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OT: Deb's Grand Day Out!

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
 
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
 
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
 
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:
 
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
 
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
 
:jump::jump::jump: This is fantastic news indeed!!!! My best wishes to you both Tim
 
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.
 
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
 
Kinda like an early Christmas present wouldn't you say... don
 
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