Wednesday-Friday, March

Shar has been making good progress with all her therapy.  She has really improved the strength and control of her right hand and has even started to trace letters.  Her signature is a mess and would've been so easy to forge if it looked like this when my sister and I were in high school :)!  In OT, she has been working on getting a shower by herself and other daily tasks like getting out of bed.  Her strength has been coming back, but the process is slower than we would like.  She wants to be up and moving right now but she still deals with exhaustion.  

In PT, Shar is also making good progress.  She has been working on using her walker and has started to work on steps and curbs.  Some of the work is done in her room, but she does typically go to the gym almost every day.  

This weekend Mindy is coming down from Connecticut again.  Hopefully Shar is prepared to work, since Mindy is the ultimate task-master.  When she was down last weekend and Shar was getting tired, Mindy reminded her of the countless hours that she would sit next to us making us practice the piano.  So you know what they say about paybacks...

Tuesday, March 15

Tuesday was good day!  Shar did great in therapy and even started going up and down a step in physical therapy.  She said that she didn't do great at speech therapy but we explained that right now her physical health is more important than restoring her brain function.  Her speech therapy will take time to improve, so we encouraged Shar to be patient with herself.  Today she crushed it in physical therapy going up steps and walking.  In addition, she spent a lot of time outside her bed, sitting up in a wheelchair.  Jerry once again spent the afternoon and evening with Shar.

One exciting change at the rehab is that they are now letting their patients order their own meals.  Because of staffing issues and Covid, up until today the rehab prepared the same meals for everyone (with some substitutions for dietary restrictions).  However, today Shar was able to order her meals for Wednesday and the menu looks good!   

Monday, March 13

Today was another rough day for Shar.  She was exhausted all day, but still powered through all her therapy.  In addition, Shar was part of a stroke management group where the individuals involved were educated about stroke recovery.  She did work on walking a few steps down the hallway and getting in and out of her wheelchair.  

Jerry spent most of the day with her and Steph came in later at night.  She also had a surprise visitor - her granddog Coco.  We got approval for Coco to be a visitor at the rehab because she is a certified therapy dog and is up to date with all her vet appointments and vaccinations.  Coco did a great job guarding Shar's bed and cheering her up. 

Weekend of March 11 & 12

Sorry this update is so late.  Got caught up with family this weekend and the beginning of the spring sports season...

This weekend was up and down for Shar.  Overnight from Friday to Saturday there was an issue with her bipap breathing machine.  This resulted in her being very tired on Saturday.  But with Mindy home and spending the day with her, she had no time to be tired.  Her insurance only pays for 5 days of therapy per week, so on Saturday she had Mindy therapy (which was undoubtedly harder).  Mindy worked on her getting out of bed and moving, as well as serving as a surrogate speech therapist.  She showed Shar magazine articles and quizzed her on all the pictures.  

Sunday was a better day.  Shar was much more alert and oriented.  Mindy and Lauren spent the morning with Shar and they were laughing and telling stories.  At one point, Shar was asked what Mindy's middle name is.  She answered "Latoya" which made the three of them crack up laughing.  Shar then asked what Mindy's name was.  Mindy told her it was Irene and Shar scrunched up her face in disgust and replied "It's not Irene.  I would've never named you that."  Needless to say, the three of them were laughing even harder!  It truly is fascinating how the human brain works!

At noon, we arranged to have a family lunch to belatedly celebrate Shar's birthday.  The staff at the rehab were very accommodating and let us use a private conference room.  We had Panera takeout and Shar had mac and cheese and broccoli cheddar soup.  She fed herself and didn't spill any of it - which is pretty noteworthy since she was known to spill on her upper chest (which she calls her shelf) before suffering a stroke.  Following lunch, Mindy and Laur drove back to Connecticut and Shar had physical therapy.  The rest of the day was spent with Jerry in the afternoon and Steph at night. 

 

Friday, March 10

Today there were more steps forward for Shar - literally and physically.  In the morning she got a full shower for the first time.  It was exhausting for her, but she hung in there and felt great afterward.  In addition, she had 1 1/2 hours of speech therapy where they played a game with her - and we all know that Shar loves games!  They showed her a flash card of a common object and then she had to describe it to the other speech therapist.  It was kind of like the game password, which she made her children play when they had to wait for an event to start.  

 In other exciting news, Shar took 15 steps unassisted with her walker today.  This was the furthest she has walked since the stroke over three weeks ago.  In addition, Mindy and Lauren got to the rehab around 1:30 pm and spent all night with her.  They laughed a lot, but of course, Mindy provided her own therapy.  Shar certainly slept well because of the 3 hours of therapy coupled with Mindy therapy (which is probably a lot harder).  Lauren also taught her to make the "rock on" hand gesture so don't surprised if she does that the next time she sees you!

Thursday, March 9

A sentence I never thought I would type...Shar went to the gym today!  She also did a good job at OT working on standing up and down repeatedly.  She's working on taking a few steps with the walker and pivoting.  Shar is making slow and steady progress which is great to see.  It's also amazing to remember how far she has come in a relatively short time.

Shar is looking forward to tomorrow.  Her granddaughter, Lauren, is on spring break and is flying home from University of Kentucky.  Mindy will be picking her up at the White Plains airport and then will be coming down for the weekend.  

Special thanks to Saranae for stopping by to visit Aunt Shar the other day.  

Tuesday, March 7 and Wednesday, March 8

Shar has been making slow progress in all her therapies.  In OT, they work on self-care tasks like bathing and dressing, whereas PT is working on building her strength.  In PT they have her working on standing up unassisted and taking steps.  Speech therapy works on identifying pictures, answering questions and overseeing her eating.  They make sure she eats safely by taking small bites and chewing thoroughly.  They also emphasize taking a sip of drink after a few bites.  Even though she gets exhausted, Shar has been doing a good job following all instructions and working hard.

There have been questions about mailing a card to Shar.  Since we don't know how good they are with distributing mail, if you do want to send a card it may be best to send it to her house and then Jerry can bring them in for her.  He has been visiting her every day and staying for several hours.

Monday March 6

Shar had a rough day with all the rehab she worked on.  The therapists got Shar standing up from her bed and sitting in the wheelchair.  They worked on her pivoting and taking small steps.  

She did have an issue this evening.  Shar is finished with all her IV antibiotics from the pneumonia so the care team took out her IV.  However, with the blood thinners she is on, they had a very hard time getting the bleeding to stop.  She lost a significant amount of blood and was tired afterward, but in typical Shar fashion, she thanked all the staff for helping her.  

Tonight she had a nurse visit her from another section of the rehab.  Jeri came to check on Shar because she also works at Phoenixville Hospital with Shar's niece Saranae.  So Saranae asked Jeri to take care of Shar and to check on her.  It was nice to know that her family is always looking out for Aunt Shar!

Tomorrow Shar has an early start with her first therapy session scheduled for a 7:00 am start.  She is scheduled for a shower tomorrow so she is excited for that!

Sunday, March 5

The first day at rehab was up and down.  Shar didn't sleep well, so she was exhausted in the morning.  However, she powered through for almost all her therapy sessions.  During OT, they got her out of bed and had her take tiny steps.  She got into a wheelchair and got freshened up a little bit.  She then had a long speech therapy session where they did an assessment of her cognitive function.  They now know what strategies to work on to help her overcome the deficiencies caused by the stroke.  During the speech therapy session, the two speech pathologists watched her eat lunch to make sure she was chewing and swallowing okay.  She is still on a semi-solid diet, and did a great job eating turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans for lunch.    

She also had two surprise visitors - her sister Lois and her nephew Rick stopped by for a few minutes during her Speech Therapy session.  

After a short break following lunch, she had physical therapy.  Although tired, she completed almost all the tasks asked of her in PT.  Following a post-PT nap, Jerry came in to visit and to spend the rest of the night with her.  She sat up in a wheelchair for dinner and for 30 minutes follwing dinner.  She also moved from the wheelchair to the bathroom and used the toilet for the first time - which might be TMI, but it is another milestone for her!  We are celebrating all her small successes!  

Tomorrow she has another aggressive schedule.  She has OT in the morning from 9-10 and again from 11-11:45 am.  Following that she has a short lunch break.  Afterward she has a short PT session from 12:30-1 and then again from 2-3.

A few people have asked about visiting, but Shar wants to get a little stronger before she has visitors.  When she is ready, the visitor's policy is that she can have 2 people in her room at one time which they monitor at the security desk.  In addition, she can't have visitors during the times that she has therapy.  

Even though she is very weak from the multiple surgeries and everything she endured in the hospital, we are so impressed with the progress she has made and how determined she is to get back to her regular life of home, friends, family, card club, breakfasts, etc.! 

Saturday, March 4

Today is another good day for Shar!  This morning she fed herself breakfast and lunch and at 2:00 pm she moved to rehab!!  She is now in the Tower Health Acute Rehab Hospital in room #16.  After only being here for 3 hours, she has already sat on the side of the bed and stood up.  It's hard for her to sit up herself because she cannot put pressure on her left arm.  That is where the pacemaker was implanted and she cannot lift more than 5 lbs on that area for another 20 days.  The right arm is the one impacted by the stroke, so she is still gaining strength in that arm.  

At rehab today she did a great job with her intake - answering questions and following all directions.  The only bad thing about the rehab is that she doesn't get to choose her meals.  They only prepare one meal for all patients at each meal.  The upside is that we can bring meals in for her - so she might get the Chinese takeout sometime soon!

Tomorrow she will start her therapy, which will last for at least 3 hours per day.  Here is her schedule:

1-12:30 pm - Occupational Therapywhich will invovle her getting a shower and getting dressed.

12:30-1:30 pm - Speech therapy will work with her as well as monitor her eating lunch

2:00-3:00 pm - Physical therapy.  

Each day she will have a different schedule which they post the night before. 

We are so excited she has gotten this point and we look forward to watching her continue her already great recovery!  

Friday, March 3

Today was another good day for Shar.  She fed herself breakfast and the rest of her meals.  We laughed when she was asked if she needed help because she said, "No.  I'll do it myself"  She sounded just like her grandson, Tyler, when he was two years old and would always answer "self" whenever he was asked if he needed help.  

Due to the shortage of staff, she did not get any therapy today which was disappointing.  However, the hospital and Rehab have talked about her care and we are hoping that she will transfer to rehab either tomorrow or Sunday.  This is great news and she is anxious to get there.  This morning she asked when she was going to the Plaza, so hopefully rehab lives up to her expectations!

Her personality was also on full display this morning when her IV started leaking.  The nurses tried to fix it, but they had to take it out and put a new one in.  The vein specialist came in and asked Shar her name and birthdate.  She answered 1/25/1946 which was her correct date of birth.  The vein specialist then asked if she was Shar and she said "No.  She is" and pointed to Steph.  We thought she was having issues from the stroke, but then we saw the twinkle in her eye and the smile on her face.  She said Steph because she didn't want to get the IV put in.  It was so great to hear her making jokes again!

Jerry spent a long time with Shar today and told her he missed her at home.  We are praying that she can progress in rehab and go home soon!   Thank you all for your comments, prayers and support!  

Thursday, March 2

Today was a good day!  After spending all night on her bipap machine, Shar was awake and alert when visiting hours started.  She used her right hand to feed herself an entire banana unassisted for breakfast, which was a great milestone!  She also did a great job with her lunch, insisting on eating unassisted.   We were really proud of her.  She was herself today laughing and talking with Jerry and the staff.  Her nurse from last weekend, Kelly, who wa a huge blessing to all of us and was great to work with , came to visit us today.  Shar rememberd her and they had a nice conversation.  When Nutrition Services called to take her lunch order, she said she wanted Chinese takeout (she got soup instead).  

This afternoon, Shar was back to physical therapy.  She did all her exercises in bed and was even able to stand up for a little bit before getting dizzy.  She used her bipap machine for an hour or two in the morning then again for two hours in the afternoon.  She put it on again around 8:30 am tonight, so we are hopeful that her co2 level will continue coming down.

The most important part of the day was that she was awake for Price is Right in the morning and Jeopardy at night!

We are hoping there are more good days like this to follow!

Wednesday, March 1

Today has been an up and down day for Shar.  She did well in the morning, so much so that they moved her out of the cardiac critical care unit and one floor up to the stroke care unit.  However, while in the second floor stroke unit she started having problems breathing during her physical therapy session.  Her blood pressure dropped and they stopped PT.  They ran some tests and found that her carbon dioxide had gone up again and was again in the critical range.  In addition, she has been diagnosed with pneumonia, along with a suspected urinary tract infection.  Because of this,they started her on antibiotics for both infections.  

The doctor is also putting her on the bipap breathing machine for the next 24 hours except when she is eating.  They want to try and do everything they can to get her carbon dioxide in a normal range.  The hope is that once the co2 is lowered and the infection is controlled, she will be able to start progressing again.  

While these are certainly set-backs, we keep reminding Shar of how far she has come.  Following her value replacement surgery and subsequent stroke, she was basically non-verbal and we weren't sure she would ever wake up again.  However, she has made incredible progress and still laughs at funny stories and jokes and her face still lights up when she sees family and friends, both in person and on facechat.  She has made excellent progress with her right side which was affected by the stroke.  Just today she used her right hand to grip a spoon and feed herself yogurt.  She wouldn't have been able to do this even a few days ago.  She also has been compliant with everything that the medical personnel ask of her - reading, working on following directions, taking medicine, etc.  We are very proud of how she has handled everything thrown at her, which wouldn't be possible without her faith and the many people who are praying for her.  

Tuesday, Feburary 28

Today was a rough day for Shar.  It seems like the carbon dioxide build up is not dropping as quickly as we had hoped.  She sad she was very tired and slept a lot today.  She did a really good job with reading today and comprehending.  She still struggles to find the words she wants, but that will take time.  Shar doesn't like needing help or not being at her best, so she lacks patience with herself.  We continue to tell her how far she has come already.  8 days ago she was considered non-verbal, and now she can engage in conversation and laughs and jokes.  

Jerry spent a lot of time at the hospital with Shar today.  They held hands and watched Hallmark Channel movies (although they probably already saw them).  It was sweet to witness them together in this way, although they have always been loving with each other throughout their marriage.  Jerry did get frstrated that there is no quick fix for Shar, but he has been great about supporting her.  

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Shar will get an EEG to check her brain waves and make sure she doesn't have any microscopic brain bleeds.  We also expect that she was be transferred out of the critical care unit at some point and hope to get her to the Rehab as soon as possible.  We think she will benefit from the focus on therapy - both physical and speech.  

Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers!  We tell Shar all the time how many people are praying for her and care about her, and there is not doubt that makes a difference for her!

Monday, February 27

Yesterday was definitely a struggle for Shar.  We knew that this would be a marathon and not a sprint and that there would be set-backs.  Shar was fortunate that her nurse Kelly was great with her over the weekend and strongly advocated for testing to get to the bottom of the issue.  It appears that her issues yesterday were related to a build up of carbon dioxide in her system - something that happened back in November when she was hospitalized.  She was put on a bipap breathing machine last night and seemed much improved this morning.  She was better with her verbal communication and her understanding.  

She had a long visit from Jerry today and they had lunch togerher.  She also had a good OT and PT session where they had her getting up from the bed and taking a few steps.  They also worked on her hand fuction.  

This afternoon, Shar started to feel shortness of breath and was also having trouble with her communication.  She actually asked to go back on the bipap (which she normally hates) and we were able to get respiratory therapy to hook her back up.  She is sleeping peacfully on the bipap right now and the plan is to keep it on until dinner comes.  Then she will go back on regular oxygen until bed time.

We are hoping she becomes medically stable at some point so she can be transferred to the Rehab.  While there, she will get more intensive therapy both physical as well as speech.  In the meantime, we are contiuning to work on strengthening her right hand and fingers, asking her to grip a stress ball shaped like a football.  And yes - we say fumble when she drops it.  We also bought her a finger exerciser to help get some strngth and control back in the fingers of her right hand to prevent them from staying closed.  She has been enthusiastic about using this and the football and has stayed motivated to get her range of motion back.  We are so proud of the progress that she has already made and look forward to seeing her continue making strides each day!

Sunday, February 26

Today has been a bit of a setback day for Shar.  She was been lethargic, working harder to breath and not able to answer questions.  Today her name has been January 25, but she did know Mindy and Steph's names.  There was a discussion about sending her to the Reading Rehab, but those plans have been put on hold until they figure out what's going on today.  They have ordered an EKG, chest x-ray and CT scan of her brain to see if anything comes up.  Her blood gas level was a 76 which is considered critically high which means she is retaining too much carbon dioxide.  This could be the cause of the confusion and lethargy - although when she was awake earlier she did some straight leg raises and heel pumps.  Her friend Kim the PT would have been proud!

We continue to be thankful for all the prayers and will update tonight if/when we get more information.  

Saturday, February 25

Today Mindy took charge of things (like she normally does) and ran Shar through a gambit of neuro tests.  She worked with Shar on letters and colors, and had her reading a little bit.  She also discussed a long term plan which involves her going to the Tower Health Rehab in the next few days.  While there she will get more intensive OT, PT and speech therapy.  She spent some time in the rehab when she was hospitalized back in late November when she had sepsis and we were happy with her care there.  One nice aspect about this facility is that Mindy can continue stalking her chart each day, because the rehab is part of the Tower Health system.  It is also geographically close so that family can visit her regularly.  

This afternoon she is getting an iron transfusion because her hemoglobin levels are low.   We also expect her to have OT and PT at some point.  They are going to check her blood gas levels becase she's been abnormally sleepy today - which, to be fair, might be a by-product of Mindy not leaving her alone to rest.

Friday, February 24

Friday was a good day for Shar.  She ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and even worked on using her left hand to feed herself.  She had OT and PT and they got her out of bed and into a chair using a lift.  She sat in the chair for a good amount of time before the nursing staff moved her back to bed.  She was able to shuffle her feet a little bit.  The ongoing issue with her getting around is that she can't lift more than 5 lbs on her left side because the pacemaker needs time to heal.  And since her right side is what was impacted by the stroke, she doesn't have control or strength in her right hand.  This makes her using a walker a very big challenge.  

Mindy came down for the weekend after moving some of her patients off Friday afternoon.  Mindy took care of the dinner feeding and was grilling mom with neuro questions.  Shar has surprinsgly good comprehension and is able to read.  Her real struggle is that she can think of the words in her head but can't verbalize them.  At times, completely random words come out and she gets frustrated with herself.  She sometime says "no, no, no" when the wrong word comes out.  But we are thankful that she continues to make progress each day.  

 

Thursday, February 23

Good Afternoon.  Shar had a very busy day today.  In the morning, Jerry came in and spent time with her.  She continues to eat pureed foods and her appetite is coming back.  Following her Thanksgiving lunch of turkey, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese (all pureed) she had Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.  She was able to sit up on the side of the bed and worked on moved her arms and following instructions.  Both therpaists commented that she made improvments from yestreday to today.  Following that shw was seen by the Speech Pathologists who did a swallow study with her.  This one consisted of a camera being inserted in her nose and down her throat while she was fed various food - all dyed green so they would show up on the camera.  In addition, the speech team did an assessment of her speech, comprehension and reading ability.  Almost right after the speech team left, the cardiologist came in and said that Shar was in afib.  They gave her medicine and thankfully her heart returned to normal rhythm.

Although she lacks patience with herself right now, Shar continues to make progress each day.  The longterm plan is that once she is considered medically stable she will go to the Reading Rehab adjacent to Target.  While there she will get OT, PT and Speech Therapy each day.    

Wednesday, February 22

Update is a little late today with all the individuals coming in and out of the room (and a budget meeting at school).  In positive news, Shar was moved from the ICU to a critical care unit this morning.  She was assessed by a team of neurologists and did ok with the testing.  She struggles identifying some words and gets a little frustrated when she can't think of a word or phrase.  However, the improvement since this weeknd when she was virtually non-verbal has been amazing.  She also had physical therapy today for the first time.  She did very well with that, even sitting up on her own for a little while.  With having to lay flat for the past 6 days, she did get a little dizzy sitting on the side of the bed after a little bit.  But the PT said that was normal.  She also had a little food for breakfast and lunch (if you can help it, don't ever look at pureed french toast.  It might ruin your love of french toast).  Her food has to be pureed for some time to make sure that her tongue and swalling are all back to normal to prevent choking.  She also met with the cardiologists as well as the surgeon with put in her pacemaker.  They all seemed happy with her progress.  Finally, she met with a nurse who explained how the pacemaker works.  There is a receiver that will plug into an electrical outlet at home and transmit all the data about her heart activity to the cardiology team.  They will be able to review how the pacemaker is working and how her heart is doing as well.  The incredible amount of medical technology that Shar has experieinced is astounding.  

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and support!  It has been overwhelming.