Rejoicing

Well, Mom is just now getting to see some of the blog this evening. Dean came to the hospital and reconfigured her laptop to recieve wireless internet there. We were having trouble before so KUDOS Dean! Good job!

She said she is doing so much better. She is so happy to know that Mindy will be here on Monday afternoon. The same day they have scheduled her for a skin graft on her arm. Her timing was good to arrive at this time. Mom will be glad to have her helping, especially since she cannot use either of her hands and we're not sure how long this will be the case. She has to have someone hold the telephone for her when I call because the phone is too heavy for her wrist. She even has trouble turning the volume on the tv.

This will be getting better fast just like the rest of her. I wish I could go and see her now but it will be a week or so. I could actually be more useful to her now than when I was there before.

John mentioned yesterday that they don't expect her to remain in the hospital too much longer. Perhaps once she has healed well enough after the skin graft? We'll see.

She's going to read the blog today!

I just got off the phone with my mother! She is now in a private room (435) and said she has a dream team taking care of her. They have started her on physical therapy and are helping her a lot since she can't use her arms. She said she will have a skin graft on her arm soon.

They have taken her off of the morphene! She said she was hallucinating on it. She thought she had come to my house for my son Matt's birthday but she didn't see Shannon, his sister. Now she is doing well on Perkaset (sp?) and slurs a little but knows what she's talking about!

She is still trying to put the pieces together about what happened and how long she was unconscience. She is concerned for what we have been through and is so appreciative of everyone for all the time, visits, prayers, and thought for her recovery.

I told her the good news about her hostel website going live TODAY!

She is very excited to get to read the blog this afternoon. She keeps hearing about it.
Sent her some messages!
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Welcome Mom! This is your site. Call me and I will put your words on it until you can write and can do it yourself. I'm sure all of your wonderful friends would love to keep hearing from you.

OK - Now she's famous!

This is in this week's Observer section of THE ARKANSAS TIMES! http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=605992b8-ed8e-40f9-8bb0-9a0bd035d59a

Plucky is a word that describes world traveler Linda Fordyce, who with her husband, John, has been working several years to get the Firehouse Hostel and Museum on the grounds of MacArthur Park up and running.
Fordyce was seriously injured recently by a vehicle when the front tire on a motor scooter she was riding went flat. Her daughter, Diane Newcomb, talked to The Observer about it, since the Times had done a story about her backpacking parents and their hostelling hopes.
The Firehouse Hostel will fill the historic Craftsman-styled Firehouse No. 2, just south of the Arkansas Arts Center, with firefighting memorabilia on the first floor and bunk rooms and suites on the second. The non-profit has a 50-year lease on the property from the city.
Last year about this time Fordyce laughed that she was someone who “liked living close to the ground” but was out trying to raise $2 million.
Instead of flowers, The Observer is thinking, how about a contribution to the Firehouse Hostel? The address: P.O. Box 2753, Little Rock 72203. A website is being created: Firehousehostel.org.
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I'm working on that website! Should have it up tomorrow.
Mom will be so pleased!

I had to look up plucky: brave, courageous, spirited, gutsy
YUP!

Small steps!

Today Mom got to sit up in a chair! This was no small feat, it didn't last too long, and it exhausted her. They are trying to get her up moving more. This is good.

John says she is still eating lightly, soft things and resting a lot. He didn't try to wake her this afternoon when he visited.

He also said they will be moving her into a better room (private) where he can also stay the night there with her. That should make things easier for him. I hope she can get more sleep in the next room. It's hard to sleep in a hospital when they come in and do something every hour and there are so many beeps! I think ICU is the worst for noise but then, most of those patients don't notice.

I don't know if she knows about this blog yet. It has been mentioned but we don't know how much she retains so far. She is still so medicated, things are unclear. I look forward to her getting to read it and catch up on her celebrity. I hope that she will take it over for herself and everyone who has been reading this can continue to keep up with her from now on. I think she would enjoy this.

Changes

Last night Mom was moved from ICU and into a regular room on the same floor. Unit 4C

No news at this time about her condition other than she continues on pain medication with silliness as a side effect.

She was given a hamburger yesterday. Not sure if this was a mistake but John tried to give her small mushed up bites. Her throat is still not ready for that much food yet.

Reality check

Poor Mom, when John told her today was Wed she said she needed to get out of there so she could go to her 50th reunion on Friday. He had to tell her it was two weeks ago and she missed it. She will be hearing from her friends and catching up. They made a terrific book for the event.

She is starting to understand what happened and how long she has been out. She is still disoriented and confused and may be for a few days.

They gave her some real food today. Jello!

John says she is very appreciative of the nurses and doctors for keeping her alive and telling them so. They have been great. I took a photo of John and Mom up to her room last week so they could see how she normally looks, at her best. They commented that in the ICU they rarely get to meet any of their patients for most of them are out cold or on life support.

Best of all, they may be moving her out into a private room tonight or early tomorrow. I'll post the number here when I get it.

Thanks for keeping up with her and all of your prayers.

Mom and Casey - hard at work

Anncha, who works at the hostel with Mom, sent me this picture. Thanks Anncha!

Casey is considering a blog of his own. He says he misses his Nana very much and is wondering what happened to his job. He asked me to take him in the car each time I left while I stayed with him.

He's really doing fine, eating all his meals, and doing other dog things. He attached to me and stayed very close, like he does with Mom, but I just can't have him putting his mouth on my hand all the time. Ick!

He thinks he's a big lap dog and I let him crawl in my lap while I sat in Mom's big chair. It will be some time before Mom can go walking with him but I'm sure he will sit with her much when she gets home.

Mom had been shopping for a side car to put Casey in while she rode her scooter. I guess they will just have to take the Cadillac from now on.

High as a kite but feeling no pain

Well, Mom continues to improve and is sitting up better and talking. The two times I talked to the nurses today I was told she was goofy and confused. At first I thought she was right back to normal but then I remembered they have her on lots of pain medicine. He he ha ha
I know she will laugh about this too.

She was talking nonsense about cats in the hall and pizza parties and said she wanted to go to her room. This sounds funny but we sure don't want her to be like this too long. She is feeling no pain but morphene is a heavy duty narcotic and we hope they don't use too much of it for too long. They said they had stopped giving her the fentenol (amnesia) completely.

Dean said they asked them to switch to something to help her sleep rather than being so high because she isn't sleeping as much as she might. We'll see. We don't want her in pain.

I wish I could be there but am needed here for now. It's too easy, from this distance, to believe she is so much better and forget how much more healing she needs to do. I may be able to return on the weekend and hope to see Mindy when she comes on Monday.

The nurse on the day shift mentioned that they may start looking for her a room and move her from ICU soon. This is good!

Diane

Good News! Good News!

All of your prayers are working! Mom has had a big day of good changes!

Best of all, they removed her respirator tube! She can communicate! The first thing she wanted was water. That tube was so uncomfortable and even though they treated her regularly, she had little choice but suffer with a dry mouth. She has to whisper for a while and we are hoping her voice will be back to normal soon and not at all affected by the tube.

Yesterday they had taken the drain tube from her neck and today they removed the two she had in her lungs. They also removed another arterial port thay had in her groin. They had two for taking blood samples.

Today they also replaced the suction bandage on her arm with a fresh one and placed her in some special boots to keep her feet flexed and her calves stretched so she won't get too used to the relaxed position she has been in and have too much trouble getting back on her feet. This will also help with the plantar faciatis that she has struggled with previously.

She no longer needs a feeding tube in her nose and they have seriously reduced her sedation, just keeping her comfortable on pain relievers.

We never expected so much so soon but we'll take it! She can rest easier and continue to heal much more comfortably now.

Thanks again everyone, for your prayers and loving thoughts.

I wish I could have been there today.

Thanks Mary for being with us so much throughout this ordeal. It helped a lot!

Other good news: I'm about to get Mom's beloved hostel live on the internet, very soon. Also, look for a mention in the Arkansas Times!

I'm still here

I am in Eureka now but will keep on blogging what I can. I'm addicted.

John called around supper time to tell me that he is taking on a new routine and running home during the off hours between visiting hours. They had let him in anytime but we were told to adhere to their schedule so that we stay out of the way when they do what they need to do during those times.

Mom's sedation meds were slightly reduced and she woke a lot more today than yesterday. She smiled at me again today. Laine and Dean came to visit and said hello too. She still needs to be sedated quite a bit but they need to be able to assess her and they can't if she is out.

She has a lot of fluid (edema) again now and this will just have to pass. We're glad to see that they keep feeding her.

There is a lot to this process that we may never understand. We have to trust them to do what they do but I let them know they need to be gentle with my mother and make sure she is comfortable. Some of their equipment and handling has given her marks that are hard to accept but seemingly unavoidable.

We really want to see her off that respirator but there is no clear end in sight. She is initiating much of the breathing herself now. Keep praying that she won't need it soon.

Continue to pray for her healing and visualize those brilliant angels in her room each night.
Diane