Monday, March 30, 2009

Friends are Wonderful People

Tucson

I have to say that friends and family have really been wonderful to us the last month or so. Family has come to help, support and occasionally scold me into taking care of myself as well as Al. Friends have done the same. What would we do without all these wonderful, supportive people? Life sure would be lonely and boring!


First of all, thank you to all the kids...for your visits, calls, concerns, emails and generally just being there for us.


Then there is the remainder of the family, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws and out-laws. Your calls and cards have been great. Claudia and Larry, thank you for all you have done for us as well.


And for the ones near......Gary and Jeannette; Holly, Bruce and Cortney; Jack and Suzi; Jude and Roger; Pat and Patti; Gary and Suzanne; Elizabeth; Bob; thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you help and care.


Then the ones far away....thanks for the cards, calls and emails. And to Eva and Bill; and Donna and Gary for the beautiful edible boquet! It is yummy!



I also got a nice surprise from Tiffany and David today....

Daivd holding Sophie and Tiffany holding Ada...
and


Just a little grandma bragging....look at those dimples!

AL is doing well today. THe nurse has been here and taught me how to inject the meds in the picc line. I know why I am not in the medical field...I am all thumbs! But we got it done. Bruce built a platform for AL's chair so he can get in and out of it easily....it's 6 inches up and we call it the "Throne"...but it helps him get out of it and that was the plan.

So until next time all I can say is "THANK YOU" once again.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

He is Home

Tucson
Al came home this morning. He is tired, but glad to be home. He is walking well and getting up the steps was no problem. He will be on IV Antibiotics once a day for 4 weeks; and the infusion company is suppose to come out in the morning to get that started. Also will have a home health care nurse every couple of days as well as Physical and Occupational Therapist will be here two or three times a week. Pat, who helped take care of my brother, will be here for 4 hours, twice a week so I can have a chance to get away to the grocery store, drug store, etc.

When the doctor told me he was coming home with the IV I wasn't very happy. For two weeks they have been doing his antibiotics orally; however, the Infectious Disease doctor wasn't happy with the results, so switched him back to the IV. When the infusion company called me and told me that it would be $288 A DAY, I about passed out. WHAT??????? After questioning them about the cost they told me that Aetna (our supplemental) wouldn't pay. HUH?? So after a very long battle with Aetna, having to go to Boeing for clarification, and back to Aetna, I finally found out that it will pay, however, I have to pay the copay...which is MUCH LESS than originally stated. And the infusion company dropped the cost to $94 a day! RIP-OFF!!! Hmmm-and the medical world wonders why National Healthcare is coming? Glad I don't accept these things as standard and not question them! YIKES!

I have six pages of orders from the doctors of things that have to be done daily. However, most of it was being done before, i.e., checking blood sugar, blood pressure, making sure he walks, does the exercises, etc.

Both dogs and cats are now happy! The dogs follow his walker everywhere, however, Schuster isn't very fond of it! And when he is in his chair both dogs are laying down beside it. As if to say, "You aren't going anywhere again without us are you?" No dogs, we hope not. And Jose is constantly in his lap....and if he gets out Juanito jumps in. I think they missed him.

Thank you all for your care, concern, prayers, calls, cards and flowers. It is nice to know that when things get rough your family and friends are there for you. God Bless you all.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Small steps lead to bigger ones

Tucson
AL is doing much better...walking more and doing more things for himself. He can get into and out of a chair; to the bathroom and back; into and out of bed...all by himself. I know, that sounds like such "normal" things for you and I, however, he hadn't been able to do these things on his own until this week. He is using his walker much better now as well. He is still very tired and the doc's attribute that to the infection, however, his white blood cell counts are at NORMAL (Ric, you can call Aunt Joyce now) and his blood sugar is 130, BP is 145/68, so things are progressing well. He is still just wanting to stay in bed most of the time, but between the Physical and Occupational Therapist, Jude and myself pestering him to get up, he is up more and more. The "team" meets tomorrow for evaluations and the general consensus today was that he will be released to come home on Saturday, Mar 28. He will have home health care and home therapist for a few weeks, but I will be the primary care giver. Nothing new about that!

I have been busy cleaning out pantries, freezers, closets, dressers, etc. Trying to shovel out some of the excess we seem to have accumulated! Claudia and Larry brought down a load of boxes from Odessa; mostly clothes. There were 20 boxes and I have 21 boxes ready for the Boy Scouts to pick up! Needless to say, I am on a mission to get things cleaned out before Al gets home. He likes to "hang on to things", "just in case" he needs them some day. Well, I am getting rid of it all. He will probably never miss 99.9% of this stuff. I know I won't! Still have the master bedroom closet to get through before he comes home. I just got rid of most of his neck ties ... he has been retired 14 years, time to get rid of those! And I got rid of a lot of my shoes, (I know...shocking)...and a lot other stuff. If I haven't used it, worn it in the last 2 years it is GONE! Ruthless, I tell you.

We are going to have to have this house painted on the outside, so I have been interviewing painters! It's gonna' be costly! One guy was so high I laughed at him. I really don't think he wanted the job. An other guy said he could do it, but not until June. So guess not everyone is looking for work! I am waiting for bids from two others now. Should have started this process a long time ago, but really didn't want to think about it.

Other than that, I spend my days going up to rehab for lunch, coming home and working, and then back to rehab for dinner. It wears me out to sit up there with nothing to do, and sometimes Al sleeps so I leave and come back later. OH, and Freddy the Roadrunner is still here, being a pest at times, at other times he just sits and looks around. I call him our "watch bird". The weather had been wonderful, it has cooled down a little from last week, however the forecast has it going back to the mid 80's by the weekend. Fine with me.

So, until next time.....take care.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Progress is Progress, even if it is small

Tucson

Al is making progress...he is walking a bit more and can get up from his chair and get into bed. Baby steps, but progress none the less. He is tired, cranky and wants to come home. So things are getting back to normal, whatever normal is.

I talked with his case worker yesterday and the target date for discharge is Mar 29 at the earliest. It all will depend on how he progresses these next few days. The discharge team meets on Thursdays and they will re-evaluate his progress next Thursday and see if the 29th is still the target day.

He is not eating very well. Picks at his food. And I will say the food is not bad...I had the meatloaf last night and it was good. He says he isn't hungry and that could be because of the meds.

One good thing, they are working both legs, not just the leg/knee that had surgery. Hopefully this will make him stronger and he will have an easier time walking. It seems as if he gets lazy when he gets home, so when he comes home he will have a home healthcare provider 3 days a week and a therapist 3 days a week as well. However, I will have to be here when they are here and he will need someone with him 24/7 to begin with. Looks like I will have to search out a part time care giver so I can get a break and go do something. But I will cross that bridge when I get to it....one day at a time.

So for now, not much to report. I go to the rehab center usually twice a day, once at lunch and then again in the late afternoon/evening.

By the way, the road runner is still here and just as obnoxious.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Rehab it is

Tucson

Sunday, Mar 15
We are making progress today as Al got moved to a rehab facility. For those not familiar with TUcson, the hospital he was in was about 20+ miles from the house one way and usually in heavy traffic. It took at least 40 minutes usually to get there. We were fortunate enough to get him moved to the Oro Valley Rehab, which is in the Oro Valley Hospital that is 6 miles from home. He was very confused today after the move and disoriented. AND VERY TIRED.

Monday, Mar 16
RIc and Janet visited Al this morning and he was a bit better, but still didn't know where he was. His physical and occupational therapy started today with an evaluation of where he is now and where he has to be before they will release him.

Talked with the Endocrinologist tonight and they have had to change the antibiotic that AL was on as his kidneys were not handling the meds well. Al only has at best, a 50% kidney function, so the last thing we want is something that will reduce that. Al will have to be on an antibiotic for the rest of his life. This is due to the surgery of the knee. Optimal surgery would have been to do a total knee replacement, however, the docs didn't feel Al was healthy enough for a total knee replacement, thus the surgery that was done. Good news is he survived the surgery, bad news is the life long antibiotic usage, which in turn can cause other problems.

Tuesday, Mar 17 HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S Day
We visited Al early this morning and then we went to Gary and Jeannettes for an early lunch. Ric and Janet left for home around 1:00 p.m. today. After I dropped them off at the airport I came home with all good intentions of starting to clean house, however, I made the mistake of sitting down for a moment and woke up 2 hours later!!!! Guess my body is telling me something!!!

I visited Al this afternoon/evening and he was having a very bad day. The antibiotic med change wasn't agreeing with him and has to be given every 4 hours, so he didn't get much sleep. Plus, the therapist are starting to make him walk a bit further and get up and sit in a chair, walk to the bathroom, etc. He was tired and very cranky this evening. I didn't stay too long as he kept falling asleep. Poor guy has really had a rough time of it. I came home and had a major melt down.

Wed. Mar 18
Thanks to the dogs, I was up at 6:00 a.m. They had to go outside, and then there must have been a huge pack of coyotes right below us because the dogs would bark at them then the coyotes would howl. I gave up trying to go back to sleep.

I went to have lunch at the rehab center today with Al. He seemed very alert and aware of what was going on. That was good to see. But after lunch, he fell asleep and I let him sleep until they came to get him for physical therapy.


I returned to rehab around 5:00 this evening and visited while he had his dinner -- the food is very good as a rule at this hospital, but tonight sure didn't measure up. Dried out chicken breast, squash, and soup. UGH! He didn't eat much and I don't blame him. I did smuggle in a tomato for him and he ate that. Then it was time for his every four hours dose of antibiotics which is given through his PICC line. Oh Joy!


I finally left around 7:00; got home at 7:15 and he called me at 7:20 and asked why I hadn't been in to see him. :-( That caused BIG TEARS. Poor guy....he also is fighting Sundowners. It just doesn't seem fair...along with dementia and alhzeimers, why does he have to have Sundowners? I had a mini melt down tonight. Didn't know I could cry so much in such a short time frame. Should be out of tears by now.


On a brighter and prouder note, our granddaughter, Lori, was inducted into the National Honor Society tonight in Oregon City, OR. WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER! She is so smart and has so much going for her, and she is so focused on what she wants and has a plan of how to achieve it. She is 15, going on 30 sometimes!!!


As for life around here....RIC, come get your $%^& bird! He/she is driving me nuts. At all the doors "whimpering"! Ric has this ability to call birds...mimic their sounds. A few years ago he called a road runner in. Well, he did again this year and now this bird won't leave me alone! The road runner is my favorite bird, they make me laugh; however, this one is being plain ole annoying. She wants her new friend, Ric!



Saturday, March 14, 2009

Al Surgery

On Thursday evening Al had surgery on his infected knee. The doc went in and replaced the "poly cushion" between the two artifical knee joints. He said it was reallly infected. He also did a antibiotic washout and felt he got all of the bacteria. The surgery was only about an hour and Al did well. He is still pretty sick and on pain meds, but doing better. He is also on massive doses of antibiotics to fight not only the staph but the strep infection in his blood. He will have to take antibiotics for the rest of his life, but if that is all he has to do that will be great.

I was down with the stomach flu yesterday all day. I didn't go to the hospital, but Ric and Janet did and said he was doing fine, very tired, but otherwise doing well.

I am feeling better today, but don't think I will go to the hospital this morning and wait and see how I feel. I don't want to give this crud to Al. This year is definely a rotten year.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. I will keep you posted on his progress.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Bad news, good news..

Tucson

ARG..this is definitely gonna' be one of "those" years!

We left Lake Havasu City last Thursday heading home. Al wasn't feeling too well when we left Lake Havasu and said he was a little dizzy. He slept until we stopped at a rest stop right outside of Quartzsite on I-10. I took the dogs out for a potty break and when I looked back to the car all I saw was Al throwing up! Needless to say I thought to myself "Oh-oh, here we go again!" He said he wasn't feeling good and I wanted to take him to the nearest hospital, which was in Blythe, CA (the hell hole of the earth for me!) He said no, so I put the pedal to the medal heading home. He slept all the way until we got into Phoenix, where he got sick again. You don't even want to hear that part of the trip. I made my mind up to head directly to the ER at our hospital here in Oro Valley. Once there, Al was so weak he couldn't walk into ER, so two nurses assisted him.

After a 22 hour stay in the ER (yes, 22 hours...no beds available in the hospital)he was transferred to a room. His right knee was swollen and the ER doc had attempted to get some fluid out for testing, but couldn't get enough fluid out to test. Finally on Saturday morning the orthopedic doc got two big vials of fluid out and sent it for testing. By this time Al was hollering to go home, but still very weak.

On Sunday they discharged him from the hospital, on massive doses of antibiotics. We got him home and comfortable. That night as we were trying to get him up from his chair (we being me and him) he slipped and landed on the floor. I couldn't get him up so had to call 911 for an invalid assist. The Fire Department arrived and 4 fireman finally got him up. He said he was okay and was walking with his walker.

Monday arrived and he did fine most of the day, however, he was still too weak to get up from a sitting position by his self, so I was having to pull him up. Monday evening the same thing happened that had happened the night before. I called Bruce and Holly and they came right over to help me get him up. The three of us couldn't get him up, so once more I called 911. This time it took 5 firemen to get him up and he was pretty weak and unstable and they decided they should transport him to the hospital.

After on 14 hours in ER this time (still no beds) we got him to a room. The culture they drew on Saturday was showing an infection, but they weren't sure what type of an infection it was. The orthopedic surgeon who did the original knee replacement on Al was now in on the situation. He drew yet another sample of fluid.

In the middle of all this, Ric and Janet arrived (youngest son and wife) from Seattle for a quick vacation. Some vacation, huh?

Today we found out today that the infection in Al's knee is staff and the methods to get rid of it aren't great. Option 1 is to open the knee up and do an "antibiotic wash out" of the prostheses. This option is not very optimal as it doesn't usually work well and the patient winds up going to option 2 anyway. Option 2 is not good either. It is a removal of the prostheses, insertion of a "antibiotic block" into the knee area for up to 6 weeks, of which Al would have to remain in a skilled nursing facility as no pressure what so ever can be placed on the leg; then a total knee replacement done. This is probably what will happen and he will be layed up for at least a minimum of 12 weeks.

Right now he is on massive doses of antibiotics, which will help with the infection some what, but won't get it all. He is very weak and very sick. He will remain in the hospital until surgery is done and he is not very happy about any of this.

I am hanging in there...Ric and Janet are here now so that is a huge help having family here. I also have Bruce and Holly who live very nearby to help when Ric and Janet leave. Having Bruce and Holly so close is a big comfort to me. It is going to be a long haul, but we will get through it. It just won't be pretty at times.

Thank you all for your prayers, phone calls and emails..they are truly appreciated. Keep the prayers going, we are really going to need them.

Some good news today, I have a new great granddaughter. Ada JoEllen arrived this evening weighing in at 6.5 lbs, 19 inches long. Proud parents are grandson David and Tiffany. She joins big sister Sophie who is 10 1/2 months old.

So until the next update, we hope all of you are happy and healthy and living life to the fullest...it may change tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

They are all now 40!

Lake Havasu, AZ


We left Yuma on Monday and drove to Lake Havasu City to visit with Dan and Billie and Carl and Ruby Skidmore. AND to help Billie celebrate her 40th birthday! Yup...all the kids have now passed the "40" mark...yikes, that makes us officially OLD! ARG!

For her birthday Dan got Billie a Wii and a Wii Fit. We couldn't wait for her to open it! Needless to say..3 of us have had a blast with it. But the funny thing...the youngest (Billie) injured her right arm first thing! Guess the Wii Fit was a bit much for her..and she is the fittest of anyone I know! This girl is not only a Lt with the LA County Sheriff, but runs daily and works out daily..at least once. AND SHE IS THE ONE THAT PULLED A MUSCLE! Tee hee... I love the bowling, tennis, baseball, skiing on the Wii. Haven't tried the aerobics yet, but LOVE the yoga. Al and I went out and bought one yesterday for us. I hope he will use it a little as I bought him the hunting game...anything to get him moving a little. Our doctor, before he died, recommend the Wii as a method of excercise and maybe getting Al interested in moving a little. I AM HOOKED!

Last night we went out to dinner at ShoGun...and had such an excellent tepenyaki meal that we are going back tonight! It was 100% better than BeneHana's and a lot cheaper as well. They just opened last weekend and we hope they make a go of it. Now I am going to have to look for one in Tucson. Oh, and the Sushi was great as well.

Billie and Dan have a new puppy..Mocha. She is a mix of cocker and poodle and boy is she ever cute and full of energy. She is giving all of us, including Beau and Schuster! So much energy in one little, cute, fluffy ball! As you can see Mocha never stops moving!

We visited briefly with Ruby and Carl when we arrived on Monday and told them we would spent today with them. Well, things haven't exactly worked out right. Ruby was complaining on Monday that her heart was really racing (paying attention here Jeannette?)...turns out she is in atrial fibralation and her doctor threw her in the hospital yesterday to get her heart rate down and run some tests. We are getting ready to go see her and find out what is going on. THIS IS NOT A GOOD YEAR I tell ya'!

We will drive home tomorrow to get ready for Ric and Janet's visit next week. Also Jack and Suzi will be at our house this weekend as Suzi has a show in Oro Valley this weekend. Drop by her stained glass booth if you are in the area...Stained Glass by Suzi. She really has some great things.

Hope this finds everyone doing well and happy with their life...remember live for today for tomorrow may not come!

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Yuma

Yuma, Az

It is 87 degrees out...we must be in Yuma! We drove over here on Friday to visit some good friends, Dick and Lano and tomorrow we will head to Lake Havasu City to meet up with Bille and Dan to celebrate Bille's 40th birthday! I ask you, how did all these "kids" get tp be 40+? No,don't answer that! Don't wantta' know!

Yesterday Lano and I went over to the swap meet here in Yuma...it rivals the Mesa Swap meet. We had just got there and wandered into a booth that made corian cutting boards and carried Rada knives. I looked at the man running the booth, thought to myself, he looks familiar, but then just dismissed it. The lady that rang up our purchase looked familiar as well, but...hmmm. We started to walk away when it hit me! I know those people. I went back and asked the man, "Is your name Bob?" He looked at me funny, but answered "yes"...I said "and your last name is Berry?" and then he really looked at me funny and said yes. I then told him who I was and he just exploded! I knew that was you....but I wasn't sure. Bob and Char Berry were Boeing friends, Al was with them in Iran and Bob and I worked together for awhile teaching "quality" classes at Boeing. We haven't seen them since 1998 and had lost contact. We were talking about them not too long ago and I had Googled them at that time and came up with way too many Bob Berry's. So today Al and I went back to the swap meet and visited with them for a while. They have a small business and are at the Swap Meet every weekend in the winter. It was good to see them and we promised to stay in contact. You just never know who you will meet up with, where ever you are...proving this is a small world.

Last Thursday was a busy day for me. I had a quilting class all day....this class is a bit advanced for me, but I got through it. It was fun and I learned a lot. Then, Thursday night I met the "girls", Jeannette, Holly and Suzi for dinner at Delectables, which was truly delectable, and then we all went to see "Menopause, the Musical." I had seen it once before and I knew that at least Suzi and Jeannette would find it funny...hilarious, side splitting. Holly, being so young, enjoyed it, and it gave her a preview of things to come. This truly is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. I would see it again. We laughed until we cried...our sides hurt and our eyes watered. We all had a great time...and we all said we wanted to make this a habit..once a month dinner and show with the girls.

So now we are enjoying our friend here and will see the Skidmore's when we are in Havasu and we are looking forward to a visit with them. We will be home on Thursday to get ready for the next round of company, Ric and Janet on the 10th. Jack and Suzi will be at our house over the weekend as they have a show in Oro Valley, but I don't classify them as company anymore...they are home at our house!

Until next time....

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