Lookin' Gooood

Wow! Doesn't she look great! Mom is so thrilled to have lost 30 pounds! She is expecting to lose a little more when the remainder of the swelling/water weight she still has is diminished.

Yesterday Mom and John got out for a couple of doctors appointments. She is moving around more and able to do more all the time. It takes all her energy and she gets to rest when she returns but she is feeling stronger each time. If we could just get that left arm to stop spazzing and giving her pain, she could say she felt perfectly peachy.

She had her left elbow looked at and the news there should be better but because she is always resting on that elbow, the skin graft that was done there has not healed as well or as fast as expected. They melted a little balloon into her arm brace to prevent her from having to place pressure on it all the time. Unfortunately, they said she may need another skin graft on that area to ensure that it is strong.

This means that the orthopedic corrections to her arm may be postponed even more. We hope not. Perhaps they can find a way to work it out. The best news is she was able to lift that left arm higher than ever before today and she was able to grip and hold a cup in her right hand today for the first since she started PT. Keep doing your exercises Mom!

I made it home just fine yesterday. We were on the phone with Mom on our way to see Matt perform in his Christmas program when we hit a deer. We are all fine but it really scared Matt. He was so shook up he was not up to performing in the show. We will have to find another opportunity to put him to work in his elf outfit.

Corn Chowder, Coaches, and the effects of exercise

Uncle Jim, while he was snowed in with us, took on the task of coaching Mom through her first hand exercises. he was very helpful and a very encouraging trainer. He read through each exercise and demonstrated them for her. He also helped her do another set this afternoon before he returned to Hot Springs. We all had a great time visiting with our Uncle Jim. Thanks Jim!


I filled in on those exercises once yesterday afternoon. I can attest to their effectiveness. This morning when I awoke I was aware that my right hand, which I used to perform the exercises along with Mom, was sore and a little stiff. Ha!


Fresh home made corn chowder was delivered by Jim and Nancy Foster yesterday and we enjoyed that for lunch today. Thank you for the delicious and comforting soup!


I did some shopping today and bought a little Christmas decor for Mom's room. I delivered it with a rhyme. I said "For you who spends so much time up here I brought you a little Christmas cheer". You have to see it to appreciate it. I'll just say it added a little color and comedy to a certain piece of temporary furniture that we all hope will be unnecessary soon.

It was so good to see and visit with Diane Holt today. Thanks for coming by.

Tough get tougher

Monday marked the first workout day for Mom's right hand. I had no idea they have an entire space devoted to hands at UAMS. There, they have treatments and therapies for any type of hand injuries. Many other hand patients were there getting therapy.

None of us were aware that there was so much stiffness involved when a body part had not been used in so long. Mom's fingers are so stiff they must be forced to move the smalled bit. Her left hand is worse and it is just frozen in place and still very swollen. The therapist said the movements should have been started sooner than now. This arm is just going to have to wait for she still needs another surgery to repair the wrist and elbow where they are rotated. This can't be done and a cast can't be worn until her skin graft and elbow injury are healed sufficiently. In the mean time she is encouraged to keep moving those fingers, even the smallest amount.

The therapist, Mary, began yesterday by wrapping Mom's arm in warm towels to relax it and warm up the muscles. This felt good. Her therapist gave her several exercises which she is to perform 10 times each three times a day. These were such simple little moves that we can all do without effort but Mom really had to work hard to appear she had moved at all in some fingers. Even though she is using her right hand fingers each day, these moves are some that she does not make and take extra effort.

We are working on a routine for her to follow each day to ensure that she is doing her exercises. She began them in the kitchen this morning but sitting up and moving her head to read the instructions caused her neck and shoulders to strain and she became tired quickly. She was only there for a while and had to return to lie in her bed for a little nap.

Refreshed, this afternoon, and sitting in her newly remodeled den (where we have a fire in the fireplace on this cold day,) Mom has done her second round of exercises for today and we are so excited because she was able to touch her thumb to her ring finger and pinkie!

Uncle Jim came by yesterday to visit before his doctors appointment and is still here. The weather has us all snowed in together and we are enjoying visiting. I made some chicken noodle soup for lunch and we all ate a delicious dinner together with Dean thanks to Georgann Ozment and Suzanne Godwin. Thanks so much! There was plenty for all of us and it was delicious.

Good friends, good attitude, and good food

Well, I (Diane), arrived this afternoon to spend some time helping out with the assisting of Mom that Dean, Mindy and John have done so much of and done so well. John is still such a trooper, not to mention such a gentle, loving and kind attendant, no matter what the circumstances. I hope to help out enough to give him some time to take his walks, visit with friends, and feel free to run errands or ? He got a few of those moments this evening visiting with some neighbors.

Each time I arrive to visit, I always expect to see Mom looking more "normal" or somehow appear to be more progressed through this healing process and living her life as she had before and in many ways she is. I always have to shift gears, however, and remember that she is still in pain and struggles to do some of the most basic things that we are all doing so effortlessly.

There is no substitute for being here to know what she is (and has been) going through and I am frustrated with my mind's way of minimizing and forgetting [the severity of her injuries and extent of her pain] when I am not present. Her body is still reeling and adjusting to the task it is obligated to perform in healing and restoring her to health. She is much stronger yet still fragile and as much as I want her back to herself again, I must be patient and trust the process.

Tomorrow we will get a visit from Uncle Jim and his friend Mable from Hot Springs before lunch then we are off to physical therapy for both of Mom's hands and arms. Although she has had the cast removed, her right hand is still delicate and weak and she must be very careful with it. This is not easy. She picks up some of the smallest, everyday things but even they can bee too much for her wrist. Her left arm is difficult to lug around and it stresses her shoulder which makes it uncomfortable to be in any position at times. Hopefully, this PT will make a big difference. She will be going each week and doing exercises in between.

Thanks go out to John's former partner, Gene at Merrill Lynch, his wife Paula, and many associates and friends for your gift of a prepaid card for food and all the fabulous restaurant menus and reccommendations! Yum! Last night they enjoyed Layla's and saved some leftover gyros for me too. Yum!

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Linda says: I never forget how grateful I am to be healing but I do admit that healing can be hard and it takes a lot of patience so I still need your prayers, especially for Monday.