My Visit with Mom by Jeanene

Hi everyone, I got to be with Mom Tues and Wed and find out about things there at the Rehab Center and just enjoy Mom. It actually was enjoyable for me. So thanks to each of you who were inspired to have her go there. The staff was great, very concerned about mom and very sweet with me. The physical therapist is wonderful and good with mom and she likes him, Craig. (Craig is good friends with our cousin, Jared.) The workouts and shower etc. really
wear mom out. She is so fragile. And with the pneumonia that, of course, makes her tired.
Consequently she slept a lot while I was there.  I don't know how much longer we have with her so I'm glad that we are getting to have this time with her to rally around her and show her our love.

 Thanks to each of you for all you do for mom and dad. They are so precious to us all. And, after
speaking with each of you yesterday, I know of your great love for each member of our family and your desires that we work together in all we do at this sensitive time in our lives with moms best interests in mind. We really do have an extraordinary amount of love in our family for each other.

I have felt, and it has given me so much peace, that Heavenly Father is so very aware of each of us at this time and is in total control of the situations that come up. Our faith and confidence is all we really need. If Heavenly Father impressed on the minds of some of you, who the rest of us have faith in, that she should be put in that facility, lets have faith in that, and in those there who are caring for her.

Love you, Jeanene

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE! By Sara

Happy Days are here for Mom! She is learning to hop a long on one foot. How many of you can do that at 88? She has been working with the physical therapist for two days now and they are pleased with her willingness to work hard, and she is pleased to beable to stand up on her own (with the help of bars on either side). Jeanene is up and spending today and tomorrow with her, and they are hoping to get some poetry written to share with everyone. If anyone (out of town) wants to send cards or anything I would be happy to take them to her. She is very thankful for all the prayers in her behalf

Tuesday Night Medical Report

Bytheway, here's half of tonights story. It's only half because I only have half of the story. Jeanene is spending the night in the castle and Dad went home to check on the ranch and to get some sleep. Earlier, Jeanene took Mom for a joy ride in the buggy all the way outside to get a much needed change of scenery. The Doc says that Mom still has a slight fever due to infections and possibly a mild case of pneumonia. Moms personal trainer worked with her on something - probably on her abs, biceps, triceps and quadrupleceps for several hours this morning. I guess since she is the six-million dollar great grandma she just as well look like it. Well, that's the way it is, this August 26, 2008. Thankyou and goodnight.

Sunday Night Medical Report

OK. Here's the latest news from Pioneer Valley Rehab & Resort. During our visit Mom and Dad both smiled and laughed with us and the nurses. Yes, Mom is often in pain - that's how it is when you break your leg - but it's not the end of the world. Sara has worked tirelessly trying to help the rehab center get Mom's med's right so they don't make her stomach sick. With every shift change Sara had to start the process over, so it has been very frustrating. Tonight, they decided to try an I.V. to administer the med's so that her stomach wouldn't get sick. She did eat some of Susies soup earlier today. Hopefully, the I.V. will solve part of the problems. Sara and Marybeth talked to the administrator and we gave ideas to help make things go better. A decision was made to try it for a couple more days. Besides Mom getting enough R&R and getting the drugs right, the best thing that we can do is to follow President Hinckleys irrepressible optimism: "Look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen."

I took some soup into Mom and Dad yesterday (Saturday) It sounded like Mom had a rough night but was able to get some good deep sleep this morning. She was positive and up when I arrived. Marybeth was fixing her hair and she seemed to really appreciate that.

While we were visiting with her in the cafeteria Mom said "This is sure a lovely place. The people are so kind here" It was nice to hear her say that.

Today Gil and I dropped by for a few minutes. I understand that it had been a rough day but when we arrived it sounded like things were looking up. The staff is making adjustments to their routine, etc. which I think should help alot. Mom was doing OK when we came and was just getting ready to go to sleep. We heated up some soup for Dad and encouraged him to take care of himself too. We seemed to leave on a positive note.

VISITING MOM

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Mom is at the Rehabilitation Center. It is in the 5th floor of Pioneer Valley Hospital. Her room #506
Because they will be spending time in therapy throughout the day they have specific "visiting hours". Here are the visiting hours if you would like to drop in for a visit:
Monday-Friday 4pm-8pm
Saturday 12pm-8pm
Sunday 10am-8pm

Mom's Midnight Ride

It's been a long week. But it was only eight days ago that we were working on Mom and Dads sidewalk around the big tree trunk that Mom asked to borrow my shovel so she could plant her flowers in the front yard. Just a few hours later she was haveing a joy ride to the hospital in a big ambulance with decorative lights on top. It hasn't been all fun and games since then, but there were some funny moments when Mom was trying to overcome the effects of the anesthesia after getting her leg beefed up with steel (a.k.a. - "the six million dollar great-grandma") where Mom made some off-the-wall comments. I.E.; "I went to get x-rayed, and then they took all the kids down to get x-rayed, and it was all x-rated." O....K.... Hopefully at the Rehab center Mom can get the therapy she needs for the next few days to help ward off bloodclots or strokes. It would have been very difficult to get her the 24 hour care and therapy she needs right now at home unless all of the out-of-town folks were here to spread out the load. She'll be home in a few days or weeks. I'm glad that Mom is on the mend. I can't wait to see what poetry Mom writes about this broken-leg experience - I'll bet there will be a few verses about hospital food!

Welcome!

We thought it would be fun to start a family blog so we can more easily keep in touch with each other. This will be a great way to keep track of family members. I hope it helps! Love you all!