HOME!!!

Mom was released from inpatient rehab on Saturday!!!  She came home and will continue with outpatient rehab at the new Hendricks Regional/YMCA place out in Avon.  We are all so thankful that she is HOME!!!  Thanks for your continued support as we transition to yet a new set of challenges!  More updates to follow as she is evaluated and gets her rehab schedule later this week.

 

Rehab...

Just a quick update as I don’t have many details yet…Mom is on her way to the Rehab Hospital!!  She is medically cleared from the hospital—just one month after her ICU trip!  We’ll update with more details when she is settled in and Mom and Dad have a chance to meet with the rehab team.  Keep up the prayers for Mom’s strength and for her motivation!

Update 11/18/11

Well this week has been a fairly good week. Dialysis was discontinued this week and Mom got her dialysis catheters removed on Thursday. Her numbers continue to look good for her blood and her kidneys. They were talking about sending her to rehab at the end of the week...and then there were some fevers, which means she needed to have blood cultures drawn. Some of her blood cultures came back postive for a potential infection, so they pulled her port out today and started an antibiotic. Getting discharged to rehab is on hold until they get the infection and antibiotics sorted out.
So in the meantime, Mom will continue to do physical and occupational therapy here at IUSCC. She continues to get stronger everyday!!
Please continue to pray for her health and strength.
Thanks to all!!

Update 11/13/11

So it's been a little over a week since the last update, which means things are calming down a little bit! Mom is continuing to make really great improvements. She can get out of bed with assistance and she can shuffle her feet to get from place to place with assistance. She's using her hands and arms much better now. She gets Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy daily through the week and has exercises to practice, along with foot braces. Mom is still on 3 East, room A8 and she will probably stay there until the rehab gets sorted out. Mom is still on dialysis. Last week she needed it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This weekend they said that she may not have to have dialysis on Monday because her numbers are starting to improve! If that's the case, they may watch the numbers for a few more days before deciding about rehab hospitals. If she doesn't require dialysis, then her options for a rehab facility are more available...if she needs rehab AND dialysis, there aren't many places available.
Dad continues to stay with Mom at the hospital. He stays busy with insurance/disability paperwork, figuring and refiguring retirement options (he can dream, right?), and taking care of Mom. The staff have been wonderful...making sure they both have what they need.
We'll continue to keep the updates coming...we're really praying for improvements as the holidays creep closer and closer, but we know that no matter where everyone is this Thanksgiving, we have plenty to be thankful for every day!
Blessings to all of you!

Update 11-3-11

It's been a few days since our last update, which is a good thing!  Mom is continuing to do well on 3 East.  She is getting dialysis Monday-Wednesday-Friday at this point...but the doctors will continue to evaluate how often she will need it. 

In the beginning of the week, Mom was still having a very difficult time staying awake and really being oriented with what is going on.  By the middle of the week, she was definitely a lot more "with it" and is starting to grasp just exactly what is going on.  The most difficult part is that she is VERY weak and has to rely on people (mostly my dad) to help her with everything.  She's getting physical therapy every day which will help her return to her old self.  Even over the last few days you can see her strength getting better and better. 

The other thing that the doctors are considering is sending Mom to a rehab hospital.  This would be necessary because Mom doesn't have the strength to really do the things she needs to do to be independent right now, but there is no doubt that she can regain all of that.  We will know more about where she will go once we have a few more things sorted out with doctors and insurances and all of that wonderful stuff. 

Overwhelmingly, the one thing that mom keeps saying is that she can't believe how sick she was and how many people have prayed for her.  THANK YOU!!  We hope to continue to report wonderful news to everyone who has taken such a thoughtful and vested interest in this journey. 

Update 10/30/11

This weekend has been so drastically different from last weekend, and what a wonderful difference it has been. Mom needed to have dialysis on Saturday morning, but the doctors think that she may not need it again until Tuesday. Those numbers are starting to improve. Mom is also a lot more "with it" and less groggy. There were several family members that visited this weekend, but I'd guess her favorite visitors were Dominic and Andrew today (although she didn't say so!).

Mom is allowed to eat a "full liquid" diet--so juices, soup, jello, ice cream, etc. She also takes most of her medicines orally now so she doesn't have to be hooked up all the time. She's tolerating it pretty well even though we have to help her quite a bit. Her body is still pretty weak, so it takes a LOT of effort to do things. Like Mom said though, she is going to keep pushing through. She keeps saying "I was pretty sick", but it's more like a question or a reminder because, thankfully, she doesn't remember all of the 'stuff' she's been through. Physical Therapy came in today and helped her sit in a chair. She really liked that she didn't have to be in the bed! She didn't want to get back in bed, but she has to keep moving positions so that she doesn't get stiff or have sores from sitting in one position too long. Mom also said she wants to keep pushing so that she will feel well enough and be strong enough to have visitors.
The staff have all been great--no surprise--and are really encouraging all of us by continuing to notice all the areas that Mom has improved.
Mom's a little bummed that she's going to miss Halloween, but in true Mary form, she said she'd probably dress up like a patient:) She said make sure you take a bunch of pictures, so of course we will! We aren't too sure what the remainder of her admission is going to look like, how long it will be, or what the next step is, but we are just continually grateful to have all of that to think about! For those of you asking for her address, here you go: 3 East, Room A8, IUSCC (535 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202).
Thanks to everyone for your support!!!

Wow!

Where to begin...I'll start with what I saw when I got to Mom's room today. No dialysis machine and no NG tube! Mom was taken off continuous dialysis overnight. She will still need to have dialysis until her kidneys start working again, but they will only need to do it a few hours and maybe not every day. She was also allowed to start a clear liquid diet. She took her medicines with applesauce today and she had some jello (and a few sips of diet coke!!)

The most exciting news is that they were ready for her to transfer out of the ICU. We thought she would need to go to the progressive care unit, but to our great pleasure, she moved to 3 EAST TONIGHT!! She's back in her "hospital home" where she knows the nurses and staff--and where they know us! It was a lot if excitement for one day and Mom was pretty tired, but she's making great progress!
Praise the Lord!!