doctors have to say on Monday and we will resume PT when they give us the thumbs up.  :)

So this weekend we just hung out and watched movies and some old tv shows, so not much more to report right now. But I will be back Monday night and will be able to give you all a better update then.

Have a good day and I will talk to you all soon!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Day eleven

OK so Dona not feeling well yesterday kinda got the doctor worried  today. So he did tests all morning and decided that she has been working herself a little too hard. I know what a surprise lol Dona working too hard to get out of here. :) So no therapy today or for the rest of the weekend.

Well they decided that she needs to get some rest this weekend so we are just going to hang out and take it easy. We should start again on Monday and from there we will still work hard just not as hard as she has been. I don't know yet if this is going to push the going home date back, but I am sure that it will by a couple of days. Thats ok I would rather have her home late and feeling good then home early and feeling bad.

Thanks for your support everyone and I will keep you all posted as the weekend progresses.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Day Ten

Hey all!! Dona here and with no clue of even where to begin  I guess, first and foremost thank you thank you for all the amazingly good juju everyone sent and continues to send my direction.It truly makes a huge difference knowing I have such love and support out there Joe has done a great job getting this blog up and running....

Sorry to cut Dona short, but she had to go to her next therapy session. The rest of the morning went great and we had lunch down in the cafeteria instead of her room. After lunch Dona and I went to her Physical Therapy, we did some walking and then Dona started to feel a little sick. I think the big lunch we had was not such a good idea. :(  So we took it easy for a little wile, and went to the pool to check it out and get her paperwork done. So tomorrow we will start the aquatic therapy and get her in to the pool to work out, she was kind bummed that we had to postpone but thats how it goes sometime.

But even with todays little set back we are still on schedule for her to come on Monday the 4th, so thats good news. And tomorrow our schedule is a little lighter then it has been so I will get Dona back on here to let you all know how she is doing.

So everyone have a good night and we will talk to you all tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Day Nine

OK so I don't have alot to report for tonight.  LOL I was out keeping up the house work today and wasn't there to see what she was doing. But it was pet night at the Rehab center and you could not keep Dona in her room when she heard that there was going to be a dog on the floor! :)

Also Marrisa stopped by tonight and said hi. She regailed us with funny stories and plenty of gossip! Lol just kidding about the gossip. :)

So her walking is getting better and better, and Dona and the PT therapist talked about doing car transfers or we can go on a little road trip around town next week. Also she will be starting aquatic therapy tomorrow so I will let everyone know how that goes.

Well goodnight everyone, I will have more for everyone tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Day Eight

Well everyone its the day we have been waiting for! Dona's first report card from the rehab center!

We have a date to shoot for for her to come home, 10/4/2010. If she keeps up her progress she will be able to come home in a week and a half! Yea!!!!!!!!

The way the report card worked is it gives a score on what she can do by herself, the higher the score the more she can do on her own.  When she came into rehab, her score was 54, a week later its 72, and when she gets to 95 she can go home!

As far as what she did today, she and I walked about 150 feet this afternoon, and this morning she walked 100 feet and climbed and walked down 3 steps! When she is walking she is mostly doing it by herself with one of those cains that have 4 feet on them, and I am just there to keep her steady if she needs it.

It looks like maybe tomorrow or Thursday Dona will be starting aquatherpy, so its work out in the pool time. It looks like its going to be hard work but it will be so good for her too.

And the last bit of news from today, we have a followup appointment with the neurosurgen next Wednesday, so we will find out more about how well she is healing and hopefully what it was that they had to cut out of her head.

Thanks everyone for your support, and maybe I will have a surprise guest on tomorrow, so come back and see!

;)

Have a good night everyone!

Day Seven

I would like to say thanks to everyone who stopped by tonight, Dona and I had a blast with you all!

Dona is improving everyday! She walked 100 feet today with just a little assastance. Also she went up a stair today! Dona said that it was hard work and a little scarry coming back down, but was excited that she did it. Her arm is doing better, she is moving it more and more on her own with out really having to think about it!

Tomorrow we have our week one report card, I will update with a real progress report from the hospital. So be sure to check back tomorrow evening!

Have a good night!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Day Five and Six

Hey everyone I hope you all had a great weekend.

We had Rachel this weekend and she got to see what her mom does when she is going thru therapy. On Saturday Dona had a light day but she did alot, she walked another 30 feet and is starting to show more control over her left arm. When she is walking she started out on the side of a large table with the therapist helping along, now she is walking with a cain and the therapist is by her side just keeping her steady!

With her arm every day gets a little better, it is a slower process, but hey what are you going to do? She did surprise me this weekend tho, she moved her arm to wipe off her hand and did it with out really having to make an effort. Well LOL sometimes she just does what she want to do no matter what anyone says, even her body.

Sunday was just an easy day for all of us, we slept in, watched a couple of movies, and ate junk food. Overall we just had a good relaxing day.

Have a great day and I will get back tonight with todays update!

Joe

Friday, September 17, 2010

Day Four

Hi everyone!

Dona had a great day today! She walked 30 feet!!!! she is getting so strong, she will be walking on her own before you know it.

I'm so proud of her and where she has come in just the four days she has been here.

We have Rachel this weekend and tomorrow she will be going with Dona thru her different  types of physical therapy. And on Sunday we have the day off so we are going to sleep in and have a silly movie day.

So have a good night everyone and we will talk to you later.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Thanks For the Flowers!!!

So when I got there there were all of the great flowers! But of course no cards had stayed with them so if you would please let me know who's is who's that would be great!

Thanks


Day Three

Well it was a good day and a bad day for us.  Everything that has happened so far hit Dona and I today and well we both had a little melt down. But I think we both needed it too, because we are feeling better, and the journey doesn't look so bad anymore.

On the plus side of the day Dona is standing more, and starting to use her left leg more! She had to stand three times today for a blood pressure test, and is moving from her bed to her wheel chair. She still needs support from me and the nurses to move back and forth, but considering that Monday we had to use a lift, I think she is doing fantastic!

We found out today that when Dona gets her staples out tomorrow she doesn't have to go back to the other hospital, they will be able to do it where she is at. So Yea! we don't have to deal with the transportation back and forth!  :D

We have Rachel this weekend so there will be some light PT then just the three of us hanging out and watching movies. It will be a nice easy weekend for us.

If anyone wants to send Dona a card or letter, please do! Just mail it to our apartment and I will make sure that she gets them. The address is:

Dona Zach
1323 Jackson St #404
Omaha NE 68102


Thanks for your of your support out there!

Joe

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Day two

LOL
Posting from my iPhone this morning.

We had breakfast with the speech therapist today to see how her eating and swallowing was doing. Well she is doing great at it, Dona was scheduled to do this for the rest of the week, and after this morning she will only have to do that every once and awile. :)

Dona is napping right now, but she has a full afternoon of therapy. I will be back on this evening to keep you all filled in.

Good day!
Dona walked a few steps and is sitting up in bed by herself. So tomorrow starts a full day of therapy, with more improvement I am sure.

On Friday we go back to the first hospital and get the staples removed, and I hope more details on what they removed. Then on next Tuesday we get our first weekly report card from the staff here at physical rehab, we should have a better idea of when Dona gets to come home.

Well that's about it for today, were just watching tv for awile then off to bed.

Good night everyone and I will talk to you all tomorow.

:)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Day One Rehab

Hello everyone!

So here we are at day one of rehab,I belive that we are looking at 6 to 8 weeks here, it been a very productive day for Dona! We have meet most of the staff that she will be working with and toured to facility. She did her baseline tests to see where she is at and what need to be worked on and had some very good results! Her mental awareness is just about as good as it was before the surgery, so the work there should god pretty fast.

The physical side is what we are really going to have to work on. Everyday she is getting stronger and gaining more control over her limbs. Her left leg is doing the best and she is standing on it longer and longer everyday. Her left arm on the other hand (lol not pun intended) is what really needs to be focused on and is looking like will take the most work to get back in shape.

Rachel is here this evening spending quality time with her mom, when I left they were giggling and having fun.

Because I am just starting this I know that everyone will have a ton of questions, so bring them on! LOL I will try to answer them the best I can as soon as I can OK?

I look forward to hearing from you all, and please pass on this blog to anyone you think should be updated, because I know that I have missed people, and I am sorry about that.  :)

Well thats it for tonight, sleep well, and I will keep you updated!

Joe