Jinxed!

Well, rats...

I guess I jinxed her when I talked about not going to the hospital in December.

She started feeling sick to her stomach right after Christmas. We got a call Sunday night that they were transferring her back to the hospital due to another blockage in her stomach. She was to talk to her surgeon Monday morning.

She did, and he's against surgery- doesn't think she's strong enough to last. He wants to bring in someone to check if maybe they can do some sort of "plasty" for the bowel section. Sort of a colonoplasty? He hopes that may stop the problems before they have to resort to surgery.

Otherwise, it's the same routine at the hospital- pump her stomach until they can get the blockage to soften and pass. They also give her pain killers at the hospital, so she's a little bit in happy land...

We are also trying to monitor foods that may be causing blockage problems (like bananas?). We may be looking at foods more high in fiber to keep things moving.

Dad was with her through the transfer to the hospital and into a room- he was there until after 2:00 a.m. Last night (Monday night), she sent him home at about 7:00 p.m. and told him to get some rest; she turned off the TV after taking her pain medication and went straight to sleep! So, we haven' t seen her since she's been in the hospital this time.

A good Christmas

Mom continues to improve- it looks like we will finish December without ever going to the hospital, and that will be the first time since she came to Vista Ridge that she hasn't spent some part of a month in the Lewisville Hospital. (She spent most of October in the hospital.) She continues to eat well, but physical improvements are slowed since they cut back on the physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Hopefully, she (with Dad's help) will do a lot more on their own, but it is tough and can be quite painful, so we will see. I think the fact that she has plateaued on her improvement has been a little disheartening.

Christmas Day was busy around the house- all the creatures were stirring (except Michael- at least not until noon). All of Pam's family came over and enjoyed the meal with Dad; afterwards, he took a plate up to Mom and she ate most of it! That afternoon, we caught the end of "White Christmas" which lead to a discussion about Danny Kaye and a decision to watch a tape (not DVD, so it was a little fuzzy) of "The Court Jester," which is still one of our favorite movies. Just as it ended, sister-in-law Tamara and niece and fiance Thekla and Gary came over from the nursing home, so we enjoyed an afternoon of talking and playing games. By the time we got to the nursing home, it was almost 9:00 p.m. (Fortunately, Dad had spent most of the day there, and Tamara, Thekla and Gary had- as previously mentioned- already visited).

So, we caroled for a short time outside her window. When we realized Dad wasn't there to open the shades to help her see, we decided to go on inside. (We sang at a "mezzopiano" as not to wake Mom's new roommate- turned out it wasn't a problem after all).

As we walked up to Mom's room, we realize the call light had been turned on. Just as we walked in, the helper walked out. Turned out Mom had been a little nervous about "hearing the heater singing" and called for help!

We laughed for a while, made pictures with Mom, Michael, Thekla, and Gary, but only stayed a short while and came on back home.

We'll check today to see if the heater has done any more singing since we left!

Here's hoping you all had a blessed and Merry Christmas!

The good news and bad news...

First, the good news-- it was another good week! The routines for taking pills, eating, balancing, regaining some continence are all coming together slowly-- but at least they are coming together! So far, she has had a good week of eating, keeping the pills (with peanut butter) down, and everything seems to be in pretty good balance.

The bad news-- the 100-day time limit has run out. She is getting less therapy than before, so it may take even longer to really get to where she needs to be.

But the progress can't be denied. Although slow, she continues to make small gains-- certainly better than no gains at all.

So, it's almost like no news... which is good news. Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas, everyone!

A good week

This was a good week- very little (if any) nausea and continued workouts with the therapists. We are keeping our fingers crossed and holding our breath!!

There's seems to be a better balance (at this time) for the anxiety medicine, nausea medicine, extra potassium, fluids... all thanks to the magic of peanut butter and Dad willing to go to Wendy's or wherever and get decent food (sometimes). She still has a pretty weak stomach for smells (boiled cabbage makes me a little queasy- you can imagine what it does for her- and she LIKES boiled cabbage!).

Probably won't get to home for Christmas after all, but we are still hoping- and hoping she continues to make improvements!

Ya in, ya out...

The nausea continued, as did the broth for all meals and the IV bags of saline, until last Thursday, when she took a trip back to the hospital. Potassium was at such a critical low they felt it could cause a heart attack. In the emergency room, they gave her four bags of potassium over about 5 hours, which solved all kinds of problems. Eased the nausea, stopped the problems with dehydration, and generally made her feel better. She was sent back to Vista Ridge that night.

We saw her last night, eating a regular meal of chicken and dumplings, and generally feeling better.

Her grumpy roommate got moved out last week, so that's a mixed blessing. She didn't like having us around, but at least it was someone else in the room. Pray that, if she gets another roommate, she will be a little nicer!!

The holidays are going to be a tough time for her, so continue praying for her recovery and her depression and anxiety. She tends to lose the "light at the end of the tunnel" vision quite often, and, while we are hoping she might be able to come home for a while on Christmas Day, we are realistic enough to realize that she may not make that goal.

She did enjoy all the grandkids coming in for Thanksgiving for a good visit, and saw the boys every day they were here (Tuesday through Friday of Thanksgiving week). Michael stayed over until Sunday, and she enjoyed her visits with him.

Here's hoping for a great week for us and you, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The nausea continues, and eating is slight
But the grandsons are home and Mom's happy tonight!
She still has some trouble swallowing those dang pills
But she's getting a good workout via her therapists' skills.

She probably won't have much turkey or dressing or such;
In fact, I'm sure she won't eat anything very much.
But with Christopher and Michael both here for the day
There's not much to keep her from feeling OK.

So there will be an empty seat at Thanksgiving, and we'll be a little sad
But she still with us, and we'll go see her, and everyone will be glad
That she's still making progress, and and maybe we'll say
That she'll get to come home- perhaps by Christmas Day?!?

So happy Thanksgiving to all from the Mitchell clan
Enjoy your turkey and dressing and ham
And continue your prayers for our family and all
As we do you for you- Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!!!!

And out again...

Got out last Monday, November 17- back to Vista Ridge. And so far, so good. Still some stomach issues, but is gaining strength back slowly.

and back again

as of last Saturday. She lasted barely four days in Vista Ridge, still had stomach problems. Is back in the hospital with continued nausea. Had a better day Wednesday, according to Dad- but is still not having good days as much as she needs to.

She's out

Back into Vista Ridge on Monday. I got a call from the Doctor Monday morning about his concern for Mom's in-and-out of the hospital situations. Seems that there is a cycle of bladder/kidney infections caused by this bowel problem (a constriction in the lower colon). When she gets this blockage, she gets weaker, and the infections come back. They are looking at ways to hopefully combat the problem, but it is not something they are ignoring; just trying to figure the best way to handle it. Right now, they are trying to solve the problem by a mild laxative to keep everything moving.

Meanwhile, back at the Vista Ridge, she had only a semi-good day Tuesday, but they got her back on anxiety/depression meds, which really make a difference for her. If you go in to her room and see her frowning- she needs meds. Hopefully, they can get her back regulated on these meds pretty soon.

Bouncing back quicker

Mom went in last week with another bowel problem. The doctors said they thought it might either be a twisted intestine or some other problem. They may have now decided it is a constriction (small passageway) in the colon that might be causing the problem.

Whatever the cause, they seemed to find it and address it quickly. She got the tube out of her nose on Wednesday and we hope will go back to Vista Ridge on Monday. She's been feeling a lot better the last few times we have seen her.

She is (perhaps like the rest of us) ready for the election to be over! She's sick of TV ads for campaigns!!!

and back again...

Sometimes I feel like we can't handle prosperity. Then, sometimes I feel like all things possible are not being done the way it should.

Mom went back to the hospital on Friday after being out 8 days. We saw her for a few minutes, but she was knocked out, so she didn't see us. We haven't been back yet today, but are getting ready to leave.

They are looking at a possible bowel obstruction. This resurrects unpleasant flashbacks, as that is what seemed to be the problem that Midland could never seem to address, and so here we are again with another round of bowel problems.

They had her calm (asleep, in fact), and without pain last night, so hopefully she's still resting well today. They had her in the emergency room and were getting ready to move her to a room after they did a "contrast" test (which takes 2 hours) and then a CAT scan. That was as of about 7:30 p.m. last night, so we'll see how she is today.

Out of the hospital!

Thursday was moving day- she was moved back to Vista Ridge Thursday afternoon.

Friday was a good day, but she complained of her weakness- I'm afraid she lost some motion and strength while she was in the hospital all that time. Otherwise, she's feeling good and ready to get back to work! She has been off oxygen for a while, but still taking some breathing treatments late at night (I'm not sure for what, but that looks like it happens a lot up there with a lot of respiratory patients).

Three or four more days....

maybe, in the hospital. This has been a little bit of a rough time.

She is still on oxygen and liquid diet only. She is still somewhat nauseated, and has some anxiety issues (again). They put the PICC line back in yesterday, so she was poked and punctured so much (her veins roll, so it is not easy to get those things going) that she was pretty much too nauseated to eat. We visited with her for quite a while last night, and she's frustrated that this is taking so long.

Add to the pneumonia a bladder and kidney infection, and it's just going to take some time.

Meanwhile, she's missing out on a lot of therapy, and that's frustrating, too.

Hopefully, by the middle of next week (at the latest), she'll be well enough to go back to Vista Ridge to her regular routine (including eating real food!).

She is moving around better, and they did put her in the shower pretty much alone yesterday (which was a horrowing experience for her), so she is at least maintaining some strength and not losing too much mobility and flexibility she had gained from therapy at Vista Ridge.

Back in the hospital...

We knew she had a touch of pneumonia late in the week, but didn't think it was too bad. However, they called Saturday morning about 11:00 and transported her to the Lewisville hospital. She was having stomach trouble-- couldn't keep anything down or inside her system. Nausea and diarrhea. Not a good combination...

And it hasn't gotten any better. We were there tonight for a few minutes: she was extremely uncomfortable, anxious/depressed (I probably would be, too), and nauseated. She had some soup and cranberry juice for supper, Dad said- it lasted less than 30 minutes.

She's feeling very poorly right now, and the doctors are not giving anyone a lot of info, which makes me think they either don't know exactly what it is or never have seen anyone to really tell them what's going on. I suspect a little of both.

Meanwhile, it seems like every time I post, something changes. So, I'm hoping by posting that she's in the hospital-- she'll turn right around, get better, and get back out before this thing is on for 24 hours.

Maybe I'll give it 48 hours...

Anyway, she's pretty sick right now. Hopefully, they'll give her something to calm her stomach, ease the diarrhea, and get her back on track to go back to the nursing home for therapy. I hate for her to fall behind.

More milestones...

Another big week.

First of all: showers. She's only had "bed baths" since March. They put her in a chair and rolled her into the shower. She got to wash her hair and everything. Needless to say, it was a big day! They are starting to work in showers into her routine.

They removed her catheter and PIC line earlier this week. The catheter has been there since the surgery (late March); the PIC line (which is used to take blood samples and give medicine- sort of a port) has been in one arm or another (they changed it sometimes) for a long, long time- definitely since she's been in this area.

So- we're still making miraculous progress! She still can't get in and out of bed by herself, but when that comes, I think we'll really be able to see a real light at the end of the tunnel.

She is able to turn herself in bed now (for the most part) and is not always so uncomfortable. Her attitude continues to be upbeat.

Pam brought her some "thumbprint cookies" from Magnolia Bakery, and that was a real treat!

She got a cold this weekend, so was a little hoarse this morning, but was running no fever. The Cowboys losing didn't help any, either!!!

Let's remember Dad

I haven't spoken about Dad in a while, so let me catch you up on his "routines."

He gets to the nursing home each day about 9:00 a.m. or so and stays until early afternoon, when he comes home and rests. He goes back up in the afternoon and stays through the evening, coming in around 9:00 p.m.

Dad's pretty much made himself at home in the back room of the house. We've got a TV back there, so he can watch whatever for as long as he wants (he still likes the Rangers). He stays through the week and leaves for Big Spring on Fridays to get the mail, check on the house, etc. He returns on Saturday, and the whole routine starts again.

With our jobs so inconsistent (we're both putting in 10-12+ hours per day), meals are "catch as catch can" around here, so Dad has his own stash of food he keeps around- snacks, candy, coffee, and cokes. When we do eat, we always invite him, and sometimes he comes home and sometimes not. He's always ready to go out- and has several favorite Mexican food spots marked out!

His patience is immense, and as Mom continues to improve, he continues to be the cheerleader. He still takes some reading to the nursing home, but they watch a lot of TV together up there (when Mom's not in therapy) and talk about all the going's on around the world. He rubs Mom's back with an old washrag (she loves it!) and puts lotion on her to soothe her down after a hard day at rehab.

You know it's got to get old fast, but he hangs in there. He had a bout with allergies a few weeks ago, and looked really bad (especially around the eyes) and tired, but seems to be doing better now.

It's hard on him, but he doesn't complain. He's tired of the travelling, but would not have it any other way. He is living his vows to the fullest; if you were to look up"in sickness and in health" in the dictionary, his picture would be there; he lives that vow superbly (and the rest of those vows, for that matter!).

I know he continues to worry and misses his friends and routines back at Big Spring, but he staunchly continues on each day without complaint. He's made himself at home as much as he can (being a guest in some one's house is never easy- I know because I did it for three months or so when I first got my job at Grand Prairie), so it's just different.

He's a real champ. A great man and a Godly husband.

A hero and a real role model. Keep him in your prayers.

Thanks, Dad.

Getting Stronger Every Day...

Mom continues to make improvements. She has been outside a little with therapy and with Dad, wheeling her around in the sunshine and cool breezes that we have experienced lately as fall comes in.

She gains a little every day, and they work her harder and harder as much as they can. Her doctor came in last week and really complimented her, saying she had gotten much further than he anticipated.

Nothing really new- she is standing several times each day for about 1 minute at a time. They worked on her abs of steel last week, but it threw her back out a little, so they have slowed on that!

Otherwise, we are just making good strides!

Wedges, not wedgies...

Mom's stylin'. She has bought some relatively low-heeled (about 2 inch) wedges to stand in during therapy.

Yep, standing.

Still not walking, and not standing up on her on, but standing nonetheless. She goes to therapy daily and they have stand her up 3 or 4 times a day for 30 seconds or more. Her hips (including the new one) seem to work OK, but the knees are not coming around quite so fast. She still wears the boots to correct the drop foot while not in therapy, and is starting to be able to move around in the bed a little more without as much help as earlier, so she is still making progress.

All the food is much better at Vista Ridge now that it is-- well, food and not pureed. She continues to enjoy visitors and her depression seems more at bay, particularly now that she is eating. Still working hard in therapy, but no other real "breakthroughs" on that end; just continued hard work.

By the way, we did take her that Blizzard last Friday. I figured she'd eat about 5 bites. Instead, she ate about 1/3 of it and dug out all the chunks of banana and other stuff. This was after she had eaten supper (1/2 barbeque sandwich and french fries)!

This was a busy week for us, with meetings Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so we didn't get to see her much. Next week should be a little slower...

Food, Glorious Food!!!

Guess who passed the swallow test yesterday?

Her first "real" food? Supper consisted of cabbage, cornbread, and navy beans with some ham. (Doesn't sound good to me, but...) She loved it! She ate every bite, she said! She's drinking "real" water, not thickened. She was so excited!!

Later, when my wife went to see her, she asked Mom "what would you like most to eat that you have really missed?" It took her a while, but she finally said, "A banana split Blizzard." We will be going to DQ this afternoon to get her one!

How do you top that? How about actually standing up? Three times for about 30 seconds each time, according to both her and Dad. Dad said she is actually standing on tiptoes because of the "drop foot" situation on both feet, but it is a start. They continue to try to stretch her feet out, but this may really do the trick.

One more... since day 20 and until day 100, Medicare/Medicaid would only pay 80% of the daily rate of the skilled nursing care, and supplemental insurance they had also would not pay. However, Mom mentioned that they did have another policy... Dad found the policy and took it in (he's been paying $128 per day). Turns out that policy will pay $80 per day, so that made for more good news!

Dad will be going back to Big Spring today for his weekly visit, and gas here (at Walmart) is $3.36/gallon, so that's some good news, too!

And today (September 5) is her grandson's birthday! (Happy Birthday, Christopher!)

So, the roller coaster is up! Let's hope and pray we continue to have good days like yesterday!

Well, that didn't take long...

No sooner had I posted the last entry than things changed. We went to the Hospital Saturday at 1:30 to see mom- the room was empty! Sure enough, the nurse had left a message (as had the doctor earlier) saying that she was going back to Vista Ridge! So, she was back at Vista Ridge by Saturday afternoon- we went by and she was sound asleep, so we didn't stay.

Today, we did go to see her, and she was crying. Part of it had to do with lunch, but part (I think) was just general depression and anxiety. Dad asked if they could give her something, and she was calmer by this evening.

We'll see if they do any therapy on her tomorrow, since it is a holiday. Hopefully, they will get her back on the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication for sure.

It's frustrating- no doctor

Mom's still in the hospital as of this morning. When we went last night, she was taking a breathing treatment again. We saw her Thursday and she had another brief round of tachycardia (which leads to shallow breathing, or vice-versa), but other than that, was feeling much better. She had a reaction to some anti-anxiety medicine that gave her a pretty good rash all over, so they were using Benadryl to get that stopped/reversed. She seemed to be eating much better (was very excited about having oatmeal that morning, as well as a little coffee and milk- no, she's only supposed to have thickened liquids, but they forget sometimes...). Friday night, she had what she thought was pureed stew,; it tasted pretty good and she ate most of it, she said.

She didn't remember seeing the doctor at all on Friday. She did say she had slept most of the day. She didn't remember seeing Dad on Friday, either; she either just didn't remember or he slipped out to go back to Big Spring while she was asleep.

Whatever the case, we're not getting a whole lot of information from the doctor(s) as to why she is still there, or what changes have been made to her medication, routines, etc. Meanwhile, she is not getting any therapy there.

She still continues to improve mentally, and her speech seemed very improved last night to both of us, even though she had on a mask. We both think that she must have dry mouth (which affects her speech tremendously) a lot. But, the mist from the mask for the breathing treatment probably helped keep her mouth moist, so she was clearly understandable (a nice, loud, clear voice) under those circumstances.

We don't anticipate any change in location (back to Vista Ridge) over the holiday weekend.

Have a safe and blessed holiday, everyone!

Still in the hospital- back on the roller coaster...

I spoke to Dad this evening. I knew he didn't get home until late last night-- turns out he got in after 2:00 a.m. because they didn't get Mom into a regular room until after midnight. She's in room 171 (I believe..) in Lewisville Medical Center, just off I-35 on the Main Street Exit.

Needless to say, Dad slept in a little today. By the time he got to the hospital, the doctor had already made his rounds. Mom felt a little better this morning, but was feeling nauseated again by this afternoon and couldn't eat anything at supper (she did eat a little breakfast and lunch). They are still trying to find the source of the nausea, shallow breathing, and rapid heart rate (tachycardia?). In the meantime, they did give her more anxiety medication (according to Dad) and continue to try to find nausea medicine that works. When I called around 5:30 today, Dad said she had slept most of the day and slept all during our conversation.

Dad also seems to think they will be in the hospital for at least three or four days.

I guess there will continue to be days like this-- up and down on the roller coaster. We are all a little discouraged because she had done so well up to this point; there was talk of another swallow test soon (which there still could be), but it certainly slows down the recovery.

A bad night- back to the hospital

When we went to see her last night, she was not doing well. She had a bad upset stomach and just felt bad all over. Almost like having the flu or something; she was upset and uncomfortable (to the point where no one or nothing could provide any relief).

This afternoon, we got a call that she was having shallow breathing and racing heartrate. They put her on oxygen at the nursing home, but that didn't seem to help, so they called the ambulance.

She was taken to Lewisville Medical Center this evening around 4:30 p.m., and was still in the ER when we left at 8:00, but was in much better shape. Her breathing and heart rate were pretty much settled (although she would still have bouts of shallow breathing). She was on oxygen and saline, but hadn't had anything to eat since lunch (she did eat both at breakfast and lunch today).

We expect her to spend the night in the hospital (they'll move her to a regular room soon) and then go back to Vista Ridge sometime tomorrow.

Singing, the banana and the feet....

Good morning, all- last night was the first time Pam and I saw Mom for a while; we've both been working at school to get everything started with kids on Monday. Dad told me later that the speech therapist brought in a banana for mom to eat (and maybe some tea?). She did pretty good with both, and the therapist questioned her about her eating and drinking the whole time. She did some different tongue exercises with her, so both Mom and Dad were hopeful that the time would come soon when she would move "up the food chain" to eat something not pureed or drink something not thickened!

Dad was even more excited about the speech therapist having her sing. She did a simple vocal exercise (for those musicians, it would be the 1, 3, 5, and octave). She moved up and down the range fairly well, and Dad said her voice was "crystal clear." Singing- that's something we haven't heard her do in a long time!!!! Dad said she sounded just like she used to.

In addition, she is starting to move her legs now. The right one, not so much; but she is getting more movement in the left leg, including the foot- she's moving the foot back and forth in the boot.

Still no word on the special boots. More later.

Update as of 8/17/08

Mom has had a pretty good week. She has been eating more (they have her on an appetite stimulant and nausea relief) and is in better spirits (the Prozac must be kicking in...). Our youngest son came in last week (passing through to Oregon to visit our oldest son) and she enjoyed the visit. My cousin and his wife came in Thursday for a nice visit; our niece came in this weekend and she enjoyed that visit as well; everyone commented about how much talking she is doing.

That's been one of the biggest changes in the past week or so-- Mom is much more conversant than in the past. Previously, she didn't seem to care to engage in conversation, so visits with her were very much "one-way." Now, she engages you in conversation, listens and responds to what you are saying, and gives much more detail in her stories than she did even before the hip surgery. It's making visits much more pleasant for everyone involved!

We were told earlier (and all of us who have seen her previously have agreed) that she has lost some cognitive abilities and some decision-making and problem-solving skills. I'm beginning to think that is not true. She seems very lucid, very focused, and very able to remember and make decisions and realize the results of those decisions. She's watching more TV and able to stay interested in different shows now (she likes the Ranger games and the Olympics).

She is eating better; she's still not a big fan of the pureed food and thickened water, but is eating more and willing to try to eat more. She's still very opinionated about the food-- after all, it is hospital food-- but she IS eating it!

Progress is very slow, but there is progress. She is being dressed every day in regular clothes. Physical therapists are very concerned about her feet, and don't seem very optimistic that the "drop-foot" problems she has on both feet will be corrected anytime soon (which will prevent any therapy to try to get her walking again). The speech therapy is going slow; she still speaks somewhat "thickly" and, until she gets that tongue working more (she still can't stick her tongue out very far), she won't be able to eat real food or drink non-thickened fluids.

The worst problem now is the recently-discovered bladder infection; she is now in isolation and can't leave the room, which means she didn't have therapy on Friday and no therapy this weekend (I'm not sure they even do therapy on weekends, though...). Hopefully, things will be better on Monday.

Otherwise, we all just keep plugging along. This is a busy time for both my wife and I as we prepare for the start of school. Dad took an extra long trip back this weekend (left a few hours early Friday) to work on a leak in the house at Big Spring and mow the lawn (recent rains have rescued the previously sunburned lawn!). He was still back about mid-afternoon Saturday. He still has his reading materials, snacks, and general stuff that he takes to the nursing home each day to spend with Mom.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support!

A little background...

Good evening, all. I created this blog to avoid some mass emailings (not that they were so bad, but this just seems easier in the long run) about Mom's condition. My mother (DOB 1/23/31) has been in a facility (hospital, rehab, nursing home, etc.) since March 25, 2008. On that day, she went into (an unnamed West Texas Hospital) for a right hip replacement. She has already had a knee replacement, and has a history of problems with arthritis and fibromyalgia. On top of that, she has problems with anesthesia leading to lung problems (she had pneumonia after the knee replacement).

Things went from bad to worse after the hip replacement. She was in the hospital for a few days and scheduled to go to rehab; she went to rehab on time but was returned to the hospital with a bowel/intestinal problem. This lasted a couple of weeks, at which time the hospital told Dad they no longer had a place for her (something to do with Medicare?). Dad was told Mom could be moved back to rehab or to a nursing home; Dad chose the rehab center (we all agreed). She stayed at rehab for about two weeks and made very little progress; in fact, when we saw her there, the physical therapists working with her said she was not working or trying very hard. She had little or no appetite, and had to be helped everywhere (into the chair, to the bathroom, etc.)

After about two weeks at the rehab center, they said they could no longer keep her; the only options were home or to a skilled nursing center where she could get rehab. Because there was a skilled nursing center in Big Spring, we chose that; we knew Dad could not work with her by himself at home. She was moved to the nursing home in Big Spring in late April/early May. We still didn't think everything was right, but had to trust the doctors at the time.

After a few days at the nursing home, her local doctor insisted she be taken back to the hospital; she wasn't doing well at all. She shortly when into intense respiratory distress; the doctor in charge decided to put her into a medically-induced coma and put her on a ventilator at 100% oxygen. When I went to see her, he basically described her condition as critical but not grave; he gave her a 20% chance of recovery.

After about three weeks in the ICU unit on the ventilator (where she wasn't really making any progress), the decision was made to move her to a long term acute care (LTAC) facility. We were able to choose one in the Dallas area. Shortly after arriving, it was determined she would need a tracheostomy for the breathing tube. Mom started making incredible gains after the trach was installed; she was completely weaned from the anesthesia and eventually overcame all breathing difficulties.

She was then moved (about a month ago) to a rehab center in the area; but too much time had passed from when she had been under anesthesia. She had no muscle tone anywhere, including her tongue (she still speaks thickly) and no muscle tone in her extremities (arms and legs). It was determined she was not making enough progress and would need to go back to a skilled nursing facility.

Which pretty much catches everyone up...