Sunday July the 5th

Here I am at St. Mary's sitting with Agnes. She goes home Tuesday. The cards have been wonderful, she says, along with the visits from Dorothy, Carol and Rob, and Pastor Mitchell. It's been mentioned that several of you tried to phone and there were problems getting through. Starting Tuesday you can call her at home at 628 288 4656. This will be our last post, as our job is done here. Agnes is going home.

YESSS!!!!!!

Just got the call from St. Mary's. Agnes will get to go home next week. She has been working so hard, she has been a real trooper. I'm moved to tears, it has been such a long ordeal for her. I need to make my airline reservations so I can be there at St. Mary's to get "trained" so I can help her.

If you are able to visit Agnes, she would appreciate that. Especially next weekend, the weekends are hard since she has little therapy and there is not enough for her to do.

Looking up!

Agnes has settled in to her routine at St. Mary's. Two hours of occupational therapy, two hours of physical therapy a day has her on a schedule and working hard. She is strong enough that she is getting bored in the evening, looking for things to do. It will be a few more weeks, they tell me, but the goal is to get her straight home from St. Mary's. She should not have to recuperate in a nursing home, and that is indeed a very good thing, because she would not get nearly the aggressive rehabilitation anywhere else that St. Mary's can provide.

Tuesday

Greetings from Los Angeles, and without the morning paper I don't have the date down yet today. Agnes continues to struggle to do everyday tasks - the goal for today seems to be to use the bathroom rather than the potty chair next to the bed. On Mondays, the committee of her caregivers meet and go over her progress and outline treatment, so we got the 'report' yesterday. I have to agree with Mother, 1600 calories seems like rather a lot for daily consumption. Otherwise, things continue to progress.

Sunday June 21

Unhooked at last. Agnes has gotten rid of all the tubes and wires (well, except for one or two that is only for getting her meds into her). No more oxygen. She is ordering from the menu. She gets herself to physical therapy. She gets to rest up this weekend (only one hour of physical therapy a day) so she can start fresh tomorrow with two hours of physical and two hours of occupational therapy. She is in and out of her room all morning, and gets back around 2:30 so she can rest up for dinner. She is using her walker, a bit haltingly, but compared to a week ago when she was flat on her back, it's more than baby steps, don't you think?

Thursday June 18

Such a blessing to be able to talk to my dear Mother every day. She is not laying about in bed any longer, no sirree. She is up, dressed, and out and about all day, very busy with 2 hours of occupational therapy and two hours of physical therapy. She returns to her room for a little rest around 4 p.m., so that is a good time to catch her on the phone. She has a single (read: small) room and is able to rest better without being disturbed at night. After 3 days at St. Mary's, Agnes is already noticing the difference. Yup, we got her in there to get her home, and it sounds just like that is going according to plan.

Monday, June 15

I hope everyone has a nice Flag Day yesterday. Agnes continues to improve, and is able to do normal activities such as sit at the table in a chair to have lunch. She is doing so well that today she will be transferred to St. Mary's, 6420 Clayton Road, Richmond Heights, MO 63117 Room 617. We had a wonderful experience there with my dad some years ago, and if they work as well with Agnes, she will be getting stronger daily and really on the road to get home.

Here is a link to the directions if you wish to visit http://www.stmarysmadison.com/internet/home/stmaryhc.nsf/documents/Maps+And+Directions and now she is also able to talk to you if you want to give her a call 314 768 5493 x 4617.

Friday

Good news, all of it good. Agnes has been freed from the trach tube, and she is back to talking like herself again. Talking and talking, making up for a month of silence! Probably on Monday she will go to St. Mary's, the place where miracles of rehabilitation are worked, to get her on her feet and on her way home. When we are sure that happens, the address will be here and I am sure Agnes will be ready to welcome visitors from her new digs. Finally, finally, I am confident she is on the road to go home. Hallelujah!

Tuesday June 9

It has been one month and one day since I have gotten to speak with my mother. Today we talked on the phone, briefly. It was good to hear her voice again. Her case manager tells me she is doing very well, but I haven't had the chance yet to find out what the treatment plan is at this point. More phone calls later, but the most important one has been made.

Monday June 8

The very good news is that Agnes has been off the ventilator all weekend. Unplugged, moved out of the room, gone for good. She should be able to do more now that she is not hooked up. It will be a few days before the trachea tube is removed, to be really sure she can continue to breathe on her own, and we will see how she progresses.

Friday, June 5

Agnes had a good day today, they tell me. Breathing on her own, a little oxygen and humidity added for comfort, but no other assist. She is sitting on the bed, and able to eat a little bit. We hope when she is finally free of the ventilator, she can get around a little bit.

Wednesday, June 3

Agnes is making good progress weaning herself from the ventilator. Everything continues to point to progressively getting well. Not much to say, because I can't see her for myself, but I hear she is laughing with Carol (bless her).

Monday June 1

The news continues to be good from St. Louis. Agnes got to watch a couple of ballgames this weekend as the Cards played the Giants - she even got to watch them win one although the Giants won the series (I get bragging rights here). She is eating, she transferred to a chair, and she took a step in her walker. We should have some plan as to her treatment toward the end of the week. Sounds like she is strong enough to have visitors, although of course she is not talking at this time.

Saturday May 30

Hard to get much information on the weekends when my usual contacts are off enjoying the rest of their lives apart from work. Agnes appears to be resting comfortably, eating a little bit, getting weaned from the respirator with no apparent medical issues. Another day for baby steps on the way to coming home. Thank you Pastor Mitch for bringing her communion. That will be a great comfort to her.

Thursday May 28

Agnes is settling in to the new hospital. Moving via ambulance with a different respirator tired her out and then things are different in one place vs. the other. However, she is alert, getting a little physical therapy, doing a little breathing on her own, and she got to eat some ice chips the other day. I think now that she is settled she should start making progress every day toward getting back home. I'm making a lot of phone calls every day to keep tabs on her progress.

Wednesday, June 27

Agnes is at Kindred Hospital now. I talked to everyone yesterday and sent a "hello" to her. She was looking at her cards and taking a little bit of ice yesterday. She has finally learned to communicate, so I am sure that will make her feel better. Today she will be evaluated and a treatment plan put in place. Thanks for all the cards, prayers and good wishes. I think it is all starting to pay off. Here are her cats, Fifi and Kelly, waiting for her to come home.

at the ole' ball game

The most amazing phone call this afternoon came from Carol. While I was there we had only problematic communication. The one day she wanted to tell me something was a disaster, and I finally had to leave since we were driving each other crazy. She was too weak and too sedated to really be aware. When Carol visited today, she was ready to use the letter board to tell them where she hurt, and that she wanted to watch TV, and kept badgering the nurse until the nurse said there was a ball game on. Big smile, nod, nod. Sounds like Agnes has learned to communicate with what she has got to work with. You rock, Mom.

Tomorrow she will likely be moved to Kindred, 4930 Lindell Boulevard in St. Louis, 63108. They will use a special ambulance used to transport patients on ventilators. This is special place that we have checked out, and then I visited. She will have hours of physical and occupational therapy every day. Agnes knows well where this is since her mother, Hazel, was switchboard operator at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel across the street. Carol has promised to read cards to her tomorrow.

Sunday May 25

Got my update by phone this morning as I have had to return home here in San Jose. Yesterday was a day for recuperation, Agnes was pretty tired from all the work of breathing on Saturday. She has also started physical therapy, which is going to be a long road after being virtually motionless for almost 2 weeks. She spent a bit of the day back on the ventilator to let her rest. There was a final minor surgical procedure to stabilize her, and she is doing fine now. Tomorrow she will be moved from Anderson to another place to allow her to be weaned off the ventilator and restored to health. Stay tuned for more tomorrow. Meanwhile, thank you, staff at Anderson, for keeping my mother with us. Good luck with the new ICU, shown under construction here, and may you keep up with the work of saving lives.

Update by proxy...

Agnes is still in the ICU and breathing on her own during the day. She is on the ventilator at night to allow her to rest. Agnes is beginning physical therapy.

My computer has crashed, so this is my last post until later this week.

Sat May 23

Agnes is making some progress. She was only on the ventilator for the night with light sedation. Last night and again today she is breathing on her own. Staples were removed from incision, replaced by SteriStrips. She is more than ready to go home, but it will be awhile. She is very frustrated by her inability to communicate, and restless. I'm sure she is uncomfortable, both from laying in bed for so long and from having to work so hard to breathe. The IV feed will go away today and she is tolerating the tube feed much better.

Unfortunately this will be my last "live" post from her bedside. After 12 days of sitting here, I need to get back to work. Yesterday I went to check out the other hospital in case they need to move her there; today I will visit the nursing home where we can send her when she is ready for some physical therapy to get her strong again. Pastor Mitchel has been my rock, visiting the both of us daily and helping me sort through difficult decisions when she was so critically ill, and he will be checking up on her. Then there is our dear family friend Carol, my lifeline to Illinois, who will be cat-sitting, mail-forwarding, bed-checking and reporting in. Regretfully, in the morning, I will have to leave her in good hands. I'll be back when she needs me - for now I have to leave her in the good care she has been getting.