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.