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!