On the road again...

After a good week at home with us, Mom & Dad are on the road back to Georgia. Unfortunately, because of the Thanksgiving holiday week, the physical therapist was unable to visit the house but Mom had a great session with the occupational therapist. We were also visited by a nurse a couple of times which was reassuring. They tested her blood--both her hemoglobin level and sugar levels were normal.

Mom is doing well. The back procedure seemed to have worked. In the past few days, she has complained of back pain but it isn't the same as before. I think she might have a strained or pulled muscle from using different muscles to get up and down. She is using a walker...most of the time but is beginning to feel stronger. She hasn't felt like using the walker lately but I made her (that went over well with both parents) because I didn't want to risk another fall.

They left Kentucky around 11 this morning. The Occupational Therapist suggested they stop about every hour & a half so that Mom can stretch so the trip may take a little longer than the usual six hours.

I will posting more details & pictures of their visit here in Kentucky at The Martin Messenger.
Here's a picture from Thanksgiving, though.

Also, Mom sees her Vasculitis specialist, Dr. Waltuck this coming Monday. I will be sure to let you know what he says. Thanks for your prayers and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mom is heading home...well, my home!

Mom is doing much better today. She isn't in any pain and is moving around much easier. Time to move my car out of the garage. Can't wait!

No pain but some confusion

We think Mom's back pain is gone. She is able to move around much easier and isn't complaining of the pain. Also, the endoscopy yesterday looked the same as last week--they found an ulcer but it was not bleeding. They will keep her on some stomach-coating medicine until she can follow up with her GI specialist in Atlanta.

Mom was very confused all day yesterday. She knows who we are but isn't sure where she is or what's going on. It is difficult to talk to her because she rambles on about things that make no sense. The doctors/nurses say that could be due to the anesthesia. She was put under two days in a row and could still have it in her system. She is off the pain medication now so hopefully today will be a better day.

Also, Mom and Dad will be staying up here for Thanksgiving. We are moving the feast to our house so it will be easier for Mom and are looking forward to both families celebrating together. In spite of a rough year, we still have so much to be thankful for.

Surgery & Two More Transfusions

Yesterday morning, the found that Mom's hemoglobin leveled had dropped significantly again causing her to need 2 more pints of blood. Also, she is having another endoscopy right now so they can check to see if the ulcer is bleeding again.

As for her back surgery. Yesterday was a long day of waiting. Mom was asleep almost the entire day which was actually good because she has to keep her arm perfectly straight during the transfusions and when she was awake, she was moving all over the place and setting off the machine. I finally asked the nurse if I could push the "restart" button instead of calling him every time. He said he didn't mind doing it but then the next time I called he said "you push the button." After a while when Mom would hear the beep, she would immediately straighten her arm and say, "sorry, honey."

First we were told the surgery would be at 10am then "late morning" then 1pm then around 2pm we were told 5pm. Well, they finally started the surgery at 6:15pm. The surgeon came to see us in the waiting room around 6:45 to tell us he was done. He told us that the bone was very soft, as they suspected.

She was knocked out from the anesthesia for the rest of the night last night but Dad said she was wide awake and alert this morning but still confused. As I said, she is have an endoscopy right now. I am glad it's being done early because she hasn't eaten since Tuesday night. They are supposed to get her up at least 3 times today. The internal medicine doctor told us yesterday that their goal is to release her by the weekend. We would really like that, too, as long is she is more mobile and the GI problems are under control.

Thanks for all your prayers, well-wishes, calls and even visits. I ran into an old friend at the hospital yesterday and he said something about how that stinks that my parents are not home where "their" friends can see them. I was happy to tell him that MY friends and Seth's family have stepped in by visiting them and even sending flowers. That has meant so much to them and also to me. God is good and continues to amaze me.

Surgery this afternoon

They have moved her surgery from 10 to 1ish. She will be unable to eat before the surgery which would make anyone irritable. Please pray that Mom has a good day and of course, that the surgery is successful. We are hoping this procedure takes care of the pain which then causes her to get back to where she was before this fall. She has not gotten to spend much time with Lyla (the main purpose for their trip) so hopefully, she will be released soon and get a few days home with us before heading home.

Thanks for your prayers. I will be away from the computer today but will post an update when I can.

Surgery is Wednesday at 10 am

Thanks so much for praying for Mom and for your support of our family. I had kind of a rough night with Mom on Saturday. She just gets confused sometimes and isn't herself. It's hard to take. Last night, I hung out with her so Dad could do some things he needed to do online and also so he could spend some quality time with Lyla. I am thankful for the time Mom and I spent together. She had moments of confusion but not like Saturday. We watched some of her favorite shows then flipped channels and watched the last hour of Dancing with the Stars. I sat on the side of her bed and she scratched my back. I joked about lying with her in the bed and going to sleep and she thought that would be a funny joke to play on Dad when he came back. :) I did lean back with her a little while. It was a good way to end my day.

Her surgery has been scheduled for 10 am tomorrow. We are praying that this procedure is so successful that her pain actually goes away immediately. That's not unrealistic either. The sooner she gets off all the pain meds, the better.

Hope you are having a great day!

Surgery to be scheduled

Mom had a pretty good weekend and has been getting up and about more frequently. She is also sitting up for longer periods of time which is good. Dad spoke to Mom's vasculitis specialist in Atlanta this morning and he agrees with the neurosurgeon that surgery is the best option for Mom.

Here is an article I found that discusses Mom's compression fracture and also the surgery options.

Vertebroplasty & Kyphoplasty

I will let you know when the surgery has been scheduled. It is supposed to be a pretty simple procedure that "could" take away her pain immediately. The surgeon said it takes about an hour from start to finish and can actually be done as outpatient.

The Weekend

Mom's back seems to be feeling much better. No decision has been made about possible surgery. We are hoping the neurosurgeon here in Lexington can talk to Mom's neurologist in Atlanta before proceeding. Mom has been very confused this weekend. We aren't sure if the pain meds are to blame or if the confusion could be due to her recent steroid dose reduction.

As always, thanks for your support of our family.

New CT Scan

So, it's a good thing Dad and I pushed for her to stay another day because a pain specialist was brought in and ordered another CT scan. (Apparently, the one done the evening of the fall was not of the entire back.) The new scan was done this morning and showed a "compression fracture." Can you imagine if they had released Mom two days ago?

The pain management specialist felt like pain medication and physical therapy could be affective but when we spoke to the neurosurgeon this evening, he seemed to think surgery would be a better option for Mom. He wants to see how she handles the pain meds and physical therapy over the weekend and then evaluate her again.

That's it for now. Thanks for praying.

NO Early Release

They tried to release Mom from the hospital yesterday because the ulcer is no longer bleeding and "that" is under control. However, she is still on LOTS of pain meds because of her back pain and can't sit up, stand or walk without feeling nauseous. Argh. So, when they said she could go home, we said, "...um, no she can't." They planned to keep her another day and would evaluated her today. They are going to do more test on her bowels today and also make sure she gets the two sessions of hard physical therapy today, too. We really want her to be able to move around more easily before we feel like we can handle things on our own. Dad is also going to ask about lessening her pain medication to see if the nausea subsides.

Transfustion Monday...Endoscopy Tuesday

PART 1 (Written Monday but not posted...oops)

Mom's pretty much the same. They put her endoscopy off from this morning to this afternoon. Then had to move it to tomorrow because the doctor had to go home sick. Her back pain is under control and they plan to start physical therapy tomorrow after the endoscopy. They are giving her a transfusion later this afternoon because her hemoglobin levels are so low. My friend, Teresa (a nurse), said that a transfusion might be one of the best things for her because getting that new blood should make her feel better pretty quickly. So, pray that goes well and the endoscopy happens tomorrow.

PART 2

I was able to spend the day with Mom yesterday and Dad was able to go for a good run. Mom seemed to be doing better. I think the transfusion really helped. They did find ulcers yesterday but they were not bleeding anymore. The doctor said prilosec should prevent them from bleeding again. She was supposed to start pt yesterday but was in too much pain. She did get up a couple of times, though, so that's a start. The doctor said she could be released today but I doubt that since pt didn't get to do much yesterday. She will have pt at my house for a few days until she feels up to the trip home.

That's it for now. Sorry for not posting yesterday

Endoscopy today

They have Mom's back pain under control while they run tests on the suspected reason for her fall. She is having an endoscopy this morning to check for bleeding ulcers in stomach (most likely caused by the steroids she has been on for so long). They think the bleeding has caused her hemoglobin levels to drop which has been causing her to feel light-headed after being seated for a while. Once they get that under control, they will begin physical therapy and make her back pain the priority. Thanks for the prayers. We really do feel them and appreciate them.

Fall in Kentucky

Mom fell today at my house here in Kentucky. She had been seated through a whole movie and we believe she was light-headed/wobbly when she stood up and then fell. EMS came and took her to a local Ambulatory Center where they did a CT Scan and thankfully found no fractures or new damage.

Unfortunately, she still cannot sit up without severe pain so she has been transferred to a local hospital where they will keep her for physical therapy and treatment. The goal is to get her mobile again so that she is able to travel to Georgia without pain/discomfort. Once back home, she will see her specialist to try to find out why she gets these weak spells as often as she does.

Thanks for praying for Mom, Dad and our family. This has been a long year for all of us. God continues to be faithful and we know He is in control and by Mom's side every step of the way.