See You Next Year!

    

     We arrived in time to join Bruce for his breakfast. He had a  yam, eggs, cheese and sausage dish. It did not look good to me. I do not like green eggs and ham or anything with yams. Take that Dr. Seuss.

     Luke and I looked through family scrapbooks that Aunt Kathy sent. He is taking pictures of them on his phone. He will have to download them to a computer then he can forward them to his brothers and sister. I love the clothes they wore.

   Bruce said in OT this morning he was stacking 1 inch blocks with his left hand. That is difficult for him to do as that hand doesn't grip things. He did the pulleys on the bathroom door. She has new ones, like bungees he will get to try next. I was helping Luke look at pictures.

     Luke left for Utah. I went to the temple. It closed at 10:30. Bummer. So I did some retail therapy at Deseret books. Found a nice purse to hold the iPad, a couple book markers with the New testament reading schedule on it and some Book of Mormon action figures for primary.

    Returned to rehab and Bruce was just finishing his lunch. He waited for me while I finished mine. 

    PT was weight lifting.

   OT was more wax on the hand. She thinks we will get to take a therabath paraffin wax home with us. Yeah! While lifting a weight with the right hand, she let us watch the Boise vs Arizona game. They are very nice to us here. I have some sewing I am doing. 

    Our Bronco friend Ken wasn't around so I tracked him down. He was in his room already watching the game. His wife Brenda said he was waiting for a blood transfusion and he will be moved to our end of the hall. They can't figure out why he is loosing blood. Our end of the hall does not bode well. 

     We did make another friend named Ken and he is watching the game with us. He had a stroke, he is able to walk with a walker but is in a wheelchair because his balance isn't very good. He said he was getting movement back in his left hand. His wife went home to get things organized there. He said this place makes you grateful, there are so many people worse off. Our little friend Sol who went looking at Christmas lights with us last week went home today. Luke was able to talk to him in Spanish. They had quite the conversation.

      We are watching the commercials, they are showing corvettes. Bruce wants to know if they have lifts for a corvette. I tell him he is too tall for one anyway.

    Dinner was Philly Cheese steak sandwich and fries for Bruce and a small salad and chicken tortilla soup for me. 

     CinderKaren has dirty laundry to bring home. Some things don't change.

     We watched the live stream game of the high school bb tournament in Stayton. The picture is kinda blurry but we can recognize Andrew by the knee brace he wears. Alas the team lost by ten points. They did take second so that is good. I loved seeing my granddaughter Thea in the blue hoody going up and down the bleachers. Where does she get her energy? And Ben waved to us at the end of the game. Did you see his beard? My side of the family, just kidding.

       The Observer newspaper printed a nice story about us. We have hopes for the future and know we will be able to handle what the new year brings. Having family, friends, church and community support will help us face our challenges. We can't do this without you. It has made us more compassionate towards others. See you next year!  

     

    

    

Stairs

     Stairs, first level 13 steps, 15 steps, second level 14 steps, then 12 steps and I made it to the third floor.  I am getting stronger.

  OT time is in the gym. She is stretching his left arm. The ten year old boy is smiling and kicking a ball. His right arm is in a cast and his right foot slaps down. He has a scar on the left side of his head and his hair is shorter on that side. He is in the brain trauma side.

    Bruce's injury is a C- 5, 6 quadriplegic incomplete, that means all four limbs were affected. Incomplete means he has gained back some of his movement.

     These are the controls on his loaner wheelchair. Today while we were working a puzzle in the dining area Bruce's elbow slipped and he and the wheelchair jerked forward. That woke him up and only dragged the table about 10 inches. He was leaning and trying to correct it before he fell over.

   He can blow his nose. That is a good thing. He hasn't been able to clear his nasal passages.

   They measured his hand grip. He can do 29 lbs on his right, his left is 25 lbs. and that improves every week. Normal is 85 lbs, hmm we have a ways to go. Maybe I should measure my strength. Stop laughing.

  A new gadget for hand strength is a Norco Hand Exerciser

    He has moved up a level from the yellow ball extra soft, hand exerciser to the green ball medium. I like to squeeze them, fidget toys.

     He got to try the arch again. Apparently last week he could only do one ring, today he did three, forward and back.

     Lunch was chicken and gravy and biscuit with cheese and a side of corn and a bowl of blueberries with chocolate milk. I had pot roast and Mac and cheese with a tangerine and chocolate milk.

      The lullaby is playing, the second one today. No helicopters.

     Met St. Al's therapy dog, Oprah. The real Oprah donated the puppies in California and this one for some reason didn't qualify to be a trained companion so she ended up here.

     PT was sitting up and balancing, then sitting in the frog position, then leaning forward and back. They are working his abs.

      OT was a wax job on his hand. You think I and borrow a bit for my upper lip...

     Our son Luke showed up! Yeah!

   They are watching the Vale bb game. They would be very unbiased sports commentators. 

   Brett Baxter and his wife Julie visited and like the wise men they brought gifts of cheesecake. Oh my they are good listeners. We tend to talk visitors ears off. Bruce and I shared a chocolate slice and Luke had the strawberry cheesecake

     The blood clot man is here to take pictures of his legs. They just want to see if the clots have moved or increased/decreased.

     Luke joined us for dinner. He and Bruce had the pot roast with mushroom gravy. I had chicken noodle poop, soup (the boys would eat it if we called it that) and a small green salad.

  We are watching Andrews bb game against Stayton via  live web camera. Luke is the commentator, Bruce is in bed listening, we wore him out.

      La grande wins 45 - 38, Andrew scored five points. Next game tomorrow at 7:30 for the championship. Did I tell you La Grande won last year? Here is the website if you want to watch the game. www.stayonevents.com   The playoff game is at 7:30 PST. 

Mongolian Bistro

      Stairs I am going up the stairs. 12 on the first set then 14, second floor is 15, then 13. I am getting stronger.

     Bruce is in the shower, a blonde brought him in the room wrapped in towels. She is married to a 6 ft 5 in, 300 pound ex football player that works on the psych ward. She is a floater, that means she works where they need her. 

      This nursing crew is behind schedule. Bruce's misses his breakfast.  

      

     OT sub is here, she had him do ranging and stretches with his arms, he is impressing her with lifting the wooden dowel. Andrews laughs at him because he is a weight lifter and can do 115 lbs and is a teenager.

      He has half an hour to eat his breakfast before the next scheduled event. He has biscuits and gravy that I reheat in the microwave, a fruit plate and cranberry juice. 

        PT ranges him on the mat. They stretch his legs and left arm. 

     For lunch Bruce had beef, broccoli and rice stir fry and a banana on the side. I had the Hunter's Stew. That was a very thick beef stew in a bread roll with chocolate milk. I ate all mine. 

      Bruce has a half hour before the next round of therapy. He decides to put his feet up and is soon asleep.

    This is what I see out of the hospital window. The have eight new patients today.

      After lunch instead of doing therapy we look at a wheel chairs and Scott the man with a very deep voice took his measurements. His demo chair is royal blue with red reflectors on the back. It is snazzy. We get to keep it for a day.

    While looking at the wheelchair I over heard another therapist say to an adult female patient, "good job not using any bad words." 

   OT was dipping his left hand in wax, finished that then lifting a three pound weight 15 times. He is getting stronger! Bruce wants to buy a parabath for home. I figured we could just use a crock pot. It has to be a certain temperature. Paraffin wax comes in smells too. He wasn't interested in lavender or mint. He wants manly smells, musk, bacon, pine or roadkill. We will google it. I think I want to try it too.

    It is 25' degrees outside and snowing. The nurses put long pants on Bruce, his sweatshirt, hat and gloves. He gets chilled easily. We are going on a field trip! We are going to accessvansid.com. A man named Chris was paralyzed c- 5 paraplegic incomplete 15 years ago. He was an automotive body shop owner. Since then he purchases mini vans and makes them wheelchair accessible. He showed us a couple we might be interested in. We will make an appointment and rent the vans for a day and see if we like them. Chris doesn't like the royal blue on Bruce's chair. Bruce tells him it is the high school colors. That seems to pacify the man in a yellow wheelchair. 

   On the way home Cindy the rec therapist suggests we eat out. We go to Mongolian Bistro. It is early so it is not crowded. We get the medium sized bowls. I walk by the food case and Bruce tells me what he wants in his bowl. Bruce is able to lower the wheelchair so he fits under the table. I am liking this chair. 

     Don't know this young man, but I had to get a picture of how high he filled his bowl. An inspiration for us all.

      The finished product, he ate all of his.

    We returned to our room and we skypped Bruce's older sistah Kathy. That was a good therapy session. Family is good for the soul. We met Megan and saw and talked to cousin Jason and their two beautiful, fun daughters who just got out of a bubble bath hot tub. 

     Had to get Bruce into bed he was shivering. Unfortunately the timing was off, shift change. They did show me where the heated blankets are so I can get them now. Twenty minutes later they show up to do tolieting and get him ready for bed. They do have 8 more patients... 

    Andrew's bb team won the first game. He is in a tournament at Stayton Or. Their team won the tournament last year. Our oldest son Ben and his family went to the game and got there for the second half. Andrew did not play the second half. Tomorrow's game is at 6 pm. 

Helmet Donation

    

    I received this pleasant email yesterday:

     Today my husband and I stopped in and visited with Bruce for a while.  We shared this photo with him showing a donation of bicycle helmets to the Baker Police Department in Bruce's support. The Baker Backpack volunteers were able to purchase a dozen children's helmets for community distribution.   Deb Trapp-Roehm and Dennis 

     

           Was dithering about going to Boise today. Road check showed the roads were clear and storm warnings were over. There was at least one lane clear all the way here. Ran into some fog at farewell Bend by the river otherwise smooth sailing. There will be black ice for anyone traveling home.

    Well a pleasant surprise greeted me when I arrived in Boise this afternoon. Pres. Chadwick was here visiting! They talked about Ward conferences coming up and the schedule.

    Bruce said he had a couple of visitors in my absence, Deb Trapp and her husband. They had donated a dozen helmets to the police dept in Baker. Bro. Robison stopped in today with two young priests to give Bruce the Sacrament.

     We ate dinner in the dining hall on this floor. Bruce had a chili dog with cheese and for dessert vanilla custard with whipped topping. I had lemon shrimp pasta with broccoli and maters. I had a side of dark delicious sweet grapes and cheddar cheese squares. The leftovers I will eat for a mid day snack tomorrow. There is still no table tall enough for him to wheel his chair under. He uses a bed side table to eat on.

      Cindy the Rec Therapy lady stopped in, she needed Bruce's drivers license number to send for a handicapped sign. She says we will go look at mini vans tomorrow afternoon, swimming on Wednesday and church on Sunday. Makes for a busy week.

    Our son, Rob called and we Face timed him. It is wonderful being able to see the grandchildren. Also Face timed our daughter, Crys and she gave us a tour of their new townhouse. It is not wheelchair friendly, but it is very nice, perfect for a starter couple.

     Bruce was tired and ready for bed. He did PT and OT today to make up for 

Christmas. Brought home Bruce's dirty laundry. Driving wears me out. Going to hit the hay.

     

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014

     Bruce was sitting up and waiting for us when we arrived this frosty, cold morning. We went through our Christmas stockings and had fun looking at the toys, bop it balloons, small flashlights and chocolate oranges. 

   Andrew was in charge of handing out the presents. We took our time and oohed and ahhed over each gift. Andrew made a haul. 

     Had lunch with our host family the Robisons. Cindy the Rec therapist escorted us in the mini van. Bruce is getting really good at going up the ramp. He can't see the wheels on the wheelchair so Cindy guides him like a ground pilot directs a pilot. We had turkey, dressing, smooth gravy, no lumps, green bean casserole and a plethora of desserts. We ate way too much. Bruce said it was good to get out of the hospital. He feel asleep once sitting up and didn't spill anything. The Robison's said it was a success, no fights and no stains on the carpet. Who can beat that? They had their six grandchildren and daughter and her husband there. They were polite and kind to us. I am so grateful they opened their home to us strangers.

  We started Skyping and face time the children, got to talk to almost everyone. Sorry we missed Aunt Kathy.

    We watched an old movie, " We're No Angels" with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov.  A delightful movie, right up there with Arsnic and Old Lace.

      For dinner to delight our culinary palate in the hospital cafeteria we had prime rib, coos coos, dressing, fruit salad and a chocolate cream pie, Bruce had apple cranberry cobbler, Andrew snatched three big cookies that were outdated that they were giving away. Score!

  A wonderful day of overindulgence to celebrate the birth of our Lord. New Year's resolutions begin next week. Andrew and I will return to La Grande so he won't miss bb practice. Bruce has a full day of therapy tomorrow. 

Christmas Eve 2014

     Perfect for Christams!

     We arrived bright and early at 10:30 this morning (you try getting a grumpy teenager     

outta bed) the speech therapist was having Bruce hold a note, he got up to 10 1/2 seconds. Now he is yelling "get out of bed." Andrew said he would sleep through that.

Bruce will have to get louder to get Andrew moving. 

     This is the heating pad for Bruce's shoulder, heated water circulates to relax his shoulder. He says it doesn't get as warm as our electric heating pad.

    PT came in and did ranging. Now he is up and doing balance in the frog position. They are doing the workout in the room as they are repairing the motor on the raisable mat in the gym. Now it is balance with the legs straight in front of him. He is leaning side to side and balancing. 

      Earlier this morning OT did the shoulder warming, right arm stretching, then back to left shoulder stretching and ranging. 

     For lunch we went to the cafeteria to eat. Bruce had a chili dog with cheese and only spilled once. There are still no wheelchair accessible tables so he eats with the tray on his lap.

   Afternoon PT was a shorter cushion as apparently he hit his head getting into the van for swimming on Monday. Ouch. He did more balancing sitting up and then to the weight machine.

     Poor Andrew has found a new use for the mat.

     OT was a wax job on his left hand. Andrew didn't want to put his hand in the crock pot of melted wax, then the bicycle machine for Bruce's right hand. Beth was looking at photos taken by her identical twin sister Ann who is in La Grande doing a house evaluation with Jeff our contractor and friend. It looks like they will build a ramp in the back too. 

      We ate dinner again in the cafeteria. Bruce had the vegetarian lasagna. Poor Andrew wouldn't touch it and ate pizza again. He says it is not real lasagna unless it has meat in it. I had some at lunch and it was quite good. 

    We returned to our room and watched the John Wayne Christmas movie, 3 Godfathers, about three bank robbers that take care of a dying mothers last request to raise her son, 1948 rated 7.2.

   Rec Therapy was looking at the Christmas lights. We went with a fellow patient, Sol. He is Mexican, understands English but only speaks Spanish. Our driver, Cindy speaks Spanish so she could talk to him. Most of the lights were incredible. We were out until 8 pm, came home, finished the movie, tucked Bruce into bed, he was tired, he will get to sleep in tomorrow, and headed to our host family.

   

     

     

BB Catch Up

     Andrew and I joined Bruce for an afternoon of OT, Beth had just finished waxing his left hand, he was lifting weights with his right hand doing 25 lbs. lat pole. (ya pull down on the cord and a weight goes up) Andrew was intrigued with the wax. He was also eying the weight machine and wanted to know what one part of the machine does. He can do a little bit more than 25 lbs.

     Bruce was telling us this morning they took him to a kitchen to see how he could reach items. He could only reach things in the frig that were on the door. She showed him how to turn his chair sideways and use a "grabber". He got a pkg of carrots and a small carton of milk, nothing heavy. He's gonna starve. 

     We might have to rearrange the food so he can grab what he wants. We also talked about the dishes and we will have to relocate them so he has access to them, might have to put drawers in the cupboards so he can open them instead of the recessed shelves we have. Kinda like dresser drawers. I think we should just put in a vending machine... With healthy snacks of course...

    Grandpa K had a lot of mail and several visitors while I was home; a cd from Thimmes, God Blessed Me, The miraculous story of a POWs survival in Nazi Germany by Joseph Banks, Patty and Joe Sandoz (we haven't seen them in ages) brought a book on cd, A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, a book, The Patriarch, The Remarkable and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw and for moi, a book, The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott, a story about a dressmaker on the Titanic. Todd Rasmassusin visited on Sunday. 

     Bruce and Andrew just finished watching the Umatilla bb game. Bruce is spoiled watching the games in 40 min. With no time outs, half times and missing some of the free throws the games go quickly. Thank you Rick Dall for making copies for us!

    For dinner Bruce had stuffed meatloaf, taters, green salad and a piece of strawberry shortcake which he ate after the meatloaf and before the salad. He didn't learn that from me. Andrew and I got some food from the cafeteria and joined him in the third floor dining hall. His wheelchair does not fit under the tables so he uses a bedside table from one of the rooms. You think this place would have wheelchair accessible tables.            

      Several people have gone home. Only four people left. People come and go here a lot faster than spinal cord injuries. We heard the man next to us that fell off a hay stack and was paralyzed when we first got here has gone home and is suffering from severe depression. We are blessed Bruce is recovering. 

     Andrew has found some kind of trivia game on his iPod. He asks us for the answers, he plays against other people on line. When we answer correctly we get crowns. We do pretty well with science, history and geography, we are stumped with entertainment, we don't know the celebrities very well. The nurses help us with answers and are familiar with the game. Bruce soon fell asleep after dinner.

      Andrew and I went to our host home. They are very kind to us and fill us with Christmas cookies. We are getting spoiled.

Easton Bike

     His room was empty, wheelchair was there, bed empty when I arrived. I figured he was in the shower. I found him in a warm steamy shower, was too late to cut the hair on his neck, couldn't get to it the last time because of the neck rest.

    Breakfast was fine dining with a blueberry lemon crepe, sausage links, oatmeal with brown sugar and some more blueberries and cranberry juice.

     For some reason he had a little bit of nausea.

     For OT we get to do the electrode stimulator! It is called the Easton Bike. He is wearing a short sleeved shirt so she can attach the electrodes easier. We will have to get a muscle shirt for better access to attaching the electrodes. Today is a slow day as she is testing each muscle. All the information goes on the attached computer so his progress is recorded. The electrodes last about 15 treatments before the sticky wears off. If he feels a burning then it is time for a new electrode pad. 

     Now we are ready for a warm up. The bike starts slow, a warm up and gradual increases and then a cool down.

He stops when he is getting too much of a shock, Beth changes the bike to a lower level. He has a speed set and if he can keep up with it no shocks.

      There goes Brahms lullaby.

    The bike is good for range of motion, stimulation and cardio vascular. It is recommended to use the machine three times a week for thirty minutes so like regular exercise. He did five minutes, they had to stop and redo. Playing with Electricity, taking Bruce for a ride. It has birds tweeting and a picture of a man riding a bike. He went 2.4 miles. 

    Tanya here for speech, she hadn't seen the machine before and she asked him if he was holding his breath. He is doing 15 ahs. Next is The Bernoulli effect, faster moving air and slower moving air. We talk about that in Cub Scouts.  He is doing Sssss and then panting and placing his hand on his tummy to see how long it takes to run out of air. Voiceless sounds are Sssss, pa, pa, pas and ba, ba bas, and mmmmm. Go figure.

     Now she wants him to count getting louder so when he yells at the children in the cafeteria they will hear him. He says he just whistles. So we sang, The First Noel, she says no audible sounds when inhaling because it can be heard over a microphone. Pitch glides are the final voice exercise. 

     PT was stretching and ranging on the mat.

     Back to the room for potty break and a short snooze before lunch.

     Lunch was a delicious clam chowder, (I had a bowl too) egg salad sandwich and tomato juice.

I left after lunch so I can be here for Andrew's home games, then we will head back for Christmas with Bruce. 

     

     

Sonic Double Cheese Burger with Bacon Please

     Grandpa K was still abed when I arrived today. It is a non showering day so they let him sleep in.

      We finally roused him out of bed and headed for breakfast in the dining area. He had a biscuit, 2 sausages, scrambled eggs that looked like they scooped them with an ice cream scoop and some cooked taters. The taters were supposed to be hash browns but they were more like baked taters. His liquid vibrations were milk, 2% and some orange juice.

     A nice young man is doing his internship and wants to use us as his case study he will be back later to ask us some questions for his report. He will be an ENT, (ears, nose and throat) he said he did interviews last week and Missouri was the best place he liked. A small town of 100,000 with a trauma center was looking good to him.

    OT was stretching Grandpa Ks arms out with a pillow he puts each hand on the pillow in front of him and pushed til his arms are straight. 

     PT, Patty and Todd were ranging his legs on the mat in the gym. She talked to us about an electric wheel chair with wheels in the middle instead of the front, so he can see which type he prefers. 

     Back to the room to get ready for wound lady, Candy. 

     He gobbled down a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and chicken noodle poop, I mean soup, with a side dish of fresh fruit, grapes, sliced oranges, strawberries and sliced watermelon. He said the strawberries tasted like strawberries and the grapes were really dark and sweet. The water melon was not so good. 

   Candy the wound nurse says his wound is 95% ready to go, so by Monday he will be able to go swimming!

   A helicopter just came in. Heard two Brahms lullabies. 

    PT found a wheelchair with a middle wheel so we tried it. It has a smaller turn radius so it will be better for our home. They had him practice leaning forward and catching himself. Then they put him back in bed and had him practice pulling himself into a sitting position. Patty showed him how to sit up from his side and move his legs to the floor with the idea he could then do a transfer to a chair.

     A practice board.

    Stretching

 OT did the left hand in wax and stretched the right hand. 

    Sandy and Cindy the recreational therapists kidnapped us. We went in the minivan to the Robison's home to see if we could maneuver and get Bruce there for Christmas dinner. We did it! They have a portable ramp for one stair that they used. She said she would see if she can drop us off for two hours or she would stay and eat with us.

     I love how the ramp comes down.

     Sandy is directing him into the van because he can't see the wheels on the wheelchair.

She also said we could go look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve that is a family tradition. She took us to Sonic on the way home and Bruce ordered a double bacon cheese burger and a root beer. 

     We wore him out. He is resting.

     Jon and Angela Hanley and a granddaughter stopped by with a small hand painted by Jon original snow shovel! Ta da I have always wanted a John Hanley original. He said they were moving in the spring. Bah humbug. Why is change so difficult? Who said the only thing constant is change? 

A Paraffin Manicure

     Breakfast was sausage gravy and biscuits with four slices of bacon, cranberry juice and a small bowl of cantaloupe. And yes, greater love hath no man than to share a piece of bacon. Mmmmm while trying to reach his bacon, he leaned too far forward and did a face plant. He was trying to get the last slice of bacon. It was kinda startling. The nurses had to pull him back up, now it is funny.

     They are scheduling him to remove the blood clot filter in his leg, so no eating until after the removal. There is a sign on the door for no food in the mouth. NPO (Nil Per os)  is Latin for "nothing for mouth".

    OT is stretching his left arm and lifting his 3/4 lb weight with the right. She is talking about having someone go to our house and make recommendations for house renovations on the same day we want to come here.

    Speech has background music on and is having him talk over it. He is singing The First Noel. Breathe first before you sing. He is doing pitch weaving.

     PT did stretches on the mat, frog sit and some balance.

No lunch for him. He says he misses the H2O. 

   Aytree from SWIACH stopped in for a visit. I got a hug. We were very pleased to see her. She is the PT specialist there and was very helpful to us. What a blessing she is in our lives, very patient and kind.

     We found out there is someone in La Grande that has spinal cord injury rehabilitation experience Yeah!  They will fax her the info on the techniques they are using here so she will know what help we will need there. Yeah! I was not looking forward to three days here for six months. She is one of Central moms, two of her children go to Central school. I won't reveal her name until it is settled. 

     PT had him lifting weights. He is up to 1 pound.

    They strap his hands to the bar as his grip is not very strong.

Our friends, Jean Secl and Donna Patterson stopped in to say hello. Donna's husband Archie is getting another biopsy, four times he has beaten cancer.  And Jean was here to see her son and to help Donna drive back to La Grande.

    OT had Bruce put big pegs in small holes (is that a government thing?) and take them out. Then she dipped his left hand in warm wax, five times, wrapped it in Saran Wrap and then with a towel. She peeled the wax off and was able to manipulate his hand. She says his hand is looking more normal.

     It works really well, Beth is able to move his fingers without pain. They are  pleased his hand is looking more normal.

     Had a pleasant talk with the recreational therapist. She is planning for him to use the hospital wheelchair accessible mini van to look at Christmas lights and do a drive by tomorrow to see the step he will need to maneuver so he can eat Christmas dinner at the Robison's house. She wants to take him swimming too. 

     They came to remove the filter about 4:30. He was awake but didn't feel any pain. It is called conscious anthesized. It took about two hours. I started reading the third book in a Brian Jacques series, Voyage of Slaves. An easy escape book.

   He returned and was ready for dinner. He had turkey tetrazzini, roll, small salad, two cartons of milk and a partridge in a pear tree. No just can't remember what else he had. Sorry 

   We were both pretty tired so we watched a Charlie Brown Christmas. It is a short dvd and we both fell asleep. We woke up when they brought in his night meds so I headed for my Boise home.

         

       

Too Many Pictures...

     I took this photo on the way out of the building last night. My OCD discovered one of ththe light fixtures is different, same color, different shape. Can you find it?

     Bacon quiche with salsa, cream of wheat with blueberries, and Apple juice was his breakfast today.

     He is really tired and has already fallen asleep. The nurse Melanie had to wake him up to give him his morning medicine.

     I read through these two books while he was sleeping. Should I make this into a movie? Get it?

    

Grande Ronde Hospital doesn't do spinal cord therapy rehab, Walla Walla doesn't do outpatient rehab. We asked them to see if Blue Mountain Therapy does, we are waiting on a call back. Otherwise we might have to come back here weekly for 6 months for 3 days of out patient rehab. Heavy sigh. 

     He has a 'wound' from sitting in the wheelchair. So he is supposed to tilt more when he is sitting to avoid pressure on his bony behind. 

     Mrs. Bullock's third grade class made a book for Mr. K. It is 'Where's Mr. Kevan?' Like 'Where's Waldo'. They colored pictures of him on the playground. He is wearing a red shirt (school colors) and his brown fishing/shade hat. (he is supposed to wear a hat as he had a couple spots of melanoma removed a few years back) it is a delightful book! We also received several cards and I taped some to the doors in our room. Thank you for thinking of us. It is a pleasant and fun reminder of people that care.

     PT came in and ranged his legs. 

     They are doing a Doppler on his lower legs to check on blood clots. No change on blood clots. 

     This is the Doppler machine, he is demonstrating a five pound squeezer gadget to strengthen his hand and arm. 

     This is a therapy dog we aw on the way to PT this afternoon.

      PT was showing Bruce what it takes to do a transfer. He has to lean forward and balance on his wrists and that lifts the bottom. Learned real quick that he is not strong enough to do that. So they did more balancing with his arms behind him and he could do that. 

      Had a family team medical meeting. Decided he will have to come home in an electric wheelchair for 6 months. He is just not strong enough to do a manual wheelchair. They are talking about coming to La Grande to do an evaluation of our home to get it wheelchair accessible. When the Dr certifies it workers comp will pay for it. 

     For lunch Bruce bit into a hoagie sandwich and had some cream of celery soup. He drank it with a straw because he was tilting on his right arm  and couldn't get the spoon to his mouth.

       OT was green thera putty (like silly putty or taffy ) with a five pound resistance. They warmed up the putty in their hands then flattened it like a tortilla, then they rolled it up, which stretches the left hand. Next they rolled it into a snake to make a snowman. He had trouble pinching and pulling off a section. Finally they played Yahtzee. Ginger kicked his trash. 

     A poor sad melted snowman.

        Becky Gekeler and Sam stopped in. They are buying some suits for his mission to Colorado. Sent them on an errand to purchase some swim shoes (Aqua shoes) for Bruce. They didn't find any Aqua shoes. It is not the season.

     For dinner Bruce chomped on 2 slices of pizza extreme. It had just about everything on it and some sprite to help the medicine go down. We sat with a nice couple, their first night there. He had a stroke and was recovering. she and I did most of the talking. We could understand what he was saying, just barely. He had a Broncos shirt on. He said he would sit with us even if we are ducks... Ha ha His right side was paralyzed. He was trying to uncurl his frozen hand and Bruce is trying to curl his left hand. They own a water purification business. I didn't catch the name. He comes to La Grande all the time. He does water checks for Idaho and Oregon. I told them we have a John Wayne Christmas video coming and asked if they wanted to watch it with us. They like John Wayne. 

        I ordered some vintage Christmas movies and the first one came today. We watched 'Remember the Night' with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. What a disappointing ending. How could this be a happy Christmas movie? Bruce fell asleep twice that I noticed. It was rated 7.8. Hope the other movies are better. 

     I put the first of three bb CDs of Andrews games in for Bruce to watch and I headed for my Boise home.

     

Monday, Monday (by Sonny and Cher)

      Arrived to find Lee Clinkenbeard talking to Bruce. They both like to talk so that was fun.

      Bruce caught me up on what has been happening. 

     The OT make a mold of his left hand in melted warm wax. They dip his hand four times and it solidifies, they wrap it in Saran Wrap, then they peel the wax off. That loosens up the joints in his hand and it is easier to work with. I'll take pictures and post them tomorrow. 

       He said he is down to twice a week with speech so he is almost up to par with his voice and diaphragm workouts.

      He has a nice bag of dirty clothes for me to wash. Cinderkaren 

     Someone stopped by with icing covered pretzels and gingerbread men. Bruce must have missed them because he was at therapy. What a nice edible surprise. Who dunna it? 

      Sandra Morehead sent gingerbread men, sugar cookies, thin mints, oranges and peanut brittle. Thank you Sandra!  

      The Thimmes sent a very nice glass light up singing manger scene. Thank you.

     Liz Meyer sent some battery operated lights for his wheel chair. He laughed out loud when I showed him.

       Rogers sent a nice wooden nativity. Sorry the treats didn't make it. The elves must have eaten them or that hungry Rudolph...

        He is napping now, they sure wear him out. He will have to get up soon for dinner. It is warm in this room and making me sleepy...

     Dinner was lemon chicken breast, green beans, smashed taters, a small green salad with blue cheese dressing and milk. While they get him out of bed and into the wheelchair I head for the cafeteria, I couldn't resist the turkey pot pie. They used a triangle shaped puff pastry with a turkey gravy vegetable stew on top. I had a side of sautéed broccoli and sugar snap peas. It was delisous. For dessert he had ginger snap cookies some peanut brittle and some raspberry chocolate cookies. I had the last two Reese's peanut butter cups. All these delightful dessertswere sent to us. We are slowly making our way through them. Thank you for thinking of us and sharing your family treats. 

     He demonstrated the pulley system he uses.

     He said the OT gave him a weight in a Velcro strap.

      We played the dvd "it's a Wonderful Life". I hung some Christmas cards from the students and some cards from our church primary on the doors. It is looking festive in here. Thank you for the cards and decorations. It reminds us that other people care. 

     Here is a picture of some ceiling lights I noticed the other day. One light bulb does not match. My OCD noticed it and I thought I would share. Can you find it?