OT: Deb's Grand Day Out!

[OBIO]

First a disclaimer: ADMIN/MODS, if you feel this should properly be included in the "Set Back In Deb's Recovery" thread, please place it there. I started a new thread because the Set Back is long long gone and she is doing great.

++++++++++++++++++++

Now, about Deb's Grand Day Out.

Today, the family got together for an early Thanksgiving Feast, as one of our own has returned from Iraq, if only for a short while. He will be shipping out to return to Iraq on the 11th, so Thanksgiving came early. And Deb got to be there. My father in law and I picked her up from the Rehab Center at Noon and did not take her back until 6 PM. Six wonderful hours out of a medical facility, surrounded by family and friends, good food (which she enjoyed greatly and in a surprising abundance!). Deb got into and out of the car surprisingly well, ate VERY WELL, played some games, took a "walk" along the nature trail and was nearly dumped in a mud puddle when my sis-in-law Dee and her hubby Jeff nearly lost control of Deb's wheel chair and it almost tipped over.

The family is blessed to have a good number of women in the nursing field: Deb, her sister Dee, Dee's mother-in-law Kay and sister-in-law Jenny....so we had three qualified and working nurses there to assist Deb if any need arose...although none did. Dee and I had Deb up out of the wheel chair and using her walking...she walked about 45 feet with just a little assistance from us for balance...she did wonderfully.

Tons of pictures were taken, Deb was dressed up and made up and having so much fun. She really needed today....a day away from hospital beds, and therapy, and pale drab walls...a day full of laughter, smiles, hugs, kisses and so too much good food.

Once we got her back to the Rehab Facility, I helped her get cleaned up and ready for bed, got her into bed, tucked in, and gave the head nurse on night shift a break down of how Deb's day went and on how well she handled the various elements of it...all of which will be passed on to the various therapy teams. As we were leaving, I looked back and Deb still had a great big smile on her lovely face....a smile that I had not seen her have since before the surgery.

OBIO

[Jagdflieger]

Great report Obio!

No issues here with starting a new thread. I think it's the thing to do.

[R C CAWTE]

Great to hear mate.Won,t be long and she will be home for keeps.:applause:

[Bill Kestell]

Outstanding ... ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING!

[Hern07]

Fantastic, we all share in your happiness. :jump:

[Oglivie]

It's very good to read of her progress, Tim.

My Best Regards to You, Deb and Family!

[rmalone]

Could not ask for better news than that-keep you spirits up its going to be OK.
RM :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[OTTO]

Sounds like good therapy for all of you !
Keep the great news comin !
All the best to you both !
OTTO

[erufle]

:d:d:d

[Skywolf]

Nothing better than a day out with family!!! Great news OBIO!:applause::applause:

[Rami]

Obio,

This is wonderful news! :ernae:

[Bulldog]

Great news Obio!:applause:

[gavinc]

Excellent news,
I'm glad you had a Thanksgiving to remember.

Gavin

[Blondi]

Great news Obio, and you get to do it all over again in a couple of weeks during traditional thanksgiving.Glad she's doing so well.

Blondi:cost1:

[hewman100]

Fantastic news Tim!!!!!:jump::jump::jump:

[Kofschip]

OBIO, thank you for sharing this with us. Our prayers are with your whole family and especially with Deb and the family member who was with you from Iraq. I wish all of you a belated early Happy Thanksgiving.

[OBIO]

Yesterday, Deb had an appointment with the eye doctor...and her right eye tested fine....vision is good! Eye lids on that eye still aren't closing fully, but have gotten better.

This evening, Deb was in great spirits. Her mom and I went over and sat with her during supper, and I helped her out of her wheel chair and into a normal dining chair. After dinner, got her back to her room and into the bathroom to do her dental care and use the potty. Then into bed. We were all laughing and having a good time. Deb was sitting up in bed at an angle, and with all the laughing she was doing, she had a glob of saliva go down the wrong tube. She could not breathe! So, I grabbed her by the right arm and should and yanked her upright in bed. Then she could breathe...but she asked me...."Did you have to rip my arm out of socket?" I tell you...the woman is insane LOL!

OBIO

[miamieagle]

Iäm glad she is doing well OBIO!:ernae:

[OBIO]

Today, I got a call from the Rehab Facility....Speech Therapy (also works with swallowing ability) has changed Deb's diet from the mechanical soft to a normal diet...no more ground meats, no more soft foods only. Tonight Deb had a Ham and Cheese sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. She is still on the thickened liquids due to her facial paralysis....but this is another step in the right direction.

Deb is getting stronger, more capable on a daily basis. Tonight, getting her on and off the toilet and into bed were super smooth with Deb doing 95% of the work. Her speech is much much clearer and stronger....she was singing Christmas carols most of the evening! She had us cracking up....you would have to hear how Deb sings to know just how funny she sings....not just off key, but in a comic way that only she has mastered.

Shouldn't be much longer before Deb is home with me and the animals where she belongs.

OBIO

[Hern07]

Looks like you're getting an early Christmas. Aren't you glad you were a good boy last year?

[OBIO]

A week since my last update.....Deb has had the "Needs Constant Supervision" part of her dietary restrictions lifted. She is no longer deemed a high-risk choker. She continues to improve in strength and ability...she is now walking about 150 feet with her walker (with minimal assistance), can get out of the wheel chair and onto the toilet by herself...can but not allowed to due to the risk of falling. I let her do it "by herself" but I am there to catch her if she starts to loose balance. The nursing staff is still under orders to use 2 people for transfers.

Her PEG (stomach feeding tube) is causing some allergic reactions. Since she really does not need it any longer, it may removed within a week or two.

Deb has an outing planned for Monday night....a trip to Bob Evan restaraunt for supper. Her mom and step dad, sister and brother-in-law and the two of us will be dining in country style...and Deb said that is ordering breakfast (2 eggs over easy, bacon, whole wheat toast, and hash browns).

Yesterday, her wedding rings went back onto her finger for the first time since the morning of her surgery (August 18th). She has been holding off on wearing them out of fear that her hands would swell like they did in the early stages of her recovery. Now that the swelling is long gone, she wanted her rings....and told me that they were in a shiny pink, heart shaped box in her night stand drawer. NOPE! I looked everywhere for that shiny pink, heart shaped box and could not find it....I was panicked BIG TIME. After two days of hunting, I found the rings in her jewerly box...and not in a pink heart shaped box like she insisted they were in. It was a relief to my poor over-stressed mind when I saw those little rings (I had forgotten how small her rings are compared to my wedding band) in amongst her large collection of bracelets. I did not look forward to having to replace that set..custom made, 8 diamonds...and with the price of gold now days. Slipping those rings onto her little finger was the high light of the week...and felt oh so right, just like it felt on the day I married that blue-eyed gal.

OBIO

[Bill Kestell]

That a boy! Glad to see she's doing so well. Still in our thoughts and prayers ... both of you!

[Ghostrider]

Fanatstic, Obio! Best wishes for Deb's continued successful recovery!

Ghostrider

[OBIO]

This morning we had a family meeting with the therapy staff and the nursing staff. All around good reports on Deb's progress. The goal set today was to have Deb home 4 weeks from today! So, I need to get busy giving the house a major cleaning (it's clean...but a good thorough GI Inspection cleaning will be done for good measure any how).

Deb has been cleared to drink plain ordinary water after meals and after very thorough oral care to ensure that all food particles are removed from her mouth. With meals, she still needs thickened liquids. The reason for this is to allow her to increase her fluid intake for when the feeding tube is removed, to avoid the possibility of her getting even the smallest bit of food into her lungs, and to help develop her swallowing even further.

Today Deb walked nearly 150 feet with her walker! The furthest she has walked to date. Each day's walk gets a little longer, a little more stable.

She was still all up in the air about last night's outing to Bob Evans Restaraunt for supper. Deb and I were accompanied by her mom and step dad, her sister and brother-in-law....and we had a blast! We all ordered breakfast foods...and it was sooooo gooood! At one point I look over at Deb to make sure she was taking small bites and chewing them very very well before swallowing.....and she had sausage gravy running out both corners of her mouth. I go "Kind of a big bite there wasn't it?" And she says.....How could you tell? LOL Everyone at the table nearly choked on their food we were laughing so hard!

Oh, I also need to get busy putting up the Christmas lights....blue icecycle lights on the gutters, red rope lights on the patio railings, 3 foot lighted candy canes on the patio stair rails, 3 huge lighted wreaths. Then there is the 6 foot tree to set up, fluff up, string with white lights and decorate, stockings to hang, all the Christmasy nick nack stuff, 2 more huge lighted wreaths for inside, then I have to load the 5 disk CD/DVD player with Christmas music and have it playing nearly nonstop.....Deb wants the house ready for Christmas the day she sets foot in it for the first time since August 18th.

Sunday, we will be attending church with the in-laws....we're not supposed to know it...but the church is having a benefit supper for us to help us cover some of the medical bills that are being left uncovered. My sis-in-law Tina, Deb's little sister, spilled the beans about a week after Deb's surgery...she can't keep a secret for NOTHING! Which is why I never tell her anything!

Things are looking up all around...which is why Deb had her sister, Dee, decorate her eye patch with tiny rhinestones in the shape of an arrow pointing up.....things are looking up.

OBIO

[OBIO]

Nine days.....

Today, we spent the afternoon at Deb's mom's house...Deb included. Picked her up from the Rehab Facility and she got into and out of the car with relative ease. There are three steps from the garage into the house...and Deb climbed those three steps! I was behind her and my father-in-law was beside her...there to ensure her balance and to catch her if she were to fall...but she climbed those three steps under her own power! And she came down those steps under her own power...with the two of use there to assist her in balance only.

Grif (father-in-law) was working on one of the brakes on the wheel chair, and Deb needed a potty trip...so using just her walker we made it through the house, to the bathroom and back to the sofa. Not a single stumble, loss of balance or misstep.

This weekend the chair life system will be installed on the stairs at our place....one less thing preventing Deb from coming home. She could be home for Christmas.

OBIO

[Jagdflieger]

A remarkable recovery Obio. Our prayers continue for her speedy return to normal.

[Good_2_Be]

Sounds like a great Christmas present :applause:

[Devildog73]

Wow, Tim! That is such wonderful news for you! :jump:
I had to wipe a couple of tears of joy for you before I could type anything legible.......:redf:

Deb continues to be in Jodi's and my prayers.

Sounds to me like the best therapy was had at home......:wiggle:

[OBIO]

Today, Deb was given the all clear for coming home real soon. The therapy teams all said that she has reached a point that it is safe for her to be home! Just some things here to do to get the house ready for her home coming. The stair lift system has arrived and will be installed this week. Need to rearrange the bed room to make it more "gimp friendly" as she called it. Need to remove some pieces of furniture here and there to open up walk ways for Deb's walker and wheel chair....although I have already told her not to count on using the wheel chair all that much when we are home....she will be using the walker mostly to strengthen her legs and to improve her mobility...and there will be times when I have to walking without the walker with me supporting her just enough to prevent her from falling.

Yesterday evening I decorated her room for Christmas...even though she won't be there for Christmas. Just to help get her into the mood for a nice glittery, sparkly, decorated, festive Christmas. I even went so far as to make the wreath myself..using purchased items to create it. Yeah, I'm artsy fartsy that way...as Deb says.

A bit of a downer though...Deb's room mate, a grand old gal named Betty has taken a turn for the worse and may not see the morning come. She developed pneumonia last week, and treatments were not helping. They took her to the hospital a few nights ago and found that pneumonia is not her only problem...she has gone into renal failure and all treatments to correct it have failed. We got word through the nursing staff, who was given an update by Betty's son, that Betty is not expected to make it through the night.

If any of you can spare a prayer for Betty and her family...I'm sure they could use them right now.

OBIO

[erufle]

I'm there for both Deb & Betty.

[hewman100]

Thinking of them both Tim.

[OTTO]

Prayers on the way for both !

OTTO

[OBIO]

Got a very surprising call today....Deb may be home TOMORROW! That's good...and bad. Good that my Blue Eyed Sweetie will finally be home were she belongs. Bad because there are a million details that had not been taken care of yet. Rearranging furniture for better mobility, shower chair and grab rails have not been purchased and installed. I have been busy today getting furniture moved, tracking down the items that Deb will need for increased independence and mobility. I just got done taking down the glass shower doors and installing a nice curved shower curtain rod and will be hanging the shower liner and curtain in just a bit. Got to make up the bed...bought brand new bedding so Deb can come home to a nice pretty bed...new sheets, new pillows, new quilted comforter, new pillow cases...the whole nine yards. Have run the sweeper through the entire house. Washing curtains now....just going that extra mile to make her home coming as nice as can possibly be.

I have a 10 am meeting with Deb's therapy teams to go over things that need to be done on my part to help Deb on a day to day basis.

There is a possibility that she will come home a week from tomorrow...depending on if the insurance antes up to cover another week of therapy or not. That would be nice as that would give me time to get more of the details taken care of.....but I think I would rather play catch up and have my baby home tomorrow.

OBIO

[Jagdflieger]

Good news! Glad to hear that all is tracking well.

[hewman100]

:jump::jump::jump: This is fantastic news indeed!!!! My best wishes to you both Tim

[OBIO]

Man am I tired....been cleaning, cleaning, rearranging, cleaning, cleaning and more rearranging. Never new so must dust could collect in so many odd places. I have been keeping up with the house work...but I gave the entire place a good "Spring Cleaning" and was surprised at how much dust and dirt I found in those hard to reach or over looked places. The office was the worst by far...took 4 buckets of fresh dusting water to get everything spic and span. With my nephew staying with me, this room has not been touched in over a month...and that young man is a SLOB! I have no clue how he got cigarette ashes on top of my book case...but there they were.

Since it isn't too cold outside, I opened windows and aired the stink out of the place while I was cleaning...it's amazing how good fresh air can smell!

Just got a few small tasks to finish up then all will be set just in case Deb does come home today. Heck, I even gave the ferret cage an A Class cleaning and even moved it to vacuum underneath it....tons of ferret hair got sucked into the Bissell for sure.

OBIO

Oh, Betty...Deb's room mate....passed away a couple nights ago. She had made a drastic improvement and was well on the list to be readmitted to the nursing home...then she was gone. Poor old gal's ticker simply stopped ticking while she was asleep.

[OBIO]

SHE'S HOME! Sitting in her favorite chair, puppies jumping on her, watching her gold fish swim and eat, bossing me around....just the way things are meant to be.

OBIO

[Donald Piper]

Kinda like an early Christmas present wouldn't you say... don

[huub vink]

Great news OBIO! Seems you two will have a very special Christmas this year!

Enjoy,
Huub

[Hern07]

Man, I am so happy for you two. Pass on my good wishes to Deb.

[Willy]

Happy to hear that she's home and I pray that she'll continue to improve.

[Bill Kestell]

Yea ... same here .. but now you REALLY gotta' behave!

[hewman100]

Fantastic news there Tim! Hope things continue to improve and you have a memorable festive season:applause::applause::applause:

[kelticheart]

Tim,

these two and a half pages are the best love story I ever read, saw or heard of. Including the first ones, when you started telling us what was going on with Debbie back in August.

May the Lord bless your and Debbie's love for each other, I think that was the cornerstone spiritual energy with which the successful outcome of this whole ordeal was built.

Although I am not very present in this forum these days - I do hope this busy-bee period of mine will slow down sometime soon -, I followed anxiously all developments of Debbie's illness, always hoping for positive news and a speedy recovery.

I can safely state SOH's community prayers were heard in the upper floors.

Let me wish you both one blast of :santahat: a Christmas time :snowman:, hoping Debbie's steps towards a 100% normal life will go faster and faster.

Here's my toast to this beautiful happy ending! :ernae:
Cheers!
KH :friday:

[OBIO]

Keltic

Thanks! Your post brought tears to my eyes and to the eyes of my darling Debra.

Deb has been home for a week now...and doing very well....and she has quickly resumed the art of bossing me around. Definitely my wife! She is so glad to be home, to be sleeping in our bed with me beside her, to be holding the doggies, to be watching the fish, to be playing with the ferrets. Christmas decorations are up...but on a more subdued level. No tree...just a few nicely decorated wreaths, some lights. Too much going on to worry about finding a place to set up the 6 foot tree.

Deb did give me quite a fright this evening...she fell. She did not get hurt, did not hit her head or anything. She was trying to get up out of the chair, on her own, and simply slid off the edge of the chair, landed on her right knee (which does have a bit of rug burn on it), then kind of rolled onto her back side a bit hard. I heard the THUD and ran to her...she looks up from the floor at me and says "I fell". I looked at her and said "Yeah, I see that." I took a good ten minutes checking her over and asking her if she was hurt, if she hit her head, and she assured me she was fine.

Did get a bright bit of news today...the insurance company finally got around to paying the 127 thousand dollar bill for her brain surgery! There was simply a mix up in the paper work that a nice lady named Dawn was able to see through and made one phone call and the company issued the check! Bless you Dawn.

Deb is loving the fact that I am doing all the cooking, all the cleaning, all the laundry....but I am sure to tell her that that situation is not a permanent thing. She will have to get herself in gear at some point and make me some of her earth-shatteringly good spaghetti. Deb's spaghetti sauce takes 6, maybe 8 hours to make....it is SO GOOD! My sister-in-law, who hates spaghetti, loves Deb's spaghetti....it's that good.

Sunday afternoon we went to the other sister-in-law's house for a nice Sunday lunch....peppered pork loin, home made mac and cheese (the BOMB!), fresh baked rolls and home made Christmas cookies (the ancient family secret recipe Rum Balls....Oh My GAWD...were they incredible). Deb got into the car and out of the car like it was NOTHING. She even did it like a "normal" person...put her left leg in, swing into the back seat, pull the right leg in. No help from me at all. After lunch, the Wii was fired up and Deb made the statement that playing Wii bowling and tennis would be good therapy for her right hand and arm...which is still a bit on the weak side. She has been trying to get me to buy a Wii for a while now...and with the statement that it would be good therapy she sealed the deal. How can I say no to something that is good therapy? I just hope she doesn't say that getting a third dog or a third ferret or a 4th fish tank will be good therapy...I shudder the thought. So, after the Christmas shopping is done and it is safe to return to the stores...I will go out and buy a Wii for Deb...and to help her therapy along...I will subject myself to playing Wii bowling and Wii tennis...while I am an avid video gamer...I rank the Wii just a bit higher than PONG.

OBIO

[Bill Kestell]

Gosh ... that's all good news. After all that stuff, getting your lives back to normal is really what it's all about. (been there too often). I'm just so happy and thankful that things are at this point ... and can only get better.

[OBIO]

SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT...PRAYER NEEDED

Woke up between 5 and 5:30 this morning to find Deb in a bad way...turns out she was in the end stages of a seizure. Scared the bloody hell out of me it did. She was totally unresponsive, had a build up of fluids in her mouth and upper airway. I got her sat up and cradled in my arms and her breathing improved.....Then I began yelling my nephew's name at the top of my lungs to wake him up to call 911....that boy could sleep through a direct atomic strke...my throat is sore from the yelling. He finally woke up and called 911. When the squad arrived, Deb was still unresponsive, but within 5 minutes she began coming around slowly.....then within just a few mintues she came ouit of the daze...by the time we got her down stairs to the gurney, she was able to stand up and get onto the gurnery by herself.

A CT scan shows no real change in her brain/cranium since the surgeries....well not changes that are out of normal or unexpected. The docs and nurses all said that it is common for people who have undergone such extenive brain surgery or severe head traumas to have seizures....in many cases it is just a single seizure or just a short span with a few seizures...kind of like the brain coughing.

Deb is scheduled for an EEG tomorrow morning at 7:30 and has been given a perscription for an anti-seizure medication.

She is home, eating McDonalds Biscuits and Gravy. At this time she is as good as ever. But at 5:30ish...I was afraid that I was loosing my sweetie, my entire world.

Tim

[JP127]

Hi Tim,

Very happy to here she is ok. You and your wife are in my families prayers and thoughts.

Jeff

[Hern07]

Glad she's ok, I'll bet that woke up your cardio system. guess sometimes it's two steps forward, then one step backwards. As long as the net is forward you're ok/ Praying for both of you.

[hewman100]

Still thinking of you both here on this side of the water Tim.

[Jagdflieger]

Obio,

How is Deb today? Hope last night was better than the night before.

[OBIO]

Deb is doing well today...tired, which is expected after a seizure...they take the fire out of a person for a few days. And she was up early to make it to the hospital for two tests....EEG and a Modified Barium Swallow. The EEG took about an hour and a half and the results will not be known until the test is read and deciphered by Deb's neurologist. The Modified Barium Swallow was to see how well Deb's swallowing is progressing.....a bit better than the last one...but still not quite strong enough to get off the slightly thickened liquids. Another 4 to 6 weeks may see her drinking normal liquids.

She is taking a little nap right now, waiting for me to make her soup (simmering on the stove as I type this). She wants to go shopping at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store this afternoon...but since we had to surrender both cars due to financial scale backs...we are without wheels and have to rely on family for rides....and everyone is busy this afternoon. I was going to go to a neighboring town today to check out a very clean Monte Carlo (1995, no dents, no rust, spotless interior, needs a tune up.....$900) but with the medical tests and the freezing rain, the car shopping has been put on hold until next week.

Deb is doing great all in all...and each day she gets a little stronger, gains more feeling in the right side of her face as the nerve regenerates, her right eye lids are almost fully functional and she can just about, but not quite, close her right eye all the way now. She climbed into and out of our brother-in-law's 4 wheel drive Suburban this morning and into and out of her dad's full size Chevy truck like it was nothing at all to do.

It's great having her home again...all is right in my universe again...or at least 90% so.

OBIO

[Bill Kestell]

Thanks for the better news, and God bless you both. (and have fun shopping):jump:

[OBIO]

What a day Deb had. Spent the afternoon and early evening at her mom's house for Christmas. Not only did she climb the 3 steps from the garage into the house like a trooper, but she also went down the full flight of stairs to the family/rec room in the basement, played Wii, then played Wii Fit (did the hoola hoop bit), then she climbed the 13 steps back up to the main level. I was there giving her a safety net, but the climbing power was all hers...and I had to tell her to SLOW DOWN!

Have noticed the last couple of days that Deb can almost close her right eye...just a sliver away from full closure. And she is regaining her saliva...which is driving her nuts as she is used to her mouth being dry...with the saliva being produced in normal amounts she thinks she is drooling.

Gets better and better every day....and she said that today was her best Christmas ever.

OBIO

[miamieagle]

Thats just is great news my friend. This is the greatest gift God could have given you both. Merry Christmas.

I will continues to pray for you both!:jump:

[Jagdflieger]

Sounds like great Christmas cheer!