Another Day

      Was greeted with a tired man this morning. He was sweaty, hot and awake, had all the blankets off and a fan on last night. He said now he knows what it feels like to have hot flashes. Then he got cold, shivering and needed heated blankies. He said he wanted to curl in a ball to keep warm and he can't do it.

     He was using his regular voice, that was a nice surprise. 

     He was sitting up with breakfast in front of him when I arrived this morning. He had dos fried eggs with pepper, dos sausage, whole wheat toast with jelly and butter, a banana and a fruit smoothie. He ate everything. He is still getting an IV for water and food supplements at night. He needs 4000 calories a day to help his body heal. Did I already tell you that?

   They found he has a small blood clot in his left arm and some arthritis in his shoulder. They are not sure what is causing the pain in his left arm, that may or may not be it. They think it might be the nerves or ligaments trying to restart. Or just the injury. The Doctor said the small blot clot would break apart on its own. They give him ice, Tylenol and heated ultrasound to help. I massage his swollen left hand and push the blood down to help with circulation. 

    They got him up in the wheelchair. For lunch he had a burrito with salsa and rice, salad, milk and apple pie. He ate part of the burrito, some rice and two bites of pie. They gave him all these pills to swallow and he was full from them. One pill is huge. He kept drinking milk to help it go down. He will get an egg salad sandwich at 3 so that should tide him over.

     I left at noon for La Grande. Andrew has Fall Ball tomorrow and I want to be there to help him with that. The weather is good so it was smooth sailing. I need to get snow tires on and a couple more errands. 

   I will take a break from the blog until Monday.

Thank you for your cards, hugs, tears and love. It is surprising and nice to have so many people who care about us. 

Party Time

     Seen on the way to hospital. It reads " WAY".

      Last night when I was leaving, Bruce said" Good night my love." Sigh

I get pretty tired by the time I write these, there are so many ups and downs.

       Bruce slept well last night, was still asleep when I arrived. He said he was talking and his voice cracked and his normal voice was heard. He said it was like when he was going through puberty. 

      Two days ago we called our oldest son to wish him happy birthday, Bruce wanted to talk to him. The grandchildren just howled with laughter when they heard grandpa's gravelly voice. 

   Breakfast this morning was yogurt with granola, 2 slices of bacon, an English muffin with butter and brown sugar, a bowl of oatmeal with butter and brown sugar, a small bowl of grapes, and a can of ensure. 

     I showed him pictures of the La Grande high school bb practice on Facebook on the Observer page. We saw Andrew's back and the line up as they watch free throws. They all had their mouths open watching. Is that a man thing or indicative of their intelligence? 

     They got Bruce up in a chair for lunch. He had chicken Cordon bleu, white rice with butter and pepper, Mater soup and soda crackers and a plate of watermelon and strawberries. I ate a chunk of watermelon.

     Russell and Wendy Perry stopped by for their monthly visit. They say they can see improvement over the last time they were here. 

     After lunch we wheeled down to the gym. Bruce was Hoyered over to a moveable mat (it is electric and moves up and down) They had him sit with his legs in front of him, hands by his side and he worked on balance. This is called the frog position. He was able to sit by himself! Ta da! He got a little dizzy but did really well. Next they moved him to a regular wheel chair, first time, we now get to keep the chair in our room. Yeah! 

     This is Jamie, a PT, from Columbia, he was trying out one of the new slings. He did not like it as it is more horizontal. We use a sling for the Hoyer that is more like a chair position. 

    Mark and Louise Sheldon and his mom and dad stopped by. Aubrey, Mark's mom, left us with a word of prayer. Bruce and Mark talked for a while about school and retirement. Got nice big hugs all around.

      For dinner Bruce had coconut shrimp (is that a Hawaiian dish?), white rice with butter and pepper, a roll, garden salad with Ranch dressing, milk and ensure. 

     Our case worker Coleen says because Bruce has progressed so much today, they are moving his move day up to next Tuesday. Yeah! Party time! His sister Kathy says she will bring the balloons. Here is a list of more things we will have to work on. 

Jokes from the Third Grade

    He slept well last night, wasn't nauseous this morning.

Ate all his breakfast which was a sausage, cheese and egg burrito with salsa, hash browns in a triangle shape with catsup, fruit cup, AJ and ensure.

      Kristie sent another children's video with jokes for Mr. K. Here it is:

Third grade reading
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YbuCsbOZw0

Mr. K sent them a joke: How do you make a turkey float?

You take 2 scoops of ice cream, some root beer and a turkey. Ha ha

      

     They put him on a tilt table this morning. He usually can do 30 degrees, then gets nauseous. Today he made it to 40 degrees! Yeah he likes to feel the pressure on his feet.

      A nice lady is here doing an ultra sound. The machine is small and fits in a rolling backpack. She put gel on his left arm and holds a camera she called it a transducer that rolls on his arm. The machine looks like a laptop with well just look at the photo and that will help, maybe, explain it. She is looking at all the veins in the arm. She says the radiologist will look at the images. She downloads them to a computer and the radiologist looks at them.

     Bruce is cold, got him a heated blanket. For lunch he had a French dip sandwich, (Did I tell you he was born in France? Fontainebleau, France, military brats, his father was in the Air Force) garden salad, vanilla ice cream and ensure. He held the sandwich and did the dipping.

       Bruce slept most of the afternoon. They got him up in the chair and we went on a field trip to the gym. I read him some news from the iPad. We read about the three feet of snow in New York and he says, "and we were worried about 8 inches."

   I showed him the cafeteria where I eat and a small classroom next to it. We will ask if we can use it when some of the children come for Thanksgiving. 

     He is listening to Post Captain by Patrick O'Brien the year is 1803, during a lull in the Napoleonic war. It combines the sea battles of C S Forester and drawing room dynamics of Jane Austen. The reader did the Harry Potter series, he is good.

     Dinner was meat in a mater sauce, smashed taters, gravy and pepper, corn, vegetable soup, ensure. He was tired so I fed him.

     I set up another CD for him to listen to. 

River Dance toe special

     Bruce had a bad night last night, his arm hurts him. He didn't get much sleep.

 For breakfast, he had a waffle with butter and syrup, 2 pieces of bacon, I almost told him they sent only one piece, but I let him eat both, sigh, he drank his ensure and had two bites of his fruit smoothie.

    I let him rest til the nurses come in. They want him up and awake during the day so he will sleep at night. The chainsaw sound is reassuring to me.

      Not much happening here, stuck in the waiting room with a man in a diaper. (My sister says Diaper Man is the new name for a Senior superman) They are giving Bruce a suppository, lesser of two evils I suppose.

   They found Kenny, aka Diaper Man naked in the street. Apparently his stomach exploded. He has been here for nine weeks. He had cancer and they think it was a result of something done earlier. Very talkative, says he has another month to say here,  he is blind in his right eye, a viet nam vet, no balance, he uses a walker. He wants to get his only daughter some jewelry for Christmas. No I don't know any stores having a sale. He is waiting for his sister to come visit. He asked me to ask the nurse for a root beer. Now he wants me to get the nurse to take him back to his room. The nurse at the desk asked me if was room service. They brought him his root beer. I asked for a root beer float, just kidding and they said they would bring me one. Now they told him his room was wet, mopped the floor.  So they brought him a heated blanket. They are taking him back to his room. Bye my new friend.

   They are doing an X-ray on Bruce's shoulder. So back to the waiting, lounge conference room, which doesn't have any toys in it, just a TV, a  computer, table and a nice bookshelf. I found an interesting book about the Knights Templar or supposed places they have found evidence.

     I was telling Bruce about my new friend, he said I always did talk to strange men, meaning my biker friends in Union. I am sure you saw those pictures on Facebook. Kenny talked to me first. 

    So Bruce says he moved his left big toe up and it would spaze down. He did it over and over again. He figured he was doing a river dance. Also, also, this is good, the nurse Patrick last night was trying to find the peg tube, it was underneath Bruce, without thinking Bruce reached his right arm across his body and rolled up. Patrick found the peg tube and said " what did you just do?" Bruce said he just did it automatically. He hasn't tried it again.

    He is getting more realistic sensation in his legs. Before he could feel pressure when someone touched his legs and now it feels more like a real touch. Which explains why now he can feel me tickling his piggy toes.

     We did not get approved to go to rehab because of Bruce's issues with hypertension. So another week here to get him ready or until Dec. 1. They want him to be able to sit up to do therapy for 3 hours a day. 

    They set him up in a chair and he was able to eat most of the taters by himself. Lunch was roast beef, smashed taters, fruit cup and a Caesar salad. The PT lady, Aytree took him to the gym. He was able to sit up for 10 min before he got too dizzy. He doesn't have any strength and his blood pressure makes him dizzy. He just needs more time to heal. She showed me how to stretch out his legs so I can do that with him when she is not around. 

     They asked me if the man I was with in the lounge was dressed, apparently he has been in there before without anything on underneath. Oh my. They have had to take him back to his room and get him dressed. 

    Came back to the room and Bruce is now resting.

     For dinner Bruce had cottage cheese and fruit, a salad and  cherry pie. He didn't finish his pie.

Hmm, he must be sick.

  Falling asleep, will write more tomorrow.

No Tacos Tuesday

     For breakfast I cut up the sausage links and Bruce tried to spear them. He couldn't see them, even sitting up straighter they are at an angle. I cut up the fried eggs and fed him those, then just ended up spearing the sausage and he uses a fork to bring them to his mouth. I buttered the English muffin and applied brown sugar. Bruce can hold the slices and eat them without assistance. He drank all his orange juice. I refilled his sippy cup. He got a little dizzy after breakfast. He was telling me about a Hallmark movie he watched after I left last night. Must of used too much oxygen talking. They said being dehydrated can make you dizzy too, or irregular blood pressure.

    He is playing chainsaw (a nap) while we wait for PT to get here.

They have removed the trach bandage. It is scabbed over and looks like a small black scab on his neck.

     He is getting an IV since he is not drinking enough liquids. The bed sore ladies are here, I was informed they are " wound nurses". They are changing the bandages on his bed sores. They take pictures and measure them. The nice nurse asked if he smiled for the camera. Her name is Robin, like my baby sister.

     Bruce brushed his own teeth! I put the toothpaste on the brush for him and he got it to his mouth.

     They did a weight, he has lost 35 pounds total.

     Bob arrived to tell us about the inpatient rehab program they have at St. Als. It is in the south tower on the third floor in the hospital campus. It is the same building the helicopter lands on. We are waiting for insurance approval to move on the 19th or 20th.

   As they were stretching Grandpa K to put him in his chair, Jamie, the PT, told him to push back with his right foot and he did. They set him up in his chair. Lunch was chicken salad with pepper, rice, and fresh fruit. He is able to eat the sliced apples and oranges by himself.

     I showed him some videos on the volcano in Hawaii where it burns someone's house. 

     Cheri and Dallas Hibbert arrived with a bag full of chocolates, that is a forever friend. We got big hugs and some company to talk to. They said the roads are clear. 

      For dinner Bruce had mac and cheese and a sprinkle of pepper, French Onion soup with 2 soda crackers and a dash of pepper, salad, chilled pears, milk and a sweet roll our case worker, Colleen brought for Bruce. She is spoiling him. Actually she is trying to fatten him up he needs more calories. I don't like that he has lost so much weight.

     Ray and Carol Westenskow came by. They are going to help with a new grand baby in Utah. 

      Casey from St Als and Colleen our case worker came by. They need to make sure Bruce is ready for the move. They want him breathing on his own, check, eating on his own, almost check (he can do finger foods, he has a harder time with scooping his food, he can't see it as he is at an angle in the bed and can't look down) and healthy enough to do therapy for 3 hours a day. Bruce is doing one hour of sitting up a day. He gets dizzy when he sits up. He is getting stronger every day. We will see what they say tomorrow.

      I left Bruce listening to a conference talk. 

    

     

Sabbath Sermon

    Left for church this morning and was detoured because of flashing lights and orange cones. Arrived to find someone had taken a power pole out and it was blocking the road. One of our sons almost did that when he was beginning to drive. Apparently someone slid into one of the supporting wires and the pole came down. No lights or heat in the church, we are just having Sacrament meeting and then will head home.

     A young man spoke about the Bismark and it being unsinkable. It was hit in the rudder and could only go in circles. Will have to google the story. Bruce said he read the book. We need to make sure our rudders are in place and we know where we are headed.

      Spiritual self reliance was the topic of the first adult speaker. Are we ready to approach the throne of God? Six things to do to avoid discouragement. Take responsibility for your own spiritual development. Take responsibility for your own physical well being. (diet and exercise) Embrace voluntary obedience. Become really, really good at repenting. Become really, really good at forgiving. Accept trials, set backs and surprises as part of our mortal existence. (tell me about it)

    He told the story of the ten virgins, oil in our lamp is our testimony. Make sure we have enough oil in our lamps. 

     The final speaker used this scripture John 14: 27 peace I leave with you. He said his daughter wrecked their car while playing in the snow. He said he didn't have peace when that happened. He said as we seek the Lord, He will bless us and protect us. A quote  from Isaiah he used was Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. I can remember that scripture because I was singing it in my head as he said it.

     When life is a drudgery find joy in helping others. He said as he focused on his daughter and she was okay in the wreck, he was able to have peace. Be nice to people when you have unkind feeling toward them. The key to peace is service. 

    The best story was last, the Bishop spoke about a son that was trapped in Michigan during a snow storm. It snowed up to his second story window. The whole town was shut down. He was a college student and all he had to eat was popcorn. That was okay for the first day. The second day he got his skis out and went out the window and skied down a ramp someone had made to the front door of the store. Nothing was on the shelves, drano was all he found. He looked some more and found a couple cans of green beans. He bought those and skied home. The Bishop said since we have more time today we need to take inventory and see what we need to be prepared in case this happens to us. End of Sunday Sermon.

     Bruce was sitting up when I arrived. He said he only ate half his breakfast. He held the croissant by himself. He hasn't gone to the bathroom so they will have to give him a suppository. That should make things happen. 

    Got another card from Rosala with a fabric strip. Thank you Rosala it makes my day, I love the mail. We marked on his menu the food he will have for tomorrow.

     The nurse is giving him a washcloth bath, change of hospital gown, a shave and cleaning him up. 

     He is shivering and nauseous. They gave him something for the nausea.

     Bro. Robison and a man named Bruce with blue eyes, just like my Bruce, brought him the sacrament today. 

    Bruce feels well enough to eat and he ate all his lunch. He had nice bland biscuits and sausage gravy with pepper, a small Caesar salad with croutons and two Oreo cookies. He didn't want the lemonade.

   He is shivering, put a blanket on him and his hat. The nurse, Gregg came in and saw him with his hat on and told him he was not going outside. 

     The sweet nurses gave bruce the suppository, I made a hasty retreat to the visitors lounge, just outside the door. Gregge gave me the thumbs up so I could return to the room. Bruce said he can feel when he has a movement, just can't control it. He is getting closer. 

    He is sleeping now so will call my mama. My mom must have been lonely, she talked for  45 min. 

     Gregggg is one of the nurses here. He spells his name with a couple of g's. And the nurses tease him and add more g's. He is a Washington Husky fan and Bruce likes the Oregon ducks so they like to razz each other about football games. 

    They are getting him ready for the chair. (sounds like an electric chair) He feels well enough to sit up in it. Wouldn't you know it as soon as he is set up to go and everything is fine and the nurses leave he gets dizzy? I push the button for help and two nurses arrive. They tilt his chair back and soon the dizziness goes away. We remember he hasn't been up for two days. We should have tilted him first and then straight. They tell him to drink more fluids. 

   He did feel better and we got his baked tater with pepper, butter and sour cream down, then a small garden salad, then some fresh fruit, kiwi, strawberries and blueberry yogurt. I am coveting the kiwi. He is finished eating and I can have a bite of the kiwi, he didn't want the orange slices or chilled pears. 

    I go to the cafeteria to eat and call my sistah and brother. No answer from either.  My sister calls me. Baby brother calls. Finish talking to sister, call brother and no answer, maybe tomorrow we will connect.

     Watch the Hallmark channel with Bruce, sweet Christmas story on. Leave for home, feeling sorry for self and son calls so have to buck up and tell him about the day. 

     Ready for the this Sabbath to end. I'm tired. Sleep sweet.

  

     

    

     

Sat All Day

      Bruce was sick this morning, had nausea and vomiting. (Glad I missed that.) 

He told the nurses he didn't feel well. (if a child says that it is fair warning) The nurses were in the room, so they rolled him to his side and caught it in time. They are well trained. They gave him nausea medicine. I fed him some oatmeal with brown sugar and butter and a banana. I ate his bacon (a sacrifice, didn't want it to be thrown away) he said he had a fever and didn't sleep last night. He is sleeping and snoring now. 

     I brought a couple of wool kits to work on. I finished the first one, a pumpkin, a small rug (that you use for a table topper) and am working on the second, a circle flower autumn one, which will be a pillow. 

     The PT evil lady torturer came in to see if Bruce was ready to sit up and he told her he had had a bad night so she left him alone, maybe this afternoon we can get him up when he feels better. The nurse took a urine sample to see if he has a UTI, urinary tract infection.

     Reed and Debbie Waite stopped by bearing gifts and a nice card from past Central staff and a container with bite - size cookies for me and I suppose Bruce. The cookies are from Barb Ely, 

Almond Meal Cookies with Chocolate Chips and Coconut. Gluten free cookies, what? Are these healthy? They smell good. Bruce said he couldn't fight me for them. I suggested arm wrestling. The cookies taste like coconut macaroons! Yummy. 

     For lunch Bruce ate the rice with pepper and half of the glazed salmon. Can I have the rest? I had two bites of the salmon, and he had the protein chocolate drink and some water. 

     I put some plum berry hand lotion on his dry hands and dead skin caked feet. The lotion is good for my hands too. 

    He wanted to listen to a church conference talk. It was a 10 min talk. He was asleep in 5 min. 

    Can anyone beat that record?

     Forgot to mention yesterday one of the young nurses was checking the sores on Bruce's bottom and said " You have a nice backside." I said, " I am usually the only one that says that to him." She assured me she meant it in a professional manner. His bedsores are healing. Ahem

    More visitors are Jean and Kevin Rogers, they are down to help fix their daughters broken cars. Thank goodness for dads that can do that.

     Pres. Richards texted to see if we want visitors. Yes we do! He keeps telling Bruce he looks great. He says he will bring Krispy Creme donuts when he visits next. Andrew would like that.

   Bruce gets sensation on the top of his head. It occurs after his medications. We get a dry washcloth and rub hard on the top of his head until the feeling goes away. 

    We received a card from Tommy Thompson, it stated that a monastery Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Carlton, Oregon was praying for us!  I googled the monastery and it looks like a quiet, peaceful place to visit. We are talking about visiting and thanking them. 

Here is what I found: 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey is a monastery in a rural area of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Portland. Currently the Abbey is home to about 28 monks. 

The Abbey is located on 1,300 acres. It is an income-generating enterprise which includes a book bindery, a wine warehouse for local wineries, and a fruitcake bakery. They have hiking too, no children, pets, phone or TV. Thank you for including us in your prayers.

     Bruce says to say the hearing in his right ear has improved, he could hear before, but the hearing is much better now.

     For dinner Bruce had s hot opened face roast beef Sandwich and gravy with pepper and smashed taters and gravy, corn, soup with soda crackers and a banana Creme pie. He ate the entire entree, a couple bites of soup and almost all the pie, his appetite is back.

 The nurses came in and turned him on his right side, he is making like a chain saw now. 

Before I left I set up his book on CD for him to fall asleep to.

 On the drive home, I slid once, one person passed me and someone was in our oncoming lanes trying to turn left in front of us. I slowed down and figured they must've from outta town like me. 

I finished my second wool project. It will fit a 10 inch pillow form. I found out I do not like wool kits. They make my arms itch. Back to the hexies.