Tom's Diary

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

08:45 AM: I’m up.

09:30 AM: Started a seasoned pork roast in the crock pot for supper.  We’ll have corn on the cob as well.

10:50 AM: Posted the   Shopping Trip: 2010-06-23    piece.

11:20 AM: Posted the   Shopping Trip: 2010-06-24   piece.

11:45 AM: Posted the   Shopping Trip: 2010-05-31   piece.

12:00 PM: Finished figuring out who owes whom for what from all of this summer’s grocery and dining receipts.

01:45 PM: Talked to our financial planner to move some money around and extend our portfolios.

02:55 PM: Figured out some of Mom’s share of the household bills for 2010.

03:15 PM: Leaving now to visit Mom with sister Mary Ann, and we may do a little shopping as well.  Back later.

03:25 PM: Stopped in at Dunkin’ Donuts for a decaffeinated hazelnut-flavore coffee with cream.  We also picked up a plain cake donut for Mom.  She really loves these; when she’s in the mood.

06:00 PM: We arrived at Mom’s place, after shopping at TJ Max and Value City Furniture.  Sister Mary Ann bought a few chairs that, surprisingly, fit in the back of her van.  Hmmm.  That van turned out to be bigger than I thought. 

07:45 PM: We’re back home.  Had a wonderful time.  The afternoon was warm (near 90 degrees) but cooler, more pleasant breezes accompanied the sunset, and the evening turned out to be perfect for sitting outside.

08:20 PM: We ate some of the pork roast.  It turned out slightly dry because we didn’t get home quite as early as we planned.  But flavorful it was nonetheless, and really, it wasn’t very dry at all.  I’ve tasted far drier at restaurants, even if I do say so myself. 

08:25 PM: [Emmy] is watching today’s episode of    KDKA TV’s Pittsburgh Today Live   variety show as I write this.  She liked supper too; although her stomach was a bit unsettled from some candy we shared while visiting Mom.  At least, I think that the candy was what caused it.  I had the same candy and it did nothing to me.  But [Emmy] has a tender tummy I guess.  However, once she got some of that pork and corn into her (real food), she immediately felt better.

10:10 PM: Recorded audio journal episode   AJE-2010-09-07-21-45.

11:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   CNN’s AC 360   news show live.

12:30 AM: Spent the past three half-hours Facebooking, looking at my site stats, wondering around outside, and being thankful to be alive.  But alas, it’s time for bed once again.  So farewell until tomorrow, when I’ll write more.  Take care, and good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Misc. bank papers.
• Electricity bill ($125.48)
• Mom’s wheelchair rental bill.
• Offer from Medco to save Mom on her medicine costs.  Not at this time, thanks.
• 3 get-well and  birthday cards for Mom.
• Notice about Mom’s acquired MRSA infection from her nursing facility.

Related Posts

• Mom’s Status: 2010-09-07
• Shopping Trip: 2010-05-31
• Shopping Trip: 2010-06-23
• Shopping Trip: 2010-06-24
• Today’s Diet: 2010-09-07
• Weight Loss: 2010

Summary

Mom continued her two-times-per-day physical therapy today in the gym; in the morning, and again in the afternoon.  She stood again today, with help, FOUR times, with very little pain.   However, she still becomes quite fatigued; though she has more feeling in her legs than ever in this incident.  Her voice still sounds somewhat higher than usual and somewhat weak, but it continues to improve.     She has moderate anxiety, but the three get-well and birthday cards we took to her cheered her up immensely.  She enjoyed reading one of them to us and showing the pictures of little children that accompanied it.  We took her outside to the parking lot in her wheelchair and had a mini “tail gate” party out there, out of the back of sister Mary Ann’s van.  We enjoyed the fresh air (well, as fresh as it can get in downtown Altoona), we were thrilled to see how much she enjoyed herself (this was her first time outside since the end of July).  She appears to be making steady progress back to health. 

Pending Objectives

• Order podiatrist for regular checkups on Mom’s feet.
• Track Mom’s extreme weakness and loss of feeling in legs. IN PROGRESS.  This has improved markedly over the past week.  Given this, we believe that the nerve damage is reversible, and she seems to be doing a great job in PT doing just that. 
• Monitor Mom’s overall pain status.  We’re looking to get her pain stopped.  IN PROGRESS.  Her pain continues to decrease so that now, she doesn’t seem to have much in her legs when she’s laying still.  So the static pain seems to be almost gone.     
• Track the dissipation of Mom’s pelvic hematoma.  IN PROGRESS.   Can’t measure further progress on this one until Mom has another EMG test in a week or two. 
• Locate Mom’s living will.  IN PROGRESS.  Her attorneys called a couple days ago, and want me to visit their office.  I’ll try them again next week, and hopefully, they can come to the hospital for Mom’s signature on these papers if needed.  Or at least, they’ll be able to FAX me the living will.        

Completed Objectives

Log

06:00 PM: We arrived at the nursing facility to find Mom, waiting for us in the lobby!    Details of this visit follow:

• She spent practically all day out of bed, wheeling herself around the place in her wheelchair.  She talked of this fellow, also a patient there, who likes to sing, and she visited him earlier and they sang up a storm.
• Her physical therapy is going well; though she still cannot stand on her own.  But today, the attendants helped her get up eight times; a new record for this incident.
• With the weather so nice, we pushed Mom out to the parking lot, where sister Mary Ann’s van was parked.  Mary Ann just happened to have a few folding chairs in the van, that we set up, and just had a bang-up pow-wow time out there on the blacktop.  In fact, a passer-by smiled at us and asked if we were having a tailgate party.  “Yep!” we told him. 
• I think we need to stop taking Mom those plain cake donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts that she asks for so often.  She asks for them a lot, but rarely wants them once we bring them. 
• We took her some short-bread cookies and sugar-free candy; which she promptly shared with us right after we presented them to her.  She liked the cookies but opted to do without the candy; at least for tonight. 
• The memories of her Pittsburgh experience still haunt her and sadden her.  We tried to keep her focused on more positive things. 
• Sad would describe her overall mood tonight.  But there were periods when she became animated and happy; showing glimmers of her old self.
• We decided not to ask about last Friday’s blood work tonight because her PCP is scheduled to visit her tomorrow.  We’ll get the information from him then. 
• 07:25 PM: We wheeled her back to her room, as she said that she was getting very tired.  So we decided to leave for this evening to let her sleep.  It was good to see her again; as I’ve not visited her in a few days.  The progress she makes these days may be somewhat less per day now than it was in Pittsburgh.  So the frequency of these reports will lessen.  But I’ll continue reporting on any major milestones in her progress as they happen, rest assured.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-09-07

I keep this food diary to stay aware of just how many calories I’m eating daily, with the hope that it decreases the likelihood that I’ll overeat.    It seems to work, so here we go with another day…

Today, I consumed the following items:

• Herbal tea and diet pop throughout the day. 0 calories.
• 11:00 AM: 1 peach.  50 calories.
• 01:00 PM: 1 bag of popcorn.  260 calories.
• 02:00 pm: 1 bowl of raspberry-flavored cream cheese Jello.  300 calories.
• 03:30 PM: 1 extra large cup of Dunkin’ Donuts decaffeinated coffee with hazelnut flavoring and cream.  100 calories.
• 07:00 PM: Misc candy.  60 calories.
• 08:00 PM: 1 ear of corn with margarine.  150 calories.
• 08:00 PM: Pork tender loin. 400 calories.
• 10:30 PM: 1 banana.  125 calories.
• 10:35 PM: 1 cup of skim organic milk.  80 calories.
• 11:00 PM: 1/4 cup of raisins.  130 calories.

Total calories: 1655.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Other Food Diary Entries
• Today’s Business: 2010-09-07
• Weight Loss: 2010