December 26

Well, Granny is home now....all safe and sound. We came home about 5pm Christmas Eve--no problems. We even made it into the van between some rain downpoors. Arkansas was drowning in flashfloods.....we had over 6inches of rain in our area alone. The rain has stopped and some strong winds blew in a lot colder air, so now we are chilly outside, but the sun is shining!

We didn't do anything on Christmas--Granny spent most of the day just sleeping and I let her rest. Today I'm working on laundry and getting the house in order for Barb & Bill to arrive. Barbara is going to spend the week here, but Bill has to go back to work Monday (as do I!).

I'm now trying to get my mind set for 2010--which is a nice round number, but it's always hard to remember when it comes to writing checks or to mess with the databases at work at the end of the year. Hey, have to find SOMEthing to complain about, don't I?

So far, So good

Granny was home during the past weekend and did very well with minimal help. We even went out to eat lunch at Red Lobster! Still on track to bring her home permanently on the 24th...

Holiday Cheers to everyone!

Back in Rehab

Granny is still wowing the therapists with her energy and good spirits. She worked for 2 solid hours in physical therapy this morning. Still eating with an appetite the solid foods they serve, although it's not always the kind of food she would choose to eat. But, still on track to come home and feeling good....

(Granny said she got in trouble for walking into the bathroom last night--the night nurse said she was supposed to use the call button and not do anything by herself. Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go!)

Day 5

Another fantastic day! Granny is still in good spirits, eating solid food and no evidence of blood loss. She was also not using any oxygen, although she may need to at night from now on since her levels tend to drop while she's sleeping.

She was released from the hospital this afternoon and returned to the rehab center where she is going to continue her physical & occupational therapies there until December 24th. At that time, I will be taking her home permanently as soon as I get home from work (barring any unforeseen emergencies). She can continue therapy as needed from home or at a day facility after that. Granny is definitely ready to take on the challenge to meet the criteria for release from rehab. I am also bringing her home during the daytime on Saturday and Sunday as the therapists only have one session on Sunday which they will do before Granny leaves for the day.

Keep on sending Granny encouragement--this has truly been a marathon event for her and she is close to the goal of going home!

Day 4

The colonoscopy results were negative--no signs of bleeding, no cancer, everything was looking good. Even got the test done early in the morning so I was able to talk to the doctor. So, the Plavix and aspirin and other potential bleeding side-effect medicines have been stopped. They are going to monitor and watch the blood levels to make sure Granny has truly stopped bleeding internally. So far today, there has not been any evidence of blood coming out.

Granny has been eating solid foods since lunch and she's been loving it. Very different from not liking anything put on her food tray! AND, she says she feels wonderful, that she feels like she can do anything and is ready to go home. She walked to the bathroom twice and needed no assistance.

Doctor said if all goes well, she may be ready to get out of the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday). She'll probably have to go back to the Rehab center for insurance purposes, but if she's strong enough to leave there, she can come home. Otherwise, I'm taking her out of Rehab after work on the 24th of December.

It's quite a change in Granny from Sunday while preparing for the colonoscopy. I'm thinking maybe they gave her Superman's blood Sunday evening in the last transfusion, because the doctors didn't give her any new drugs or do anything during their tests. But whatever the reason, Granny did extremely well and was in great spirits today. She said this was the best she felt since before she went into the hospital back on 11/6.

Day 3 (Sunday)

Granny was given 2 more units of blood tonight. She is also currently in the process of trying to drink the lovely "Golitely" which cleans out your plumbing in preparation for the colonoscopy. She has about a half gallon to consume and it's not going real well, but hopefully we will get it down by midnight.

Since Granny was low on blood today, she has been more tired and sleepy so hasn't been too cranky (until this Golitely ordeal). Keep Granny in your prayers and we shall see how things go tomorrow after the test. Granny sends hugs to all!

Day 2

Not much progress... Granny doesn't feel well. She feels a little better after sleeping a few hours, but then starts feeling lousy within an hour or two. She is still bleeding internally as evidenced by the output in the stool. She has been on clear liquid diet since admittance to the hospital Thursday evening. She is tired of that routine as well.

Colonoscopy is still scheduled for Monday morning "some time". GI doctor suspects it will be late in the morning. Later would be better for me as I have 2 doctor appointments myself Monday and cannot be at the hospital, so it may be awhile before I get to talk to the doctor regarding the results. What they will be looking for is ulcers, lesions, tumors and they suspect it will be in the smaller intestines.

In the meantime, today is the day Granny gets "cleaned out" so they can do the colonoscopy. I know she won't like that--they will want her to drink about a half galon of this foul-tasting stuff, and she works on getting down a cup of cocoa all morning!

Day 1

Granny was still feeling lousy this morning even after getting the two units of blood, but her white blood cell count was up and levels were looking better. She had the test to check for bleeding in the stomach...results were negative: no bleeding or ulcers found. Which means, we still don't know why she lost so much blood and have to keep looking.

Over the weekend they are going to monitor her blood levels to see if she is still losing blood, and on Monday she is scheduled for a colonoscopy to see if there is bleeding in the colon. She is currently on a clear liquid diet, but the colonoscopy means she has to "purge" her system so they can get their test results. This is always the icky part--making you have to go to the bathroom a lot with feelings of diareah. It doesn't make for a very pleasant weekend, and Granny has trouble getting out of bed without assistance as it is for all these "potty trips". Well, I guess it has to be done. Sigh.

Ok--email cards or pictures please. I can print and give to Granny for something to look at--when she doesn't feel good, she gets kind of cranky and uncooperative and this will distract her. Thanks in advance!

Setback

Granny was taken to the hospital emergency room yesterday evening. She had been extremely tired (more than usual) the 2 previous days, and when she sat up in bed she nearly passed out. The rehab nurse said her blood pressure drops suddenly and her pulse which had been 113 dropped to 71.

The initial ER tests found her to be anemic and admitted her to the hospital. She was missing more blood than can be accounted for (despite all they took for testing!). They ordered 2 units of blood for her to start with, and they had to put a main line into her neck for the IV...I watched all that drama. This is where they put needles and wires down all the way from the neck to the heart--ugh. But now it's done and they don't have to stick her with any more needles for blood draws or to give her IVs. Dr. Fisher came in about 10:30pm and told us they suspect she may be bleeding internally to have lost that much blood and today (Friday) she will be seeing a gasterolenterologist (spelling?). They will be doing a procedure they abbreviate because the name is too long (GDE I think) where they put a line down into the stomach to find out what is going on. Granny will be put to sleep for this procedure.

Some of the side effects of the medications she is taking for the heart (Plavix is one) can cause bleeding, so this may be where the problem is.

I still plan to pull Granny out of the rehab center after work on 12/24. I know she will be more comfortable at home and she can continue recovery from here. Will keep you posted with developments as soon as I can--will be at the hospital all day today.