I've been extreamly busy!

Some have wondered why I haven't wrote in a while on, and I'm sorry but I'm just busy. Bobby had surgery on his shoulder on Thursday and I have been helping taking care of him and mom. Bobby is doing good, his surgery was a success and now he is just healing from it all. Two holes were placed in the front of his shoulder and one in the back of his shoulder. He only has three small holes and I think it's amazing what surgeons can do these days. One hole was for the camera and the other two were for the equipment to come in and put his shoulder back together. He has three anchors to keep his shoulder together and when his shoulder heals and the tissues, mussels, and cartilage form around his shoulder the anchors will dissolve. Bobby is sore, feels sick to his stomach sometimes and has been sleeping a lot, but hey he is doing great compared to other people who have had shoulder surgery. Mom is doing great too she can feed herself, brush her teeth, comb her hair, drink out of cups, can tell temperature on her hands, and still has her competitive edge. What I mean by competitive edge? My mom, I and many others played line soccer in wheelchairs and mom was on my team. That was the first time I had to pretend that I was handicapped and two of the people picked on me for it lol. One was stabbing me in the belly with a plastic thing (no blood was drawn :D) and one desperately trying to keep me from getting the ball in the basket. Mom was asked if she was an athlete and said no, then two minutes later yelled at me to wake up when she through the ball to me and I wasn't paying attention. It was so much fun and it brought back so many memories with my mom and I when we would play games together. I will try to write back soon but I am not making any promises. ttyl Love you all and hope to get back to writing more progress soon.

Mercedes

keeps on getting better

All the nurses, techs, and respiratory people call mom their rock star. Mom is doing a wonderful job. She is completely off the ventilator, got her trek pulled out today, and can eat whatever she wants now. She has also been pushing around a manual wheelchair for a little while everyday. I hope she gets better with the manual because that automatic wheelchair she had today, wow. She just about took me out, almost ran into the wall, had the hardest time getting out of an office, and I drove it and looked like I was drunk riding down the hallway. Point blank those things are very confusing and when placed with speed not a good combination. Oh and another great thing happened, well not really, but Bobby's fingernail finally fell off. He bashed his finger in the accident and it went through all the stages and now I don't have to hear, Mercedes my fingernail is going to fall off any day now. He has told me that everyday, like 7 times, for a week. Mom's attitude is fantastic and she cracks me up all the time. She is like her old self but in a wheelchair.

trucking along

Mom passed her swallow evaluation today. When we arrived she had just got done eating her beef stew and earlier that day she had some spaghetti. She loves being able to eat. Mom has a very busy week about 5 or 6 hours a day of therapy. The people at Craig call her their rock star because she has been doing so well.

A miracle in the making

For a while mom has been having spasms going through her legs like crazy, so every time mom moves anything on the lower part of her body we usually think its not really a big deal. Tonight when we went to see mom, she wanted to show us something. She told us to look at her right foot, so we did. Her right foot moved under her control, she did it again and again under her control. It's hard for her to do but she can do it when she concentrates really hard. Mom has had an exhausting day. She learned how to brush her teeth, flip pages in a book, write a little, wash her faced, and she loved every minute of leaning all those things again. She also got a little pampering, a facial and a manicure, while she listened to a band play. I guess she was singing along with them and everything. Bobby and I wanted to leave her to socialize and get to know people better, so we were not there to see her while she got pampered and had fun.

Here is an invitation for all

I know this is short notice but there is a conference for my moms progress today. At 1:00 for all the people in the mountain area of time and 3:00 for the people in Michigan. The confernce line is 866 230 2904 and the code is 303 789 8403. Today is July 7 on Tuesday for all that are wondering. I have to go but will try to put on as much stuff as I can about mom's progress. Everything is just crazy busy and it seems like there are not enough hours in a day. Mom made a clay flute last night I made a twinky looking thing lol. She is probobly going to get off the ventalator completely, in the next couple of days. Her blood count is still going up its to 11.0 right now. She is on Mona Vie the nurses are putting it in her feeding tube. Everyday she gets better and I am amaized by how much she wants to learn about getting her body to work again. She always watches how we all do things and tries to find her own special way to do the same things we do. I know this is a complete tragady but I love to see how much she is growing. It's almost like watching a little kid learn how to work their movements and their body, and she seems so curious of the world and how differnt it will be from now on. Love you all! Mercedes

progress is still coming along

So much has been going on this week. Mom is progressing everyday. She has gone two sizes down in her trach and has an attachment on her trach, for the ability to talk. Her blood count rose from 9.0 to 9.7 and she does not need a blood transfusion, anymore. She was placed in a power wheelchair and has been driving really well. She has run over me and one of the nurses and ran into the wall backwords a couple of times but she is good. She has a shirt that says walk faster or I will run you over and on the back it says if you can read this I just ran you over, lol no she doesn't but I thought is was funny to say, all credit goes to Bobby. Her lungs are getting cleared up. She has been having a problem swallowing some foods but they predict she will be eating and drinking in the next couple weeks or so. Luquid is not going into her lungs it's just her swollowing mecanisims are not working just right. I would expain more but that MRI camera thing was gross and I just don't really like looking at stuff like that. It looked like a wierd heart movement thingy and when I see a heart out in plain sight and no body it makes me want to puke. She is doing great and she is up and optimistic all the time. She loves her classes. She has occupational, physical, and speech classes. It is ensane how people in wheelchairs do ordinary tasks everyday.