Dad's New Location and Contact Info

Well I am a day late on posting this information...but what's new. Now my son also has a stomach bug going around so I figure I should get this posted before I drop off the face of the internet earth for the next couple of days.

Dad is at:

Courtyards of Pasadena
4048 Red Bluff Rd
Pasadena, TX 77503

His direct phone line is: 713-475-6551

Update from the little I know: Dad is still getting over his C-DIFF, although is just at the tail end of it. He was up in his wheelchair from 9:30 am to 4 this afternoon. He was also able to do some therapy yesterday and today. Mom seemed very encouraged with how things were going today. I also just learned last night that the Dr. dad had at TIRR said that the Plolyneropathy diagnosis at Kindred Hospital was a misdiagnosis and that dad does NOT have it. Once mom gets to know the Dr. at the Courtyards she is going to revisit this with him.

Mom is holding up as best as can be expected. MeeMaw is still not doing well, and has a doctors appointment tomorrow (I didn't ask with what dr, so not sure). Please keep mom in your prayers and she has sooooo much on her plate between the two.

If you need to reach mom during the day we ask that you please try either their home or the hospital first. She only has a limited amount of cell phone minutes and with all the "business" she has to take care of with MeeMaw and dad, it uses up most her minutes. She is with Verizon so if you are with Verizon you can call her for free, otherwise unless you REALLY need her asap, please try the other numbers first. She still needs the phone calls and encouragement from friends, but yet is limited with her cell phone. Thanks for this consideration.

We are asking that people still continue to keep the family in your prayers. There is a long road still ahead of us. Dad will be in The Courtyards for around 90 more days then maybe home...depending on if he still needs the medical help/rehab.

God Bless!

Short Note...

Dad has moved to the Courtyards of Pasadena and so far so good. He is still recovering form the C-Diff, but seems to be getting pretty good care at the new place.

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I can't give more details now, although tomorrow I will post where he is, address, phone, etc.

MeeMaw is still having much pain with her back and just overall not doing well.

Thanks so much for the continued prayers!!!

Update with Rounds today

Rounds from today are again reported to us from Cherie who was in attendance via phone:

Rounds on Tim today brought the following information:

Medical:

Tim’s C-Diff has set all therapy back by a week so he is no longer able to do acute levels of rehabilitation. He will be on a three week course of Flagyl (from last Thursday when it started) and longer if the diarrhea continues. His white count is down this morning to 8,000 (was at 20,000 with high normal at 10,000) so the antibiotic is working. He no longer has a fever and diarrhea is slowing. Dr. Zuir was covering for Dr. Bodenheimer who was not available for rounds. The CT scan scheduled for noon is to see if they can get a clearer picture of the problem in the mid back area causing lower extremity, bladder and bowel problems so it will not affect transfer to skilled nursing facility but will direct rehab planning for the future.


Nursing:

His need to catheterize has increased from every four hours to every three with this illness. No urinary tract infection but he is much less independent with this than a week ago and needs more assistance. No longer at acute rehab level. Has slipped to skilled nursing level. No open areas of skin. The area on the back of his calf has now healed and closed.

Occupational Therapy:

Emily states that he has deteriorated in independence from this time last week due to the infection. He is less independent in cathing, showering, transfers, dressing than a week ago and needs to restart bowel training at the SNF.


Physical Therapy:

Tim has missed all PT sessions since this time last week due to infection so it is quite likely he has lost a great deal of independence in all areas that were being worked on. He is no longer capable of acute level of rehab so the SNF with a lower demand on time and energy is more appropriate for his current level of ability. The SNF and TIRR will work together to put appropriate rehab plan in place.

Discharge plan:

Worth has made the referrals to the two facilities Bonnie identified in Pasadena and League City. Ambulance transport will be arranged for tomorrow and the transfer made on the basis of which place has an available bed for tomorrow. Tim no longer is able, because of infection, to do acute level of rehab so a SNF is the appropriate place for him to receive the care and rehab he is currently able to do. If a bed is not available in the first choice facility, Tim has the option to transfer as soon as a bed is available there.


Bonnie then read a scripture (I Thes 1: 2-3) to the staff thanking them for the care they had taken of Tim and her and how all had worked so diligently to bring him this far from where her was on November 24th.

Update on Dad's Infection: C-DIFF

Dad does have C-DIFF again and right now is: throwing up, diarrhea, nausea, extremely week, can't do any therapies, and only has until Wed to be at TIRR. He has been moved back into a private room, I do not know the room #. I know for now he is unable to handle visitors, although mom can, and I'm sure would like some company off and on. We knew that we would have up times and down times, but it doesn't make the down time any easier...especially when he doesn't have much time left in a great facility.

Side Note: MeeMaw made it through her doctor's apt. The doctor raised her pain med, and gave her an appetite inducer. She also had blood in her ear so she had to go see an ear dr. She has an ear infection, although they weren't sure if the blood was from that or her fall. She is back at the assisted living facility. Thanks for all the prayers with her also.

Please, please pray for a fast recovery with dad! Thank you so much!!!

Dad Has an Infection

Please add to your prayers....dad has an infection. I just got off the phone with him and he said his white blood count went WAY up. I asked him if he thought he had C-DIFF again, and his response was, "I hope not". They are culturing/testing to try to figure it out. He said that he threw up once already and felt like he was going to do it again and hung up quickly.

Mom is not there either as she had to go to Texas City to take MeeMaw to the Dr. and try to get MeeMaw some help. I talked to mom at 11:30am and they were being called back to the exam room. She is suppose to call me when she gets in the car, it is now 2pm and I haven't heard back.

Please continue to keep these new developments in your prayers. Dad sounded horrible, and I am very concerned as it sounds a lot like what we have been through before. Thanks!

Dad needs prayer today

In the process of trying to get dad's bowels on a schedule as part of "therapy" he was given a suppository last night around 9pm. Well he is now and continuing to have bowel movements every 30-45 minutes. He also has a hemorrhoid now and all of it together is making him not feel good at all. He also wasn't able to do physical therapy today.

Dad was suppose to go out into the "real world" and work on getting in and out of a car with his wheelchair, in and out of places, etc. Now because of the situation above, he is not able to attend this important outing. It is all such a disappointment.

Please pray that things will regulate themselves out and we can get back to making progress and can start feeling better. We need a quick turn around so that dad can get back to things. He is making progress everyday and all his therapist are thrilled at how well he is doing. He only has until the 18th and then he has to move onto the Skilled Nursing Facility.

Added note, mom and I went and looked at 2 yesterday afternoon. We really liked one (and as an added plus it is walking distance from my [Elizabeth] house) and we didn't like another. We have heard good things about a place in Webster which will put mom day to day closer to MeeMaw, we are hoping to look there tomorrow afternoon. Also mom is going tomorrow morning to take MeeMaw to her Dr. We aren't sure if there is anything he can do, but it is worth a try....please pray for that visit.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support. We have been at this new life for almost 3 months now and it is amazing and a huge blessing to still see that we continue to have support. Thank you so much!!! God Bless!!

Update on the Medical Rounds/Meeting Today

Cherie attended rounds today Via phone, I copied and pasted directly from the email, information for you:

Rounds today on your Dad were attended by his doctor, a member of the nursing staff, OT, PT, the neuro-psych team, the social worker and your parents. I will go through by category:

Medical
Cardiac status is improved so that Digoxin and Potassium have been stopped. One other cardiac drug will be weaned over the next couple of weeks.
The MRI re-read showed an area of brightness at T9 (about 4" above the waist) that might indicate an area of damage due to oxygen loss. There is also, on closer look, a variation in the vertebrae that they will do a CT scan to more fully evaluate this week. This is thought to be the cause of the partial paralysis from waist down.
Coumadin (blood thinner) will be needed till at least May or June. Your parents were advised to follow up with their primary medical doctor to see if clots are still there in legs or why they developed in the first place.
Your Mom expressed concern about Tim's feet and legs swelling even with compression stockings on. She was told this is "dependent edema" and will be present to some degree as long as he is using a wheelchair and not walking.
Nursing

Nothing to report. No nursing needs identified.

Occupational Therapy
Endurance is improving with each session.
Tim is now feeding himself independently
He is learning to use adaptive equipment for reaching and dressing himself and transferring from the wheelchair to the bed.
Upper extremity independence is limited.
Lower extremity independence is maximally impaired.
Catheterization technique still needs work.
They will start work today on teaching him to be independent with shower and bathing in a roll in shower. The OT thought this had been completed but it has not been started yet. He is currently still doing bed baths.
Still having episodes of stool incontinence. Will begin bowel schedule training today. Again, the OT thought this had been done and it has not.

Physical Therapy
Doing so much better in therapy sessions with dizziness now a rare occurrence.
Still needs minimal to moderate supervision with transfers as he tends to forget steps he must use to be safe.
Tim is attending RAPS classes designed to teach him how to live and function well with a spinal cord injury. They were pretty clear today that this is likely to be permanent.
He will need a custom fitted wheel chair when he leaves the skilled nursing facility (SNF) and there is great potential for fraud here so TIRR wants him to come back to their wheel chair clinic when he is discharged from the SNF and suggested he rent a wheel chair until they could get one that was fitted to his needs. The SNF will provide him with needed equipment while he is there so the purchase of a chair will not be for 2-3 more months. (End of notes from Rounds)

Please continue the prayers for his recovery. Also Wed of next week dad has to move to a Skilled Nursing Facility...pray we choose the right one. Mom and I are going SNF shopping this afternoon. God Bless!!

Update as of Friday

Well I wrote a loooooong post and then all of the sudden gone. I went to the draft hoping the auto save would have it there...but it wasn't. Oh my gosh...I will outline important things and try to recap everything.

• Dad is still trucking along doing good.
• Dad's roommate left today. Dad was able to pray for him, so mission accomplished in dad's eyes. No surprise.
• Dad loves his OT and she is in a wheelchair after a car accident. She is a real role model for him on how much he will be able to for the time he is in a wheelchair. Of course we are all praying he recovers fully. He will just go on and on about how she can do this and that and she is teaching me to do this and that...it's fun to hear his excitement.
• If you want to visit this weekend here is his schedule: He is free after 1pm on Sat and free all day Sunday.

• Please keep Mark (my brother), Cherie (medical advocate and good family friend), and Barbie (lawyer that is taking care of dad's active cases and a good family friend) in your prayers. They are shoulder deep in paper work, research, phone calls, etc to make sure dad gets the best care for as long as possible, keeping up with the finances, taxes, etc. Thankfully due to email we have been able to keep consistent communication going between the 4 of us.

• I know this blog is for dad, but we really need prayers for MeeMaw (My mom's mom). She fell in the middle of the night. The staff was able to get her back in bed. MeeMaw told mom that she was fine, no bruises, etc. Well the staff got the paper work into her Dr. and long story short, she ended up having to go to the ER and get a CT Scan of her head. Initially everything is fine, we will know more from the doctor on Monday. Praise God for her good friend Helen who was able to go right away and take her. Mom also found out that she has a big knot on her head, and large bruising on her forehead, chin and arm. We are concerned that she needs to be admitted into the hospital as she is also loosing alot of weight (she didn't have it to loose in the first place), not really eating much, and can't get around anymore because of how much pain she is still in (even with pain meds).

Thanks for all the prayers and support, and please keep them coming! Continue prayers for dad's healing, especially his back (T9) and everything that goes along with that. Also just keep the family in your prayers as we continue to live everyday under so much stress and trying to balance the necessities in life. Of course mom, poor thing....just everything she is going through. God Bless You!!!

Tuesday Update

Mom and dad had their weekly meeting with the Doctors, case worker, etc. Here is some information that has been communicated back to me from our friend Cherie who is our medical advocate now:

• Ejection Fraction is at 66% with his heart (should be over 75% but is better than it was) Cardiac rehab is continuing.
• No ischemia or swelling around the spinal cord was seen on the MRI to explain paralysis. They are consulting with the radiologists to have them personally look at the films in light of symptoms and see if something doesn't appear at second glance.
• Results from Radiologist: There is spinal cord damage. Doctor told mom that typically the outcome is wheelchair bound...BUT Doctor is a Christian and knows that we are too and also talked to mom about how she has to give patients the worse case senio, and that God can do bigger things.
• Both of my parents are learning to catheterize 4x/day and both are doing OK with it but neither is yet "competent" to do this unaided.
• Dad is having double vision and dizziness (this is where the nausea seems to be coming from) so they are consulting a "movement specialist" at TIRR to evaluate this.
• We are being told that he will be in TIRR till around the 18th of this month and then move on to a Skilled Nursing Facility.
• He is doing very well with rehab progress but will need OT and PT for several more months as an outpatient (or in a nursing home). TIRR did tell mom and when he is doing outpatient, they want him back at TIRR...mom was happy about that.

On top of all this my grandmother (mom's mom) is not doing well, and we are thinking she will have to be moved from an asisted living house to a complete nursing home. She is in horrible horrible pain, even with pain meds with her back to the point of hardly being able to move and at times not having bowel control. (Doctors are saying she need surgery, but MeeMaw doesn't think that would be a good idea with her risk of more TIA's, and her age) MeeMaw doesn't want to move, so this is another battle that is on mom's plate. Mom is going to go see her tomorrow (and look at a nursing facility that is in Webster) and talk to her more about making the move. Please keep this visit in your prayers as history has proven that MeeMaw will get defensive and things will go down hill with the conversation.

As it is obvious please pray for Dad and the new developments with his spine, along with the previous prayers that we have listed in the other posts.

Thank you again for all the support. Mom was just saying tonight on the phone that the power of prayer has been a big part of her strength and she appreciates so much everyone who is out there praying. God Bless!!!!