Surgery went fine and patient is well

Linda's doctors operated on her elbow Friday (yesterday)morning and reported afterward that they removed all of the infected tissue and a very small portion of bone as well. There were no complications with the operation but there was indeed a bad infection all the way to her bone. Now she is in a new room at UAMS, rm 625 and they are changing her bandages twice a day until healing is well on it's way and infection is no longer an issue.

Dean reported that she is in a nice new room with a flat panel television and a brand new bed. The t.v. channels can be changed to whatever you want on this one, unlike the previous rooms where the remote only had one button and you had to go up in numbers and circle around to find your channel. This is such a luxury! ...and she mostly only watches CNN!

Apparently there is quite a hole in her elbow. They have medicated her with strong painkillers again and Dean said he was amazed by the large gauze ball that was removed when they changed her bandage this evening. This elbow had been a difficult spot all along. It is in such a location that she can't get off of it to let it breath or straighten her arm much at all. It has been in the dark at the bottom of the brace that supports her still broken arm all this time. Poor Mom, I'm so sorry she has to keep enduring so much pain and waiting for healing.

I hope everyone who reads this remembers her story whenever they consider a motorcycle or scooter ride. Make your kids and grandkids read it. Make them go visit the ER and ICU and ask those people what they see of cyclists accidents. I'm converted. As much fun as I know they are to ride, it's not worth it. I fell off my bike as a kid a couple of times (ouch) and that's enough for me.

Prayers needed tonight and tomorrow

Linda is scheduled for surgery on the left elbow (that hasn't healed over the bone) at UAMS tomorrow morning at 7:15. She will have to stay up to 5 days or more to insure sterile dressing changes and prevent infection

The main concern now is tomorrow's surgery and praying that the deep cuts and debreding that they have to do won't lead to a bone infection. If this promotes healing, then it will be prepared for the skin graft they will do on the elbow. After skin graft has healed, they will do the orthopaedic work on the broken bones in that forearm. There is still a while to wait. It is certainly a test of patience.

Today she met with Dr. Gruenwald who will do the orthoaedic surgery after about 5 weeks if all goes well. He said he'd trust Dr. Yeun with his life. This is good for that is exactly what she is doing.

Linda asked me to let everyone know that all who sent these wonderful dishes for them to eat this week are so loved and appreciated.

She extends her heartfelt love and appreciation to Nancy Wood, who saw weeks ago that last Monday she was assigned to write a paper to present at that Aesthetic Club meeting. She wrote the paper and presested it for her. Mom said that was the most unselfish gift from Nancy to her that she could imagine. Thanks and love to you, Nancy. You did a beautiful job.

Busy day today, surgery Friday

Mom was at UAMS most of the day today. She saw Dr. Yueng about her elbow and he determined that the pig skin patch was not working so he removed it and has scheduled her for a surgery, this Friday morning, to remove the dead tissues, clean it out, and start over. They will know, after surgery, weather or not it will take another skin graft.

Unfortunately, she will be back in the hospital for a week or so due to the open wound. She will be at UAMS however and that is encouraging. They have good food and teams of people for every body part.

Our patient was removed from her blood thinners as of last night to prepare for her surgery. In addition to the above, she also had x-rays and an MRI on that left arm but the report is pending.
She was also given a cardiogram with nothing unusual recorded.

Little Rock's restaurant, Lilly's Dim Sum, was the sight yesterday for a successful fundraiser gathering of Hostel friends. John reported that around 75 friends and supporters turned out to eat together and Lilly's donated 15% of the days receipts! It was a good time and an enjoyable outing for Mom who has missed social outings for quite some time. Thanks to all who came and thanks to Lilly's!

Smiling While Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I apologize for the delay in updating this blog. I have no trouble relaying everything as it is when I am in Little Rock but getting the information together by telephone to accurately and effectively describe it as I prefer to do is much more challenging. I have not found the words until today.

My mother, having come through so much and still enduring, has a remarkable attitude and optimism that, I can honestly say, transcends any medications she may be taking to facilitate such a state of mind. She has remained humorous, hopeful, determined, and most of all grateful to all. Call her any time, even if she is in pain, and she will smile and tell you all about the good things that are happening. We can all learn from her this day.

To give a rundown on her physical condition and the progress of each, I will begin at her head and move down.

The hole in the back of her head (caused by the rubbing of her neck brace and lying in bed) has healed nicely but her hairdo needs a little, make that a lot, of work. From the front she looks fine with it combed but turn her around and it appears that one of her grandchildren got their gum stuck in it and cut it out all by themselves. It is growing out, however, and I think when it gets a little more length she may have a nice bob with more length in the front, which is in style now anyway.

She saw her neurosurgeon about her neck on Tuesday and the report was all good. She has healed up nicely and her movements are still stiff and painful as expected. She is no longer required to wear her neck brace most of the time, only when travelling or being active. She has a long scar on the back on her neck but it will seldom be seen under her hair. She will most likely move her head a little more stiffly from now on and with less stretch to each side but WOW! She is still here!

Mom has some stiffness and aching at times in her neck and shoulders due to the head still adjusting to her surgery and the issues of her left arm and holding it up. This is all continuing to improve.

Her left arm is still broken, rotated at the elbow and wrist but cannot be reset until the skin graft wound on her elbow is healed. It is taking longer than expected. Dr. Yueng is trying out a pig skin patch at this time and said if it doesn’t take they will have to perform another surgery to encourage healing. Unfortunately, this failure to heal continues to delay her orthopedic surgery that will free her from the pain, and taking the meds. That left hand is still swollen and stiff and remains her major source of pain now. I think she wants to yell at it sometimes to DO SOMETHING, Get Better! This is really a test of patience.

The right wrist and hand is getting it’s regular exercise and doing it's best at taking care of business but tires very easily. It still can't pick up anything heavier than a coffee mug and hurts to use it more than that. It can poke out a few letters on emails and use the mouse some but tries not to do too much because it causes her pain. It is still the loving, touchy-feely hand of Linda that it was with only a few kinks to work out and strength to build.

Mom still has a tickle on her side where the right chest tube into her lung, the one she had the longest, was removed. It left quite a scar. Her heart and liver all check out healthy and strong. She had blood work done on Monday that required them to increased her Coumadin. She still has blood clots in her left leg, in both the thigh and calf. She has another two weeks before she sees her vascular specialists again. These blood clots (known as deep vein thrombosis) have been a scary and worrisome issue for her. She has asked lots of questions and been reassured that the filter in her vein can and will catch them but was told that they can also get clogged up and, if so, need to be replaced. She asked about signs to look for and will not hesitate to be seen if she feels anything isn’t as it should be.

She is getting around as much as she can and enjoying a little more independence although she still needs supervision as she takes the stairs. John is still taking good care of things and getting to take breaks and do other things, especially when Dean comes by, which is almost daily. As busy as he is, and with his own shoulder pain issues, Dean has been very helpful. He took Mom to her PT this morning and was delighted that he had seen the same therapists for his arm following his surgery.

The family has heartfelt gratitude to all the friends, especially those of Linda and John's Sunday school class, who have brought fresh, lovingly prepared meals to the house regularly. These have truly been a Godsend to them.

Special thanks go to Diane Mackey for the yummy gumbo dinner with fresh baked bread and brownies last night.

Mom has been enjoying the blog and grateful to me for keeping it up. She helps edit my details after reading the new posts. This blogging has been enjoyable to me because I needed to work on my writing skills and it has motivated me to write, and read, more to become a better writer. I've enjoyed the connections I've made with my mother's friends and appreciate the many complimentary comments regarding the blog.

Happy New Year !

From the Future !
I had the best time calling my mom from Saipan at 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2009 when it was still 8:15 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2008 in Little Rock. I began in a robotic voice, "This is the future calling. Will you accept a connection to the future?" Mom was so baffled, not knowing who this stranger could be, and very suspiciously said, "Who's on the line, please?" We had a great laugh when I revealed that it was Mindy calling. Saipan is crazy on every holiday with fireworks that are imported from China and there do not seem to be adequate safety laws here. Our neighbors were setting off spectacular displays much like you might see at an organized show by the river. It's insane! It looks like a war zone all over the island! Brooke and I spoke to nearly everyone staying at the Fordyce house before I sent the kids off to bed around 1 a.m. (tomorrow).

Thanks to all who have been praying and thinking of my mother. May you have many blessings and experience more miracles in 2009.

Love,
Mindy

house full of family

Mom has finished her week of injections and still anticipating her doctor visit to resolve her blood clot issues. She still has some swelling but we are all confident in the filter in her vein and prayers that continue. She is encouraged to be faithful and trust in God's care rather than worry about her situation and the what ifs and mights.

She got up early this morning for her physical therapy session at UAMS. She has much more mobility in her right hand now and it is being used to care for her left hand which continues to be frozen, swollen, and painfully useless. The left upper arm and shoulder gets spasms and her wrist gets sore from tying to use it.

Over all, she has moved around more today than I have seen her do thus far. She is doing so much better! her strength is greater and it's such a good thing to see. She is going downstairs to the kitchen for most meals now and even made two trip further down into the den today!

Having returned to visiting her family doctor since coming home, Mom and John agreed with him that she would be best cared for if she were overseen by a case manager from UAMS who will have quick and easy access to all of her records with the details of her injuries and treatments. They waiting for word on who they will be working with in this way.
Leslie and Dan have been here since Christmas day, my children and I came last night and Uncle Jim came this afternoon. We were also visited this evening by long time family friends Cece and Gordon Pruett with their son Wesley. My son Matt and Wesley enjoyed playing together. We all ate dinner together and enjoyed a freshly baked pecan pie made by Chuck Cole who also brought over one of Mom's favorite meals: chicken spagetti.

Thanks go out again to the many friends who continue to bring good food and gifts over to the house. John is really working hard each day and the help of others and the food they bring are apreciated more than you may know. My sisters and I have been here doing all we can to help but we feel it is never enough. John takes such good care of Mom and the house. We have to think and act a few steps ahead of him in order to do things for him.

The quoted text is an EMAIL Mom sent me on 9/30/08

This was about one week before the accident:

"Yesterday I bought a 50cc Baja motor scooter. The color is fuchia and it's so much fun to ride! Now I will join Curves again because I won't mind using the extra gas to drive there every day. With going downtown every day I've become reluctant to do any extra driving. My scooter gets well over 100 mpg, they say. How green is that? Love, Mom"

Of course, the first reply I gave her was "Please wear a helmet!" I remember being so proud of Mom for going green, and you have to admit, it's pretty spunky of her to have done so. I guess we should all learn from her experience though.

Someone told me today that most ER employees, who've seen their share of motorcycle accident victims, would never ever purchase a motorized scooter or motorcycle of any kind.

~Posted by Mindy

Christmas miracle?????

Yesterday, our patient visited her skin graft doctor at UAMS, who she really likes, and learned that her elbow is doing well and this is good news. He also looked at the areas on her left thigh where the skin had been "borrowed" and they have been healing well also. She had concerns however about the swelling in that leg that had slowly been going down but in the past few days had actually gotten worse.

They had originally told her that the swelling was due to the injuries (knee scrape, skin removal, and bone from hip for neck fusion) and would continue to recede and be normal before too long. This leg is the same one that a blood clot had been located in during her time in ICU and they had placed a filter within her vein to catch it, should it break loose. Dr. Yuen, her skin doc said she should not be having this much swelling and it was most likely a vascular issue so he sent her over to see the vascular doctors immediately and they found she has several blood clots.

They decided to put her on blood thinners for the next 5 days via two shots a day in her stomach. They will have another look at her at the end of these 5 days but said they want her on blood thinner pills (Cumadin) for a month. They had taken her off of them prior to the arm surgery that she was supposed to have had a few weeks ago. Now, on these meds, she needs to be very careful not to cut herself in any way, including shaving or flossing. Of course, the arm surgery must not be considered until this situation has been fully corrected.

I'm so sorry for Mom to have her arm surgery delayed for so much longer because the pain is really difficult and she is getting tired of having it. She is still in good spirits, however, and wishes to remind everyone to continue praying for her, especially now. She said she didn't want to post any bad news at Christmas but she knows she needs your prayers over this blood clot issue.

Thanks go to Pam Anderson and Kimber Rule, neighbors who are also nurses, who are working together to help out where they need it and Pam for giving her these two daily shots this week.

Leslie is arriving tomorrow to stay for the week and my family hopes to visit for a couple of days as well.

Merry Christmas!

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!

______________________________

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.

Cast Off!

The cast was removed from Linda's right arm today. She still needs to be very carefull with it and has a new slip-on support brace she needs to wear most of the time. This is good news! She will be able to get back to doing many more things for herself that she has needed help with, like checking her emails! I've been helping her keep her inbox from getting out of control but she still has around 300 or so that she'll need to go through.

We heard from Mindy that she arrived home to her family in Saipan. She missed them very much and I'm sure she is VERY glad to be back home. Thanks for coming and helping so much Mindy! You are a blessing to our mother and all of us.

John says everything is now is just routine and Mom continues to get stronger every day. She is enjoying moving around the house more and starting to get back into her life a little at a time. She is so grateful to be getting her hair washed with shampoo and water!

I plan to be in Little Rock from Sat until Thursday to help out wherever I can. --Diane

Sunday visit with Dean & Laine

Dean & his daughter, Laine, visited Nana today. Laine brought two of her friends, Brittany & Julie, who were very gracious and Mom sure did enjoy meeting them and seeing Laine & Dean.

I hope you can enjoy viewing this photo montage. We were playing around with my new computer that has a webcam to take these photographs. It was created using Office 2007, so I'm not sure that it can be viewed by everyone's system. That's why I posted some of them separately. If you have RealPlayer, it can definitely be viewed that way.

Mom is doing so well. John frequently escorts her around the house, and she's working hard at becoming more self-sufficient. It takes her a little longer, but she's so determined. She wants to try walking outside tomorrow. ~Mindy

Loving Casey

Linda can only use four fingers on her right hand. Casey says, "Four fingers are all right with me."

It's good to be home with a friend.

Linda observes that Casey is very considerate of her injuries and hasn't tried to climb on her and paw her like usual. He has been very obedient when she asks him to get out of her way.

We want our Nana back!

Get better Nana!
These kids want you to come for Christmas and visit us in the woods again.
They miss you and want to go hiking and camping with you.
This is the best picture of you two with Matt and Shannon, Jag and Riker!

No more hospital gown!!!

I helped my mom dress in normal clothes for the first time since she drove off on her scooter that Wednesday morning of October 8th! She had two doctor's appointments with Xrays taken in between. She even got to eat out at a deli & coffee shop located in UAMS. She was out from 8am to 2pm today, and is exhausted and resting now.

Her first visit was with the phenomenal Dr. Yuen, the plastic surgeon who performed the skin graft and who has treated the WHOLE patient so well. She has a new dressing over the skin graft area with a larger wrap above her elbow and down toward the wrist, covered by a specially made splint that will protect her elbow better and prevent bending. He remarked today, that even though delaying the orthopedic surgery longer is not ideal because she is healing so well, she may have better recovery than they normally can predict. She is a very strong individual who has a great attitude and probably will do better than expected.

The Xrays were for the appointment with Dr. Ahmed, the neurosurgeon. The neck is healing well. She was told to keep wearing the neck brace another four weeks whenever she's up and around, to prevent sudden movements.

My flight schedule, for returning to Saipan, has changed. I will leave a day earlier. I depart on Tuesday morning. I will miss Mom and John. I wish I could stay longer, but I need to be with Thom, Garrett, and Brooke too. I'm grateful that the visiting home health aids will be able to see her three times a week, in addition to the visiting nurses. Dean will be available part-time. Also, several friends have offered to come over for short spells if John needs to go out for errands. And, Diane may come during the Christmas holiday. Mom is walking around better, but she is still off balance and it is so dangerous if she falls because she can't support her weight on her arms, so we like to follow her closely in case she needs some support.

Mindy

Home again and feeling fine

I just talked to Mom on her speaker phone and she sounds GREAT! The pain she had yesterday is gone and she is again in good spirits and feeling grateful for her progress, the help she has recieved, and the new cast on her right arm, even though they moved her thumb further out and told her she was not to be using it as much as she had been.

She said a nurse told her she bit her lip so hard it bled, even under anesthesia, because of the pain during the procedure. The pain afterward was great but she remembers a sweet nurse telling her they were giving her more medicine for the pain and it was going to be better.

It was better and she went back home last night. She has lots of new bandages from her shoulder to her wrist on that left arm but there is much less pain today.

We talked about my children and the good Thanksgiving food we had. She wanted more mashed potatos but they are gone. We discussed my coming back to help her more this month after Mindy returns to Saipan. I will be there before Christmas but when and how long is not known yet. We want to encourage John to take a much needed break and visit some of his family during this time. - Diane

Pain added to pain

This is Diane, I just got a call from Mindy at the hospital. Mom was being wheeled out of recovery and the report was a bit sad.

Rather than cut into her arm and perform the surgery that we had all expected today, the doctors decided to attempt manipulating her bones back into place. The orthopedic and skin graft doctors concured to postpone surgery due to a risk of infection and to avoid compromising the healing progress that has been made with her skin graft.

Unfortunately, what they did to her today caused her great pain and she immediately asked for the maximum amount of relief possible.

They will keep her for observation this afternoon and possible release her to return home if they determine she is in good condition to do so. Pray she may but also that the pain subsides and the heavy meds are not necessary for too long.

#2

Linda is #2 on the surgery list tomorrow morning, which might begin around 10am. It is likely that they will discharge her by the same evening rather than having her stay another night.

Off to UAMS again, to check in for surgery

John and Linda just left to drive to UAMS this afternoon. It's cold, wet, and windy outside; it felt good to her. I'm going to stay indoors. John will call me if I need to bring anything to the hospital that they need. We heard from Diane's husband, Steve, that there have been snow flurries up in Eureka Springs. I wonder if I will see snow in Little Rock before I return to the tropics in ten days.

As soon as I have any news about the surgery schedule, I will post it. ~Mindy

Family Gathering

Mom came home before noon on Thanksgiving Day. She sat in the living room for a little while and we brought Casey up to her. At first, he seemed confused about her, the unusual cast on her arm and her neck brace, but after several minutes his nose told him that his momma was home. Mom let him sit beside her right side on the sofa and he rolled over snuggling his nose toward her in his lap. This made my mom so happy to finally see her baby. She didn't worry about him hurting her at all, and Casey seemed to understand that she needed tender loving care. He's been very sweet. Mom carefully climbed the stairs and slept the first night in her own bed! John set up a homemade bell for her to call us, using the lid from a saucepan and a carabiner! It works well!

We didn't allow ourselves to feel pressure about preparing our Thanksgiving meal, waiting until Friday to sit down for it. We are very grateful to one of our neighbors who kindly fed Dean, John and me from their magnificent Thanksgiving spread on Thursday, and sent a plate home for Linda--she had a small taste of each thing.

I spent some time organizing the medications that have been prescribed into an Excel spreadsheet that I printed out. This will help us keep up with the time schedule. She's on at least ten medications, which may be changed after her surgery. I can easily make changes and reprint the list as needed. Before I had made the list, we had made a mistake the very first time we gave her a pill! Two medications began with the letters "lev," and we accidentally gave her the wrong one. It was her thyroid medication, and she had already been given it that morning by the nurses at Select. Oops. No harm was done, but it scared us, and made us study the instructions well so that we know what we're doing. I called a nurse to ask several questions too.

We prepared a wonderful feast on Friday with minimal stress, served buffet style, and using the regular china instead of dusting off the fine stuff. Mary provided the turkey, dressing, & gravy. Diane and I cooked side dishes, and Shannon baked the pumpkin pies, and Matthew set the table! Dean washed all of the dishes! It was quite a feast, enjoyed by all. Unfortunately, Mom was only able to nibble a little of it because she has had no appetite for a couple of days, but I'm sure it will return before the leftovers are all gone.

Sunday afternoon, Linda will be checked in to UAMS for orthopedic surgery on Monday, followed by one or two nights at UAMS. Today, a visiting nurse came to give us her orientation and next week, after returning home again, home health nurses and home health aids will begin regular visits to help us at home as needed. John and I can handle most of the hourly duties but bathing and woundcare help will be greatly appreciated for the skill of the professionals. We're just practicing at this.
~Mindy

Note from Linda:

Loving thanks to John, Diane, Mindy, Dean, Shannon, Matthew, and Mary for all your wonderful help. Even though I was upstairs, it was a joy to hear everyone together today in the house, and enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner that you made possible.

Love,
Linda

Surgery scheduled for Monday & A Little Bad News.

She's pretty worn out from the transport to and from UAMS (the ambulance was a little late both ways, so it was the waiting that wore her out). and she was not very hungry even though she had missed lunch. She barely ate supper but hopefully she will rest well. She received a lot of extra pain medicine today in anticipation of a lot of handling of that left arm to determine what will need to be done on Monday.

John picked up her prescriptions in preparation for tomorrow. Dean and I spent the evening with Mom, having a lively discussion with her and her roommate, Ms. Beatrice, a very nice lady who is very pleasant even though she is also in a lot of pain. Ms. Beatrice reminds me a little of my sweet-natured Grandmonie who was suffering from very similar circumstances (congestive heart failure which also led to the amputation of one leg) when I was a senior in high school. Sadly, we can hear patients crying out in other rooms who seem to be in even more pain.

The bad news is that Mom's cast on her right arm will need to stay on about six more weeks due the severity of the break. As you may recall, it had been broken in five places and was like putting a puzzle together. Added to this is the fact that her left arm will also be in a cast following the orthopedic surgery, probably also for twelve weeks. Unfortunately, the orthopedic surgery must compromise some of the skin graft's success.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Thanks for your prayers and concern.

~Mindy

Rewind; Plan B.

Instead of being discharged today, they decided to get her to UAMS' Ortho. Clinic and back via ambulance. She will sleep at Select Specialty Hospital one more night, so that all the arrangements can be handled properly, i.e. prescriptions filled, then be discharged on Thanksgiving morning.

She's getting bathed and ready to go now. John and I prepared some clothes for her to wear--I'm sure she's happy to have a change from wearing hospital gowns for seven weeks! She has a 12:15 pm appointment. I hope all goes smoothly. ~Mindy

Left Arm is Broken! Linda To Be Discharged Wednesday!

The results from the Xray of Linda's left arm revealed today that her radius is fractured. It is rotated outward causing a separation from the ulna near the elbow and severe stress near the wrist also. There may be a detached or torn tendon due to the hard, swollen area on the inside of the wrist.

The original Xrays were reviewed also, and it was determined that these breaks were not visible at that time due to the angle of the view and her severe swelling and other injuries (the de-gloved skin that required the skin graft). Anyway, clearly the skin graft and saving her arm were the priority during the initial trauma, and even if they could have known about the break it is unlikely that they would have performed the orthopedic surgery until after the skin graft.

A psychotic patient in the room next door is constantly saying "Hey, hey....hey, hey..." (she builds, getting louder through the night). We think Mom's arm was signaling us with the unusually severe pain she was having, like saying, "hey, hey, you need to Xray me," to get the attention it needed now that the skin graft is safe. Just a couple of days ago, she was allowed to leave her dressings completely off and just let the air hit the area. Everything seems to happen for a reason.

Dr. Yuen and Dr. Holland seemed to work overtime, collaborating to quickly arrange a consultation with the Orthopedic Clinic at UAMS tomorrow. Thus, Mom will be discharged tomorrow morning in order to visit Dr. Gruenwald's team before noon. They want to make sure it's done tomorrow due to the Thanksgiving weekend coming up. They will have to plan extensive orthopedic surgery to repair the damage. We don't expect the surgery to be scheduled until after the holiday, but they will determine that tomorrow.

This news is rather devastating because this means another very serious surgery, but it is still one more step along the road to recovery. No wonder she had such great pain in that arm--it was more than just sore from inactivity and the recent exercise--and now another solution is in sight.

Roommate Blues

Mom's new roommate was not treated very gently by two nurses the other day. Mom and I were witnesses to it; we've told the doctor/director and they are thoroughly investigating the incident. Our neighbor was in a lot of pain, had earlier asked for her pain medicine, but these nurses insisted on bathing and moving her first in such a rough manner that she was bleeding afterward, which required some emergency attention (her leg had been amputated just the other day). It was so sad. Mom asserted herself by asking for a particular nurse who is very gentle and he did an excellent job of soothing the patient and knowing exactly what needed to be done. We 've been around long enough to know which staff members are outstandingly good, but also the ones to watch out for. I hate that any patient is ever treated any differently from any other. This is also causing stress for Mom, but we have been lucky that she had the freedom of a private room for over two weeks until now. She will be free from hospital stress by Thanksgiving, but her neighbor will probably be hospitalized for much longer. Our heart goes out to the other patients, especially those who have few or no family members to advocate for them.

The Xrays are going to be viewed by an orthopedic surgeon--Mom may get to have the cast removed from her right wrist before discharge. On the other hand, literally, she is having some swelling and pain in the left wrist. The doctor says that it is edema caused from her increased activity and should subside as long as she tries to elevate the wrist whenever she is reclining. Her legs cleared up so we believe her wrist will be fine.

Because of her rapid weight loss, Mom's skin had been looking rather loose and without muscle tone, but I am simply amazed at how well her skin's elasticity is returning and her muscles are toning up again, within days after her increased exercise. We are lucky to have such healthy resilience in our family. I've never been very consistent about weightlifting but I have noticed that I easily build muscle. My sisters and I were once asked if we were decathletes when we were teenagers, even though we really weren't very involved with sports besides inheriting natural muscularity. I suppose that we would have done well among the cave dwellers in the past. I was embarassed by my own strength when I was a child, because I thought girls should be feminine and delicate, but I'm grateful for it today.

Home by Thanksgiving!

There is now a real chance that Linda Fordyce will be discharged on Thanksgiving Day and allowed to go home! Today, she actually climbed stairs. Every day brings new possibilities! Little by little, she is getting stronger and stronger. We are thrilled! John is making the preparations with the case manager already, so that everything will be ready for her to come home next week. Physical therapists will make house calls, and she will be able to go to her follow-up appoinments as an outpatient. Hooray!!! M

Diane Here, I didn't want to post over that last bit of great news so I'm adding to the bottom of it. I'm so glad to hear we may be able to have family together with Mom at home for Thanksgiving. Here is a great photo, I just found, of Linda's grandkids all together with their Uncle Dan. Classic!

Mindy's family

I was telling Mom about how well my family are doing in Saipan with me here, and she was so amused by something I said that she suggested I put it in the blog. I had told her that I am usually Thom's human alarm clock, and that sometimes involves screaming and kicking!

Thom has done a great job. He's organized the household chores, shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc... He's getting Brooke to school on time and she now has ballet rehearsals about 5-6 times per week in preparation for Swan Lake on December 5th & 6th. Unfortunately, I can't be there. I usually am very involved backstage and have been the ballet's emcee for the past two years! Brooke is missing her Nana so much. They usually talk on the phone 3 to 4 times a week and are real pals! Garrett is homeschooled and Thom had already taken over his supervision this year since I started graduate school. Garrett has informed me several times that the house is often much cleaner and less cluttered since I've been away! I think Thom has proven his domestic superiority. I hope they don't mind the mess that I will bring home with me next month.

Mom's physical therapy continues to progress. She walked much further yesterday and is making the effort to get out of bed much more often. These workouts do still lead to fatigue and pain, mostly in the evenings, but she is bravely continuing. She frequently refers to how far she has come to remind herself that even though progress is slow, it is happening. Her positive attitude is serving her well.

Diane, Steve, Shannon, and Matthew are making plans to join us next week for Thanksgiving. Diane and I are making some very simple plans for a special meal. I can't remember the last time I was here for Thanksgiving! This will be my first Thanksgiving without my husband and children.

A much better day!

She fed herself breakfast using her fat-handled fork! She sat up on the side of her bed! She stood and sat in a wheelchair for nearly an hour! I washed and cut her hair (we broke the rules; they said we couldn't rinse but she leaned over a basin and it worked). How would you like to wait over a month before your hair was really washed? The only thing they had done was put foam in her hair and scrub it out with a wet washcloth. PT and OT (physical therapy and occupational therapy) came in and gave her some exercises. I was so proud of the way she pushed through the pain in her left arm and kept trying with determination. When it seemed like she was tempted to give up and get back to bed, she went ahead and stood up and used a walker to walk all the way out to the hallway and back, then she sat on a portable potty before returning to the bed. This is great because she looks forward to saying "goodbye bedpan!" She sat up again to eat her lunch and remained seated rather than reclining much of the afternoon. I am so proud of her. It is great to have her not lying flat on her back so much. What is really amazing is that she felt pretty good about all of this. I know we expect her to feel some fatigue later on, but these are major milestones! Linda even mentioned that she can envision herself being at home soon, as soon as she is finally able to get up and down by herself. She is so excited about this progress! She has come a long way since October 8.

Some days are tougher than others

Sunday was a pretty rough day. It may not be pleasant for you to read about this, but just try to imagine how unpleasant it has been for my mother. She has been confined to a bed for more than five and a half weeks, with barely any movement, and her digestive system is not functioning normally. We have reason to believe that the various medications interfere with normal bodily functions as well. She was absolutely miserable yesterday, since before sunrise until late in the evening, with urgency coming on but just never being able to feel like she was finished, and suffering severe abdominal cramping. She was also having that fear of the unknown wall of pain that I recall having when I was in labor with my first child.

Finally, by this morning, she was feeling a lot better and rested well for much of the day. She was even able to sit up in bed to exercise her arms and legs a bit with the physical therapists today. I pray that she may have more good days ahead of her, but some days truly feel like a setback to her. May she rest well tonight, please, God.

Diane very thoughtfully commented that she'd like to order a manicure and pedicure for Mom, and she would definitely look forward to it in the future, but she's not entirely ready for something like that yet. I've worked little by little on sprucing up her toes and fingers since there was still a lot of dried blood and healing cuts, etc... but she tires of any poking and prodding very quickly and I usually am only able to get about 2 to 3 fingers or toes done at any one time. She's still very sensitive. Has she told some of you about what her mother (who we called "Grandmonie") used to say? Her "shock absorbers" are just not working as well these days. It's clear that Mom's shock absorbers are going to bounce back eventually, but she's still very fragile compared to her usual strength. She's lost a lot of weight and her arms and legs are atrophied and weakened from lack of use for over five weeks now, and today getting up for a while caused dizziness and nausea. We hope that working just a little bit harder each day will strengthen her.

Have I mentioned that when I first arrived in late October, Mom was like an infant? She needed us to do so many things for her and she was so incapacitated completely when her ribs were still so sore that she could barely shift her position. As the time has passed, she is regaining more movement to her arms and chest area, and progressing through what you might describe as "crawling" and a bit of "walking." and she is entering the toddler stage, able and eager to do a little for herself yet still very dependent and needs supervision. It won't be long before she's climbing out of her "crib." We are anticipating something like the terrible twos!!! Fortunately, Mom has allowed a little of this type of humor and is good-natured about my interpretation, but we do check in with her about those shock absorbers. She was a very good mother and took excellent care of us unconditionally, so I tell her it's the least I can do to return the favor.

If you've ever tasted that awful Dinty Moore canned beef stew, then you know the taste of what they tried to bill on her dinner menu tonight as "Roasted Sirloin Strip!!!" We just have to say that UAMS was relatively spectacular with the meals they bring to patients' rooms. I hope St. Vincent will improve. Dean and I know that Mom is not a very picky eater. She's pretty easy to please, so we agreed that if Mom didn't like it you know it must be bad!

Vital signs were so perfect the other day that Linda wants to share them with all of you!
Blood pressure was 128/72. Heart rate, 72. Blood/oxygen levels were also much better. I think she had a little anxiety about the removal of the chest tube at first, but there have been no related complications. She’s receiving oxygen daily now and special respiratory treatments that will help improve her lungs. Her breathing seems quite normal and she hasn't had episodes of being out of breath. The Respiratory Therapist told us that the treatment she breathes periodically through a mask causes restlessness in some patients so they are willing to skip the evening treatments so that her sleep will not be interrupted. Anyway, someone comes in at all hours of the night to wake her up for this or that. I don't know how they can expect patients to get well if they can't get a good night's sleep. It's noisy up and down the hall day & night! Sleep is also a remedy. Most of the times I ever get sick is when I'm sleep-deprived, which seems to deplete my immune system. Mom says she wishes she could just lock them out at night or hang a "Do not disturb" sign on her door.

She was up in a wheelchair today and was able to see some of the hallway, get to know the neighborhood a little. She does feel a lot of fatigue after exercise, but she's determined to get out of bed more often and do more normal activities. It will get easier. It will take time.

She’s still suffering from intermittent pains, and we are so sorry when those episodes affect her. The latest is pain in her left shoulder and arm area as well as the left wrist. After not being able to move that arm for over a month, it’s like running a marathon to do a few simple exercises, and it seems so painful. The pain that was affecting her abdomen seems to have been resolved by the removal of the chest tube.

Linda’s dentist made a special visit today (on his day off) to examine a loose tooth, that has been hurting while brushing, that may have become loosened from the impact of the accident. He said it is stable enough to wait-and-see, not likely to become infected, but might have some inflammation later. John was the dentist’s boy scout leader once upon a time.

Helplessness

Tuesday evening, Mom was unable to work the call button. She tried pushing her call button for a very long time. Finally, she resorted to yelling and screaming but noone came. When someone eventually came, she was told that the call system had not been working all day!!! We hadn't known because we hardly ever need the call button when we are already there to help her in the daytime. She looked the person as straight in the eye as she could, lying flat on her back with her neck brace on, and said "You have a responsibility to let every patient on this floor know about this and someone needs to check on them regularly." Unfortunately, the message didn't seem to get through. When John learned of this Wednesday morning, he really let the management know how unacceptable this was. It turned out that upper management had not even been informed of the fact that the system was out! Later, when a technician was in Mom's room, she realized that someone had even lied to her about it. He said that he's on call and could have repaired this 24/7, but she had been told they'd have to wait until the daytime to call for repairs.

Overall, Mom has received rather excellent care from many wonderful professionals at both UAMS and Select Specialty Hospital, and she credits many for having saved her life! It is sad and disturbing when we come across the few staff members who don't practice traditional ethics and standards regarding patient care. Mom was just as concerned for the many other patients on the floor. Many have remarked that medical care used to be more like a calling. Has it become just a job.? How dare they leave helpless, bedridden people alone without any means to call for assistance!

Now, each night before John leaves, he makes sure the call button works but also puts the telephone near Mom's right hand and she has the number for the nurse's station memorized, but it is still difficult for her to dial it with only her four fingers. She's gradually getting some use from her left arm but the left wrist is extremely sore from being idle for more than one month.

According to contract, there will be a total of 21 days in this hospital--halfway there now--before Mom can move to either Baptist Rehabilitation or possibly home. I'm flying back to Saipan on December 10 so I really hope she can make a lot of progress by then. She is more frequently trying to sit up, stand, and walk a bit now. She is so tired of staying in bed! It is so much easier without that chest tube and IV, plus the healing skin graft is allowing her to work the left arm now. Physical Therapists and Respiratory Therapists visit her daily to encourage her to work.

Several friends have kindly agreed to come in for mealtimes since it is still rather hard for Linda to feed herself. This gives John a little longer break through lunchtime and the afternoon. Thank you so much to those of you who can give your time to help. You are wonderful! Thank you, also, for all of you who continue to have Linda in your thoughts and prayers. She is so thankful.

~Mindy

Super Busy Tuesday

Mom was simply delighted while viewing these photos of this chimp's motherly interactions with two orphaned white tigers in South Carolina after Hurricane Hannah. See link for other photos:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1793366.ece?slideshowPopup=true&articleId=1793366

It was a super busy Tuesday. I'm exhausted and my feet hurt! John & I were up since around 4am seeing Leslie off to the airport. I took the morning shift for the first time, and now I understand why some days John just falls asleep like a log even without supper! I'm going to start taking at least one or two mornings for him each week. Thankfully, he says it isn't this busy every day.

Everything tried to happen within the same couple of hours today: clarification about medication mixups and nurses not interpreting doctors' orders the same as they were explained to our patient--got that resolved; clearing up the discrepancies regarding the menu with the dietition; bathtime, which never really finished-was interrupted so many times; lunchtime-barely had time to eat; chest tube removal-finally! and a chest Xray that never happened (and a technician who just wouldn't wait her turn!), an ultrasound--she'll still need a better one with the bigger ultrasound machine later--gall stones not yet ruled out; skin graft dressing changing and a single staple removal-the last one-whew!; and, a thorough debriding of the dime-sized sore on the back of her head which we couldn't believe she didn't find painful!

There was a lot of stress today, but we survived and our patient is doing well. She really enjoyed the above pictures, and she also found time to read cards and receive some welcome visitors today.

~Mindy

Hostel update

The Firehouse Hostel has recieved another good piece of publicity. Check it out:
http://sync.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/nov/11/hostel-takeover/
and
Dean has generously set up his Ebay business to donate a portion of his sales to the hostel through an organization called MissionFish.
His site is http://stores.ebay.com/QUALITY-CORNER-STORE
Anyone with an Ebay sales business can sign up to do the same.

A rare opportunity

It isn't often you catch all four of us in the same place. We made sure of it this time, for Mom.

Sunday/Monday

It's nice to know so many of you are still concerned, still checking daily to see how Linda is doing. Many noticed that I hadn't updated for two days. We've just been so busy. I have been trying to get ahead on my graduate school reading whenever possible. Leslie has returned to NYC. Diane and her family are back in Eureka Springs. It was a nice reunion and Diane will post a photo of the four of us soon. Diane recently started a new part-time job as a personal assistant in Rogers while Shannon and Matt are in school. Leslie is the registrar for a Manhattan art gallery. Dean is still in Little Rock, staying very busy with his Ebay business, and visits Mom most evenings.

Linda's chest tube is finally to be removed today. Hoorah! We've also been noticing that her mobility is greatly improving. She can lie a bit sideways, enjoys shifting her legs a lot more and her right arm and four fingers are much more useful. She usually stands and sits up for a little while each day. You've got to watch out for that sharp, heavy cast though. Some of us have suffered mild bruising & scratching from it!

Today, she is going to have an ultrasound to check if some sporadic sharp pains in the right side of her rib area that move into the upper back may be from her gallbladder. Her rapid weight loss since the accident coupled by some pains that seem to occur shortly after eating any fatty foods like ice cream apparently add up to the possibility of gall stones. We hope that a simple explanation is found and that her pain can be resolved. A website said that gall stones are as painful as childbirth.

John attended a public hearing last evening for the MacArthur Park redevelopment, which includes the Firehouse Hostel & Museum. He was touched by the fact that everyone involved in the project has been tracking this blog and missing her presence. Linda misses you all too and really looks forward to getting back into her life! And, she will! What a miracle!

A day with Diane

I spent the day with my mother today. She was glad to see me and we talked about many things. I told her some of what I remember from the first two weeks and we semi-celebrated her one-month-from-the-accident day. I shared her lunch, she couldn't eat it all and didn't want her tea. I ate her ice cream. I showed her pictures we took of her from the ICU. I asked her if anyone had told her yet "I told you so", she said, "no", so I said, "I told you so." I can do this because I did tell her so and we talked about our conversation when I did, in fact, tell her so.

She is comfortable in her room (she has a nice inflatable bed) but still adjusting to things. She said the nurses have been very nice but she is concerned that some of them here don't know what she went through before she came here and it seemed that a few had not read her chart and were asking her. She didn't want to have to fill them all in, it should be their job to know. She is so sweet with them, however, even if she is in pain or concerned about something. She is always thanking them and asking them, first off, how they are today. It won't take any of them long to realize that she is a special patient with a special family and will easily get special treatment from all of them. :)

My mom is still mi madre. Last time I was here I couldn't talk to her but now I know that she is here, all of her, and she will be back to her normal life eventually. She still has a good deal of healing ahead of her but has come a long way already. She worries for us that she has put us through too much and continues to be thankful to all for your prayers and she knows that they are what has helped her get to this point. She said there are over 50 patients where she is now and tries to remember all of them in her prayers, to share those she is recieving.

She became distressed today over the odor coming from the back of her head and said they had not cleaned or looked at the back of her head since a while back at UAMS. We had them come and clean it and the doctor looked at it. I had never seen the back of neck since her surgery and was surprised to see that her scar is nearly 9 inches long along her entire neck. It has healed up well but she has a small sore at the top, on the back of her head. The doctor said it was not infected but inflamed. This is mostly due to her laying on her head and not being able to turn from side to side enough. A nurse commented that the C Brace they had her in prior to surgery puts pressure that may have caused it. It will be watched and kept clean from now on. They laid gauze on it and had to put a stretchy cap over her head to keep it in place. It looks retro chic. John took a picture. I'll see if I can put it here.

While he was there, the doctor ordered x-rays of her ribs and neck. They really want to remove that chest tube from her side. It seems to have served it purpose and be uncessary but they want to be sure.

I could see the the giraffes in the zoo from Mom's room window.

Family Reunion

Diane's family arrived for the weekend today, and we're expecting Leslie to fly in from New York. Linda's four children will all be present at once. Time for a group photo?

Mom has been very optimistic, cheerful, and good-humored. She also had an opportunity to sit up in a chair for a while, which made her sleepy enough to need a good nap before the grandkids arrived.

We are happy that her swelling has continued to decrease, a little more so in the right leg than the left. She is amused by her unevenly sized knees!

~Mindy

St. Vincent info.

Some of you didn't catch the fact that I modified the earlier post with the new room #.

Linda's room # at St.Vincent is #6008, 6th floor. She was moved to a different room and has a double room to herself for now.

Also, if you find leaving comments difficult on the blog, always try a couple of times. It sometimes doesn't respond correctly the first time.

She is making adjustments to pain medications, different food, and nutrition supplements at the new hospital. She's sleepier since they switched her medication, and has some breakthrough pain but they have other medicine that she can ask for when that happens. We are told it may take a few days to adjust & the sleepiness may only be temporary. We are also adjusting to the new dietician and new foods. It was surprising that no vegetable at all came with meat, rice, bread, and dessert for dinner tonight! Mom loves veggies!

We met her case manager who asked questions about Linda's home and how manageable the eventual transition will be. We are lucky that Linda's legs were uninjured, except for a cut on her left knee that is still healing. It's just a matter of letting her ribs and arms heal up to give her more freedom of movement and be able to hold the stair rail. She is not anywhere near ready to start getting up and down yet. Because she has lain more still since last week is what has helped her skin graft to do so well. It looks great today. The nurses remarked about how much better it looks than some of the cases they've seen.

I think that once she's free from pain, and free from pain medicine, she'll be more alert and have more energy. Let's continue to pray for healing and no more pain! Her color is remarkably improved and so many little things are looking better, that it won't be long!

Mindy and Diane

Here is a picture of Mindy and Diane for those who may not know us or remember what we look like. This was taken about 14 years ago. ~Diane

Moved

Linda has moved to St. Vincent. The room # is now 6008, 6th floor. Select Specialty Hospital allows visitors at any time, but requests that visits are short and limited to only 1-2 visitors at a time because the room is small. Parking in the deck across from St. Vincent is free.

The new nursing staff meticulously removed each bandage, and photographed each of her wounds upon check-in. They were kind to her and treated her gently. She was feeling okay throughout the transfer from UAMS. She maintains a rather positive attitude considering what she's got on her plate!

We brought Casey the dalmation up to her gurney as she exited the ambulance at St. Vincent's Emergency entrance. Unfortunately, he was so nervous due to a lot of noise in the air that he was really too skittish to pay her much attention, but she was glad to see him and initially he turned his head toward her voice in recognition. We believe his body knew she was there and that she's okay. Casey will be just fine, and so will Mom.

Unfortunately, her lungs have still not been Xrayed, and the chest tube is still in. We will miss the staff at UAMS, but we are already getting to know Mom's new caregivers at Select Specialty hospital. Mom was tapping her feet & singing the Merengue tonight after learning that her LPN is from Trinidad!

There was a slight delay when she asked for her medication before bedtime due to the fact they had to take her blood pressure and the new shift's RN & LPN had to first read Mom's chart. She & I wished we had requested it a bit earlier because it took about 30 minutes and she was tired and having the pain in her broken ribs again. She does so well up until the half hour or so before the dose is due.

Moving to Selectcare at St. Vincent tomorrow

Linda will be promoted to Select Specialty Hospital, on the 6th floor, at St. Vincent tomorrow, where she will have nursing care and the potential for therapy, but the emphasis is on wound care and healing, projected to take about three weeks. Afterwards, she'll either be ready for home (with physical therapists and occupational therapists making house calls) or transfer to a live-in rehab. center.

We are hoping to bring Casey to St. Vincent so they can see each other briefly as they transfer from the ambulance into her new residence. Casey will finally know where Linda is! We hope to get a photograph.

She still has the lung tube, and they say they will Xray the lungs/ribs area early tomorrow morning before transporting her to St. Vincent. She will also have daily changing of her skin graft dressing at the new place. Today, they fitted her with a special removable splint to replace the need to recast her left arm daily with each dressing change. No more metal staples are in her skin graft--they were so painful to remove.

The skin graft team remarked that they were amazed at how much better her elbow is healing. Great progress, great relief! Glad they won't have to try again and that it is taking well.

Revelations & Coincidences

We are revelling in relief that something troubling Linda has been revealed. So many of her doctors and the social worker who acts as a liason between the various medical teams and the patient had been telling her about getting her ready to transfer her to rehab., which will be live-in with nursing care to attend to her healing broken places while she pursues physical and occupational therapy. The rehab. may last about 3 weeks, after which she may still move onto regular rehab. if needed before going home. Now, John & I have understood this and assumed it was clear to Linda for several days. Mom seemed fearful of this transition and had been expressing a lot of worry about the possibility of leaving UAMS because she doesn't feel ready and already has such confidence in UAMS staff. However, we finally realized why she was so scared. She had it her mind that she would have to go home so soon and be an outpatient at the rehabilitation facility! She felt rushed to do things like negotiate the stairs at home before she's ready! Once she understood, she sighed with great relief! So did we!

Also, the orthopedic technician came in to change her right arm's cast to a lighter, lower profile one. He let Mom pick the color, blue, and she now has freer use of her four fingers, plus you can see her thumb poking out but still not usable for grasping. I was impressed that his handling of her bare wrist did not cause severe pain and it appears to be healing right on schedule. This man told three amazing success stories about three women who had traffic accidents with similarly tragic injuries who had also occupied Linda's room 435, and were all three now successfully rehabilitated. That gave us great encouragement, and put a big smile on Linda's face!

More great news: the tube connected to the vacuum has been removed after the most recent redressing of the skin graft, so the only tube remaining (apart from the booties air pump) is the tube inserted in her right lung. As of 7:30pm, noone had come to look at it as we had expected, but maybe tomorrow.

Ginger, the social worker, shared an interesting coincidence. She happened to grab an old copy of Arkansas Times lying around and opened it up to the article that featured Linda & John Fordyce and the Firehouse Hostel & Museum! She recognized Mom as her patient right away!

Also, a person known to John & Linda was in a gun shop in Greer's Ferry. The subject of scooters, then the accident, came up and the individual working in the shop asked when & where and it turns out the shopkeeper was the neighbor of the in-laws of the man driving the truck that ran over Linda and knew all about the accident. We have been so thankful that the driver was so alert and his attempt to avoid hitting Linda may have saved her life. She looks forward to meeting him.

Blogging

I modified this website to make it more user friendly. Posting comments is easier now. I encourage you to do so since Linda loves hearing your messages and isn't yet comfortable with the phone! She frequently asks to hear the latest blog updates. John, Diane, & I really appreciate how this great tool has eased the burden of phone messages. This blog thing is new for many of us, even me, so let me know if I can help. It's good preparation for librarianship for me to help others with information technology and social networking!~Mindy

On Sunday, Linda was baffled by unusually severe pain in her side near the broken ribs and the tube in her lung. It may or may not have been a gas bubble, but it was rather bothersome. She remarked that it doesn't make sense to suffer worse pain from a relatively small problem than the pain she's generally feeling in her major injuries! Dr. Ikard, who was on call, came to check in with her about that pain. He spent a long time just giving her a chance to share her feelings and he is a very kind listener. We sure do appreciate all of the doctors, nurses, and technicians. Today, we are expecting a decision to be made regarding the removal of the lung tube, and her Skin Graft cast & bandaging are to be removed and observed again by Dr. Yuen.

John and Aancha, with Casey along, will be interviewed by Sync magazine today regarding the Firehouse Hostel & Museum.

Cece and Pat Bryles placed a tiara upon Linda's head yesterday to celebrate the 47 year anniversary since she was Homecoming Queen at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Thanks for boosting her spirit! Dr. Ikard said, "once a queen, always a queen!"

Casey visits a familiar place

Casey went to the River Market Sat. morning. He recognized the downtown area, whining and crying anxiously. As soon as I opened the door, he dragged me straight to Linda's usual spot where she & Casey spent most Saturday mornings since summer selling T-shirts and promoting the Firehouse Hostel & Museum. Casey enjoyed seeing his friends Judd, Becky, Scott and other vendors whose names I don't know. He looked everywhere for his mama and jumped up, placing his paws on my arms, looking at me emploringly as if to say, "Aren't you going to help me find her? Where could she be?" One of the vendors suggested that we disguise him as a seeing-eye dog to sneak him into UAMS, but they are taking such good care of her that we don't want anyone at the hospital to have a reason for resentment! It will be a great day when Casey's mama gets to come home. (Mom said "just do it" but wise John said, "No.")

I went to the early chapel service, then joined Mom & John's sunday school class at FUMC this morning. They are glad to receive the news that she is steadily improving. They are a warm, generous, deeply spiritual and loving group.

Telephone

Linda would like to share that it's awkward using the telephone on her back with neck brace and trying to speak louder. For those who've tried, especially the grandchildren, please understand that she actually sounds much clearer in person, and sometimes she just feels better than others and if somebody calls during a lower feeling, when she's sleepier, it's difficult for her to perk up quickly. It may sound like her mind is not the same over the phone, but believe me, she is still alert and aware. Nana is still Nana and will get stronger! We are grateful that she is managing with less pain medicine. Healing takes time. We all can't wait for the broken ribs and broken wrist to heal because then she can truly wiggle and change sides, etc... Oh, how boring it is to be in the same place for so long! She knows that many would like to speak to her, and she wishes she could do so many more things and have more freedom to move. We read many of her cards and letters to her. Thank you all, and also to those who have mailed or donated online to the Firehouse Hostel & Museum in her honor.

I pray that her dreams tonight will be full of adventure and variety!~Mindy

The Parade

At times, it seems like a parade is making its way through Linda's room each day, with a nurse, doctor or technician coming in within each hour throughout each day and night to check this, change that, poke this, prod that, drop off this, pick up that, and then there is the stream of visitors. Whenever visitors are in, there are always interruptions for the various activities. Linda loves to see her friends and family, it really lifts her spirit, but please understand that its important to limit visits to very brief periods so that she may get adequate rest and that the staff can do their jobs efficiently. She loves to converse, but it does tire her to retell the same story.

Linda had a heavy workload on Thursday and felt very tired Friday morning. She was not smiling as easily at first, plus the increased exercise caused more swelling in her legs and feet, so now she has tight stockings up to her knees plus full-time booties puffed up with air. The plastic surgeon team had to remove all of the dressing from her skin graft and it caused her rather severe pain as they pulled out staples from her wound, so she requested Morphine to help her deal with that. It really did help, and since they must repeat this same procedure on Monday, she will have the Morphine before they start! Most of the skin graft looks good except for the elbow which has been moving too much, so they have applied a cast to keep the elbow from bending and strict orders not to move that arm or support her weight on it when moving. Her team came in and listened to our many concerns and checked the stitches in her neck and said they look good, but the neck brace becomes rather uncomfortable to wear. She was feeling much better in the late afternoon and was very sleepy.

Please keep praying; it is working! It may soon be possible for her to transfer from UAMS to another facility that offers better rehabilitation services to prepare her for eventually coming home.

Linda's first blog post!

Mindy typed this as Linda says, "Mindy just finished reading all the blogs and comments to me. I am so grateful to Diane for setting up this blog, and for Mindy following up, and I want to give Dean so much credit for being here almost all of the time that I've been in the hospital. He has been so loving and attentive. John is truly remarkable. I know he's tired but there have been times that he would not leave my side. We're excited that Leslie will be able to fly here for two days next weekend. As the reality seeps in slowly, I want to cry for what they have been going through, but I rejoice that God has given me a family that loves me so much. My heart aches that they've had to hear how bad things looked before they got better. It was merciful that I don't remember everything from the first two weeks but John and the children do. But, they were here for me and I thank them so very much. It's spiritually overwelming to think how God is blessing me but I know God will continue to show me how to trust Him. All of us have found our faith grow because of this, and now I understand what St. Peter must have meant when he said, "God, I'm just a fisherman." I know that right now I don't have to do anything. All I have to do is trust at this point. Thank you all for your love and prayers. I look forward to growing stronger. Love, Linda"

physical therapy

I'll be brief because it has dawned on me that some of you read via cellular phone and the files often exceed the limit!
Linda rests quietly (accompanied by purring snores) after hours of being in a wheelchair in which she toured the entire 4th floor with Brad, her physical therapist. Her blood pressure rose a little from the exertion but she's fine and feeling less confined! I'll stay tonight here because her push button didn't work and they couldn't hear her voice. The push button isn't sensitive enough for her weak fingertips that peek out of the wrist brace/cast.
Thanks for keeping in touch. She's enjoying hearing the blog and cards read to her and requests that often. If anyone wants to help, indeed, come to Rm435 in 4C to read cards to her!
Mindy

Still improving; it's all good news!

Today, Linda sat up in bed to have a delightfully long visit with at least 4 visitors at once. She is so happy to be able to see her friends.She's enjoying the fact that there is enough space to seat at least 4 + 1 sitting on the edge of her bed. She can't turn her neck so it's important to stand or sit in her line of sight. I read her today's cards and emails that she's received at the hospital. It may take weeks for her to catch up with all the sweet cards, phone messages, emails, and blog comments that have been flooding in since her accident. How blessed she is to have so many loving friends!

The skin graft dressing was changed today, and looks very healthy and taking well.

She's glad they've bathed her every day. She is often too warm and using a fan. The temperature cannot easily be adjusted to suit her and with the cold spell the hospital has already switched to heating from air conditioning.

Right now, someone from orthopedics is removing her splint and cast from the right arm and after they check on her wrist I believe she'll be allowed a bit more freedom in the use of her arm and fingers. That will make a big difference in her sense of confinement and limited mobility, but of course she'll need to be even more careful not to put stress on the wrist before it fully heals.

Many have asked how soon she'll be able to come home, but this can't be determined yet. We expect to know around Monday whether the skin graft is successfully growing and then she'll need enough occupational and/or physical therapy to be able to function at home. It may be a while before she can negotiate the many stairs at home.

~Mindy

Milestones

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10/29/08, CORRECTION TO BELOW INFO.: I am told she was wearing a helmet, so the black matter on her scalp is more likely either padding material rubbed off from inside the helmet or just dried blood, but she did have a few sores on the head--nonetheless, it seems lucky that she did wear a helmet!~Mindy
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It's blood from her neck surgery. She looked better before that, except for swelling. They had to put her on her face and the blood ran all over her head. The sores are from her lying on her face. They must have had something bracing her that dug into her head (I mentioned marks in a post but didn't go into details). She looked awful and it was a real mess afterward and took them days to get a little at a time cleaned off. She needs a really long shower! It's hard to wash hair when you're lying in a bed. The helmet came through all of this in great shape. - Diane
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Just yesterday, Mom said she really wished she could scratch her nose and tried with her right arm which has a very heavy cumbersome cast. Well, by this afternoon she was resting that hand above her nose upon the top of her forehead!

Mom could barely sit up less than a week ago. Today she had strength enough to lift her trunk and legs entirely off the bed as well as walk, sit, stand, and lie down with balancing support from John or myself.

This evening, Dean, John, various nurses and I enjoyed reading out loud with her about five days worth of this blog and your loving comments. She smiled so much that her cheeks developed little rosy circles -- she resembled "Mrs. Claus!"

It really began to dawn on her just how devastating the news was in those first few days, and how uncertain everybody was about her prognosis. She's just in awe of this story as we unravel the details for her little by little. It is such a blessing to have it so well documented on Blogger. She still can't remember anything past the fact that she was riding her scooter home that Wednesday. We know she was in much pain upon arrival at the emergency room, so it is probably best that she doesn't remember that. She agrees.

Mom still has drainage tubes connected to her right lung, her skin graft, and booties attached to an air pump to reduce the swelling in her feet. She has dozens of scratches, scrapes and stitches that are steadily healing on nearly every area of her from head to toe. Today, I began to carefully clean some of the pavement that is still imbedded into abrasions on her scalp.
I hope to remember her optimistic spirit if I am ever incapacitated in any way. I believe I would more likely wallow in self-pity for a while. She amazes me!

Linda is anxious to dictate her own comments and posts to this blog as soon as we manage to read it all to her. Ergonomically speaking, it's much too awkward for her to have the laptop in front of her or to type, but her fingers are really very agile and will be ready as soon as the right wrist is freer and her left forearm has healed a bit.

~Mindy

A friend of mine that my daughter, Shannon, babysits for took this picture of her and just sent it to me. I thought Mom's schoolmates would enjoy seeing how much she looks like her at this age of 12. Shannon's hair is a beautiful golden red color and full of curls. She misses talking to and getting to see her Nana. We hope to all come down in a week or two to visit.

I'm so thankful that Mindy can be there with Mom. She will be writing most of this blog now and I look forward to reading her posts and keeping up with Mom's progress from her perspective. - Diane

Keep getting stronger Mom!

Linda voted today!

By absentee ballot, our patient was allowed to vote with John's help! I wish I could too, next week, but since I'm registered in the CNMI they won't let me. ~Mindy

Skin graft surgery went well.

Just after arriving from Saipan, late this afternoon, John drove me straight to UAMS but Mom was still in pre-op. and it was a few hours before I could see her in the recovery room. I was so amazed to see how alert and optimistic she looked, since I had only been able to talk to her by telephone 2 days ago, and even though she'd just woken up from skin graft surgery on her left arm 30 minutes earlier, she asserted amazing energy, even lifting both arms and shoulders trying to hug me! She bubbled over with much to say about everything that's been happening, and was so overstimulated that we soon had to leave the recovery room because it was raising her blood pressure. I thanked mom for never giving up without a fight! She smiled so radiantly and appreciatively. We met her upstairs in her room about a half hour later. She was so thirsty, once again, because they just couldn't give her more than a few ice chips before and after surgery so as not to upset her tummy. She will be so grateful for an oasis in the dry, arid desert of thirst that she must endure. She asked for sweet, cold, icy drinks!

It was so hard to leave her side, but I want to be useful to her tomorrow, and since I have barely slept in about 32 hours since departing Saipan, I had to let John drive me to the house for a little rest tonight.

The skin graft went very well. Dr. Yuen, the plastic surgeon, took a patch of skin from her thigh for repairing the damaged skin of her left forearm. She will be observed about a week to make sure it takes well and healthy new growth of skin resumes as expected. He said that once about 80% of the graft is working, the rest will soon follow. The skin graft is covered with a spongy bandage and covered in plastic "shrink wrap" connected by a tube to a vacuum device which will assist the healing process. Fortunately, the irritating respirator was removed immediately following the surgery. It is such a relief that her breathing is doing so well, and also that she will be able to stand and move around a bit when needed. The recuperation will take a lot of patience as her body tries to catch up with her mental fitness. We also spoke to Dr. Ahmed, who had done the surgery on her neck who said she must also wear the neck brace to avoid moving her neck for 8 to 12 weeks. She may take it off while resting, but it seems risky because of her desire to animate her speech with so many jestures. She really wants to see and partake in everything around her as much as she can and the brace limits her peripheral vision. We think the pain medication leads her to believe she can do more than she's ready for!

Good night, Mom. It's so great to be here with you and kiss your smiling face and hold your hand. Love, Mindy

Thank you to all of the people who have sent such nice flowers, gifts and cards for my mom. They are all around her room and at the house and in the refrigerator, and I will gradually get to help her read and view them all this week, now that she's out of her amnesia. She is so thankful for all the prayers and kindness.

Another good day of progress

My whole family talked to Mom today and she was excited to hear us. She says she is growing stronger and better with each day and is moving a little more for a little longer too. She gets up and walks some and has help with anything she needs.

She said there are 14 people on the ward where she is and she is sharing all your prayers with them too. She feels so blessed to have so many prayers for her recovery and said that it is really a special thing to have people telling you every day that they are so glad you're still here and praying for you to continue getting better. Everyone is telling her they love her and want the best for her. She's really rejoicing.

Tomorrow's surgery is not planned but they said will most likely be in the afternoon. They have taken a chunk of skin from her thigh and cultured in the lab to prepare it to placed it on her arm tomorrow. Unfortunately, they are going to put her on a respirator again for this surgery due to the injuries of her lungs.

They told her she had over 9 ribs broken and she feels them, even through the pain medicine, although not too bad. She really dislikes being drugged but she understands that she really needs it right now. She is still having a little fluid retention and swelling in her feet so they gave her some new tight fitting booties today that blow up with air to squeeze her feet and make funny farty noises when they deflate.

John said her blood pressure was slightly elevated today so they put her on the meds for that. Pray that is will be normal tomorrow and not an issue for the surgery.

Mindy is due to arrive around 4:30. It takes her two days to get here but she is 14 hours ahead of us so she leaves on Monday and arrives on Monday, or something like that. Mindy is in graduate school! She's taking online courses for a masters in library science. She can continue from here and help Mom too.

John says Mom is really upbeat and chipper and has quite a bit of her sense of humor despite her issues. She loves hearing from her friends and loved ones and she wants so much to read your messages on this blog but just can't focus on much right now. John read some of it and said she will get some printed copies to look at soon. Thanks everyone for reading and keeping up with her and especially for all of your prayers.