An Update

Mom has been doing so well. Her physical therapy is going so well...she is even able to outside, down their steep driveway and walk up and down their street (with the therapist, of course). She has been doing her pt exercises on the days the therapist doesn't come which is great, too.
Dad is substitute teaching again and Mom is doing great on her own. For her own safety, she doesn't not shower if she is home alone but last week she was telling me that she really wanted to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. She was concerned that she wouldn't have time after Dad got home and before my nephew's orchestra concert. I suggested she place a kitchen chair in front of the sink so she could sit down immediately after and she did. It was very freeing for her to be able to do that for herself without help. Dad said her hair looked great, too. :)
She saw an orthopedic surgeon recently who did a bone scan, checking her bone density. He was pleasantly surprised that her bones were in better shape than he expected--considering how long she has been on steroids. He has suggested that she go on a drug called Forteo. She will give herself injections every day for the next year. It has been shown to be the only drug that can repair bone loss. Since Mom is still on steroids and will be for a while longer, he feels this is her best defense against future fractures.
Mom will see her neurologist and vasculitis specialist today. We are hoping they will decide to reduce her steroid dose even more. She has done so well with the dosage decreases lately. She will also learn how to give herself the Forteo injections. I will post again tomorrow with details of today's appointments.

Physical Therapy

Mom has had a great week this week. She was able to walk (with her cane and physical therapist) down their steep driveway, walk down their street & back and back up the driveway. This is HUGE! You should hear her tell it really...she was so excited about it. She kept saying, "I didn't even get winded."

The fall last November was quite a setback for her but she seems to be doing better now than even before that fall. God is so good. We are just so happy to see Mom's improvement.

Just thought you would want to hear this good news. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Happy New Year!

Sorry for the delay in posts...my hard drive crashed January 1st which has delayed a lot of things. Also, there wasn't much to really post about before today. Mom saw Dr. Waltuck today (her vasculitis specialist) and he, like the rest of us, was very impressed with Mom's progress. As of tomorrow, she will be on 15 mg of prednisone a day. He will see her again in a month to discuss reducing her dosage even further. We are very encouraged by how well Mom is handling the lower doses of steroids and have hope that one day she may even be off of them completely.

Details about Mom's progress: She no longer needs her walker, is getting up and down out of bed and out of chairs much more easily AND on her own. She has in-home therapy that comes several times a week and she is enjoying the exercises her physical therapist is teaching her. She is even doing them on her own like she is supposed to.

Dad said today that he feels like Mom really does want to get well. I agree. There is something that has changed in her that seems to be causing her to push herself. We are all so thankful for that.

We are also very thankful for all of you. You have been so faithful in your prayers for Mom and for our family and it is evident in how well things are going. We are hopeful that 2010 will be an incredible year!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas at Mom & Dad's house this year. Mom seemed to feel better and she looked a lot better than she did when they left Kentucky last month. The picture below is taken in the new sunroom Mom & Dad had added to the house. just in time for Christmas...literally. The painters and carpet-installers were there while we were driving down Wednesday. It is beautiful and was the perfect place to eat our big meal, open gifts or just hang out together. It also kind of became a playroom for Lyla while we were there!

back: Seth, Lyla, Ashley, Kendall (holding Zoe), Alison Joy, Jesse, Jessica, Justin, Jared, Alison, Andrea, Ken
front: Dad & Mom

I will be posting more pictures later this week at: The Martin Messenger

No Change in Mom's MRI

Mom received good news the day after her MRI. The doctor so no change since the last one which was done this summer. She will see that doctor again in January. She also saw Dr. Lava, her neurologist, who feels like she is doing pretty well. She continues to have various therapists come to the house and seems to be getting up and down more easily on her own. She tripped going into Steak & Shake last week but THANKFULLY was no injured AT ALL. We are extremely glad about that. Her back pain seems to improve with some ibuprofen which makes me think it's muscular and not related to the compression fracture. She will follow up with an orthopedist soon, though.

We are all looking forward to being together for Christmas this week...Mom is especially excited, of course. Mom & Dad have been busy getting things ready for a full house for a few days.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and God Bless.

MRI Today

Mom is having an MRI today at 2 pm. Please pray that it looks the same or better than the last one she had which was in June. She will see Dr. Waltuck at 1 pm tomorrow to discuss the results.

Also, a Home Healthcare representative visited yesterday and evaluated Mom's needs. She is suggesting the following for mom: a nurse to come and check her blood and physical & occupational therapy. Mom is also experiencing severe back pain again and struggles to get out of bed. Once she is seated or standing, she seems to be fine but the "sitting up" causes her a lot of pain. So, a hospital bed has been ordered so that she can get up more easily. She begins physical therapy today and will also follow up with a back doctor to make sure the pain is just the kyphoplasty healing.

Back in Georgia

Mom & Dad had a smooth trip back home last weekend. Thank you for lifting them up in prayer.

After arriving home, though, Mom seemed to have some trouble finding the leg-strength to get up from a seated position. She had this problem a few times while up here in Kentucky but we always seemed to do it together. On Sunday afternoon my sister, Andrea, was able to work with Dad in getting her up but Sunday evening, she slid down to the floor of their bedroom and Dad had to call 911 to get some help with her. Three fireman came and helped her back into the bed. Needless to say we were more than a little concerned with this drastic drop in her strength.

Andrea & Dad took Mom to her appointment with Dr. Waltuck Monday afternoon. After reviewing all of the events of the past month and taking into consideration the rough weekend she had, he decided to keep her medication as it is for another two weeks. At that point, he wants to do another MRI & see her again. He believes that the fall, the surgery, the bleeding ulcer, her having been away from home, etc, could be part of her problem. He wants to see how she does once all the other stuff is out of her system and now that she is home.

Unless something changes, I will post again with her MRI results and the doctor's thoughts in two weeks.

God Bless.

p.s. I have to share a side story from today. Today Lyla told me her back was hurting and said she needed me to put a patch on it. She knew her Mimi wore a patch because her back hurt. She doesn't miss anything.