Good News from mom's 4-hour visit with Dr. Coufal! Her left femur will NOT require a bone graft, as the bone is healing well on its own. It's pretty amazing, really. Perhaps it's because mom loves spinach so much. Whatever it is, it is great that she won't have to have another surgery and that she'll be able to move forward on mobility and use of her legs simultaneously... no waiting for the left leg to heal from an additional surgery.
LEGS: Mom's casts were removed and she is now wearing walking casts ("moon boots" as she calls them), which keep her feet at a proper angle with her ankles. For the next two weeks, she will work on mobility in her feet and ankles, and, after that, she can begin to bear weight - just enough to "push off" and assist with transfers to/from the wheelchair, bed, etc.
LEFT ARM: Dr. Coufal confirmed that mom's left arm was fractured at the head of the humerus, which hadn't shown up in her original exams after the accident. This explains the pain she's been experiencing. Apparently, the arm is healing well on its own and will not require additional surgery.
RIGHT ARM: The fractured humerus has healed well and mom is able to bear weight with this arm. However, she does still need to do very thorough PT in order to correct the nerve damage she sustained (which has caused her wrist to "drop"). Coufal feels that she will have full use of her arm with plenty of PT to stretch the nerve out and get the hand working again.
Mom will go for a follow-up exam in one month. Dr. Coufal said, at that point, she should be able to travel in a wheelchair and regular car. This is good news on many fronts, since insurance isn't willing to cover mom's 3-hour round-trip ambulance ride to Brentwood today. Gotta love our healthcare system.
Mom is exhausted after such an eventful day. We're all happy that things continue to move forward in her recovery. No setbacks!
love,
jennifer
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Brentwood Tomorrow
Hi All. Well, mom didn't go to Walnut Creek today, after all. Her appointment was cancelled because Dr. Coufal got called into trauma this morning. They've rescheduled for tomorrow morning, same time (9:15) in his Brentwood office, which is about twice as far as Walnut Creek.
Mom had a very light day today, since she was scheduled to go to her appointment, so she's especially bored! It's hard for her to be by herself for extended periods of time, since she's stuck in bed with no stimulus and nothing to do.
We'll post more of an update tomorrow after her appointment.
love,
jennifer
Mom had a very light day today, since she was scheduled to go to her appointment, so she's especially bored! It's hard for her to be by herself for extended periods of time, since she's stuck in bed with no stimulus and nothing to do.
We'll post more of an update tomorrow after her appointment.
love,
jennifer
Back to Walnut Creek
Mom is heading back to Walnut Creek this morning for a follow-up visit with Dr. Coufal. (Yes, we finally heard back from his office yesterday.) Ambulance is still the only way for mom to safely travel, so they are scheduled to pick her up at 7:45AM for a 9:15 appointment. Geoff will be at CPMC this morning, up until the ambulance arrives, and will follow them to Walnut Creek and be there for the appointment. It's very likely that mom will, at least, get her casts (one on each leg) off at her appointment, and may also have some x-rays done to see how her bones are healing up. We should know a lot more after her appointment regarding her bone graft surgery and weight bearing status, which will lead to a better idea of her rehabilitation plan.
Fred, Patsy and Marilyn left on Wednesday. Mom had a great time having good friends around. From what she tells me, they had a lot of laughs, which is always good for healing! Linda heads out there this Saturday, and mom is excited to see her, as well.
More updates after mom's appointment today...
love,
jennifer
Fred, Patsy and Marilyn left on Wednesday. Mom had a great time having good friends around. From what she tells me, they had a lot of laughs, which is always good for healing! Linda heads out there this Saturday, and mom is excited to see her, as well.
More updates after mom's appointment today...
love,
jennifer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Halloween Pic...
Mom had been asking me to post this, and I finally did it! She had a nice weekend with Fred, Patsy and Marilyn and now it's back to business as usual. Heather and I were away for the weekend in Sonora and Yosemite. We finally got a little bit of a honeymoon. All for now.
Take care,
Geoff
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Progress...
Hello All,
A short update from CPMC. Mom is making some good progress. She is now able to dress with some assistance, transfer herself into a wheelchair, eat and drink. She still has a long way to go, but has been remarkably upbeat the last day or so. The thought of her next surgery is a point of stress, as is the possibility that she may not make it back to 100%. I am hoping that she will, and she is doing everything she can to get there, she just had some rough injuries. We have to remember that we are just a couple of weeks into rehab, and that this will be a slow process. The medical system is as frustrating as ever. We have been waiting two weeks for a call from her ortho, and have heard nothing. Her treatment is being adversely affected by his lack of follow-through, and we are getting pretty fed-up. This whole thing has been tough to navigate. I hope we see some improvement in the health care system over the next four years, although I don't think anything short of single-payer is going to do much. Anyway... Mom appreciates all the cards and calls, and will be having visitors over the weekend. Heather and I are heading up to Sonora for the weekend to pretend that we are on a honeymoon. Not that the last two months haven't been great...
Love,
Geoff
A short update from CPMC. Mom is making some good progress. She is now able to dress with some assistance, transfer herself into a wheelchair, eat and drink. She still has a long way to go, but has been remarkably upbeat the last day or so. The thought of her next surgery is a point of stress, as is the possibility that she may not make it back to 100%. I am hoping that she will, and she is doing everything she can to get there, she just had some rough injuries. We have to remember that we are just a couple of weeks into rehab, and that this will be a slow process. The medical system is as frustrating as ever. We have been waiting two weeks for a call from her ortho, and have heard nothing. Her treatment is being adversely affected by his lack of follow-through, and we are getting pretty fed-up. This whole thing has been tough to navigate. I hope we see some improvement in the health care system over the next four years, although I don't think anything short of single-payer is going to do much. Anyway... Mom appreciates all the cards and calls, and will be having visitors over the weekend. Heather and I are heading up to Sonora for the weekend to pretend that we are on a honeymoon. Not that the last two months haven't been great...
Love,
Geoff
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Update from Indianapolis
Hi Everyone. I'm back in Indianapolis for a while. I have a catering job tomorrow night, which is good since I haven't been working since the accident. (Good for my sanity and for bill-paying!) It's been nice to be HOME. My kitty, Star, is pretty happy about it, too. Kuba will be here tomorrow night for the weekend, so it will be great to spend time with him as well.
Things are still good with mom. She continues to have intensive therapy each day, and is making progress. It's still surreal what has happened and how it has affected her. To celebrate things like her being able to put her shirt on by herself is a brand new thing. But, we celebrate nonetheless, as it is huge progress for her given her injuries.
We still have not heard back from her orthopedic surgeon. We are beyond disappointed. I have called him no less than 3 times, Geoff has called and faxed him a letter, the rehab case manager has called twice, and mom's rehab doctor has called once. We are in the process of getting a second opinion (and finding mom another surgeon) for her bone graft, but we need to get inside Dr. Coufal's head to find out some important stuff, that affects mom's therapy and rehabilitation plan... things like when can she use her right arm more, when can she bear weight on her legs and how much, when will her casts come off, etc. As I said, we are incredibly frustrated, as his lack of follow-up with us is, at this point, compromising mom's treatment and slowing down her progress. Argh.
Mom is getting her hair done tonight. Cut and color. She's been itching for this since she became alert. It's not easy to find a person, who does hair outside of a salon. This woman was doing mom's roommate's hair, so I got her to come back and do mom's. Hopefully, she'll do a good job! Regardless, I know it will feel good for mom to get a good shampoo and a haircut. She also had a massage today, so it's been a bit of pampering for her.
The rehab hospital did x-rays of mom's legs and left arm a couple of days ago. Her left arm has really been bothering her, so they want to find out what's going on, if anything. They did x-rays of her legs, as that's another thing we're unable to obtain from Dr. Coufal. We should know more tomorrow, after her rehab doctor, Dr. Rome, reads the films. We'll keep you posted.
Mom's friends, Fred, Patsy and Marilyn, are heading out to SF tomorrow. Thank you!! They'll be driving, so won't arrive in SF til Saturday night but will be there until Wednesday. Mom is really excited to see them. The following Saturday, her friend, Linda, will arrive until Monday, so mom will have lots of company the next week and a half.
That's it for now.
love,
jennifer
Things are still good with mom. She continues to have intensive therapy each day, and is making progress. It's still surreal what has happened and how it has affected her. To celebrate things like her being able to put her shirt on by herself is a brand new thing. But, we celebrate nonetheless, as it is huge progress for her given her injuries.
We still have not heard back from her orthopedic surgeon. We are beyond disappointed. I have called him no less than 3 times, Geoff has called and faxed him a letter, the rehab case manager has called twice, and mom's rehab doctor has called once. We are in the process of getting a second opinion (and finding mom another surgeon) for her bone graft, but we need to get inside Dr. Coufal's head to find out some important stuff, that affects mom's therapy and rehabilitation plan... things like when can she use her right arm more, when can she bear weight on her legs and how much, when will her casts come off, etc. As I said, we are incredibly frustrated, as his lack of follow-up with us is, at this point, compromising mom's treatment and slowing down her progress. Argh.
Mom is getting her hair done tonight. Cut and color. She's been itching for this since she became alert. It's not easy to find a person, who does hair outside of a salon. This woman was doing mom's roommate's hair, so I got her to come back and do mom's. Hopefully, she'll do a good job! Regardless, I know it will feel good for mom to get a good shampoo and a haircut. She also had a massage today, so it's been a bit of pampering for her.
The rehab hospital did x-rays of mom's legs and left arm a couple of days ago. Her left arm has really been bothering her, so they want to find out what's going on, if anything. They did x-rays of her legs, as that's another thing we're unable to obtain from Dr. Coufal. We should know more tomorrow, after her rehab doctor, Dr. Rome, reads the films. We'll keep you posted.
Mom's friends, Fred, Patsy and Marilyn, are heading out to SF tomorrow. Thank you!! They'll be driving, so won't arrive in SF til Saturday night but will be there until Wednesday. Mom is really excited to see them. The following Saturday, her friend, Linda, will arrive until Monday, so mom will have lots of company the next week and a half.
That's it for now.
love,
jennifer
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday Update
Happy Monday. I'm sure it's a good thing that we don't have as much to report each day on the blog. We are past the daily drama of extubation, feeding tubes, balancing medication, and moving out of ICU and Mom has moved in to a more stable environment.
She had lots of visitors this weekend. Ari & Andrew, two of Geoff's best friends from Norman, came to see her Saturday, which she loved, because they made her laugh so much. She also had visits from more friends - Jillian, Sam, Tina, Jon, Sherry and their adorable son, Ben - in the last several days. It's great for her to have visitors in the evenings, since that's the time of the day that is boring for her. Therapies are usually over by 4:30, so the rest of the day can be long. Hopefully, she'll be able to use the phone on her own soon, and feel up for calls, so she can pass some time catching up with everyone. She is still loving the e-mails that are being sent to her personal account (sherylwow3@aol.com), so keep them coming!
Still no word from Dr. Coufal, her orthopedic surgeon, so we have no updates regarding her final surgery. We will be calling him again today, as we'll do everyday until we hear back from him.
Heather, Geoff & I carved pumpkins in Mom's room on Friday night, so she has them displayed on her window sill. They have cheery faces and are pretty cute little guys!
I'm heading back to Indianapolis on Wednesday for about 10 days. I am really missing home - Kuba, Star (our kitty), my friends, our house, our bed, my pillow, my pots & pans! It will be nice to be there for a while.
More updates later.
love,
jennifer
She had lots of visitors this weekend. Ari & Andrew, two of Geoff's best friends from Norman, came to see her Saturday, which she loved, because they made her laugh so much. She also had visits from more friends - Jillian, Sam, Tina, Jon, Sherry and their adorable son, Ben - in the last several days. It's great for her to have visitors in the evenings, since that's the time of the day that is boring for her. Therapies are usually over by 4:30, so the rest of the day can be long. Hopefully, she'll be able to use the phone on her own soon, and feel up for calls, so she can pass some time catching up with everyone. She is still loving the e-mails that are being sent to her personal account (sherylwow3@aol.com), so keep them coming!
Still no word from Dr. Coufal, her orthopedic surgeon, so we have no updates regarding her final surgery. We will be calling him again today, as we'll do everyday until we hear back from him.
Heather, Geoff & I carved pumpkins in Mom's room on Friday night, so she has them displayed on her window sill. They have cheery faces and are pretty cute little guys!
I'm heading back to Indianapolis on Wednesday for about 10 days. I am really missing home - Kuba, Star (our kitty), my friends, our house, our bed, my pillow, my pots & pans! It will be nice to be there for a while.
More updates later.
love,
jennifer
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