Going back to Cali

Well, I'm heading back to California tomorrow. (Oh - for those of you, who don't know, Kuba and I have moved to Marin County, just about 30 miles North of SF.) Mom's step-sister, Linda, will arrive this afternoon to help her out for the next week. That makes going home a little easier for me... knowing that mom will continue to have help for a little bit.

I know the google calendar I put together to schedule meals for mom isn't working too easily. If you do want to bring a meal by for her, after 8/9 would be best. You can just e-mail me at jenluttrell@yahoo.com and let me know when you'd like to contribute. I'll be sure to let mom know when to expect you. She hates it that I'm asking for meals for her. That's my mom. Never asking for help.

Mom is doing pretty well considering the intensity of her surgery on Tuesday. She's staying on top of the pain and rested moderately well last night, once we got her a wedge pillow. She had a lot of visitors yesterday, which always seems to cheer her up.

Feel free to give her a call or stop by.

I'm thinking that mom might need some help after Linda leaves... I just don't see how she'll get that intricate splint on/off without moving her shoulder unless she has some help. Most of the visiting nurse businesses have a 4 hour minimum. If any of you know of someone, who would be good to help out a couple hours/day, please let me know. It would be good to have an option nailed down should we need it.

Thanks for all of your support.

love,
jen

Home at Last!

Wow. That was one lengthy discharge. The doctor didn't come to see mom until almost 4:30. He wrote her discharge orders, but, once he left, mom and I realized we really knew nothing about her care once she was home. No one had talked to us about how to change her dressing, how she should go about showering, and no one had ever even looked at mom's incision on her knee.

So... by the time we got all of those things addressed, we didn't leave the hospital until almost 7:00. (I even had to stop the nurse who was ready to take mom out the door in the wheelchair, to tell her mom's IV was still in!) It was quite a debacle, really, but we are both glad she's home. We're very sick of hospitals at this point, although we have become quite adept at navigating them.

Feel free to call mom at her house or on her cell. I'm here until Monday, then mom's step-sister, Linda, will be here all next week.

If you're interested in helping out by providing a meal/meals to mom, please e-mail me at jenluttrell@yahoo.com. Mom would never ask for help, but I think she's going to need it, as she can't move her shoulder for 6 weeks.

Thanks, Everyone!

love,
jennifer

Meal Sign-Up

Hi All.

Mom is expected to come home from the hospital tomorrow. She's still in a lot of pain, but everything looks good as far as follow-up from her doctor goes.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I've put together a calendar for friends, who are interested, to sign up to drop off meals to Mom. This is where I think she'll need to most help, since she won't be able to drive or use her left arm for six weeks. Help with occasional meals for the next 8 weeks would be great.

If you are interested, add your name and "lunch" or "dinner" to the day, which you choose on the calendar. To get to the calendar, follow this link:
http://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=e7_2_CN3t8FMRLFUWYfJJw

Thanks for your continued support during Mom's recovery.

love,
jennifer

A Real Pain in the... Shoulder

Well, Mom woke up at around 3AM in excruciating pain. It took a truck load of morphine to get on top of it, but today, she has seemed comfortable, although still quite in-and-out of sleep from the morphine.

I took advantage of her sleepiness and came back to her house to clean for a couple of hours. My friend, Nicole, helped me, which certainly made it all go by more quickly and cheerfully. Now, just a few more things to tackle at the house before she comes home, which won't be until Friday.

Thatcher has been depressed, so he's going to stay with Fred and his dog, Squeeky, tonight and tomorrow night. That way, he won't obsess on "where's mom?" all day and night. And, I can cheer up some people, but I don't really know how to work with Thatcher through his sadness...

I'll post again later or tomorrow.

love,
jennifer

Mom's Contact Info

Hi All. Here's Mom's contact info while she's in the hospital. She should be up for visitors starting tomorrow. Feel free to call or drop by to see her.

Bone & Joint Hospital
1111 N Dewey Ave
Room 328
Oklahoma City, OK 73103-2609
(405) 272-9671 (Room 328)

Mom's Out of Surgery

Mom's out of surgery. The doctor said he gave her the best shoulder he could, and that it thinks the recovery will be fine. It wasn't the positive "everything went great!" kind of report, but, given the extent of Mom's injuries, there was only so much he could do.

He ran into some dead bone around the shoulder so had to do some grafting (from cadavers) to hold the prosthesis in place. He suspects the dead bone came as a result of her blood flow being cut off due to the injuries. He also said she had soft tissue and muscles in very poor condition (most likely from lack of use for 10 months). He did muscle and soft tissue repair as well.

The knee portion of the surgery was a cinch. Took only about 5 minutes to remove the wire.

Mom will be in the hospital until Thursday or Friday. She'll need to be in a sling, unable to move the shoulder at all, for 6 weeks. Yikes. Then, she'll begin PT.

I'm planning on sending out an e-mail to ask for friends to help out with meals for her for a while. It's been hard enough for her to make her meals prior to this surgery (having to hold a cane to steady herself), but now it will be quite difficult. If you are interested in helping out in this way, please let me know and I'll add you to the e-mail.

Thanks, All, for your thoughts, prayers and support.

Know that my mind is tired and my recollection somewhat foggy. If some of my report doesn't make sense, that's why and I'll clear up any confusion later.

love,
jennifer

In Surgery...

Well, Mom is in surgery. They took her in about an hour ago. I must say seeing her wheeled off into the operating room was a bit of an ugly flashback for me. But, at least this time, she's conscious and going in for a routine procedure... not a life saving one.

I should hear something when they are mid-way through and then again when she is out of surgery. When they fix her surgery, they'll also go into her left knee and remove a wire that is working its way out. (Yes, they had wired her crushed knee back together after the wreck, using the wire like thread.)

I'll keep everyone posted as the day progresses.

Thanks for all of your support.

love,
jennifer