SOLD!!

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It’s true, the house has sold and this last weekend mom and dad moved!! They are no longer the owners of the big grey house at the end of Pleasant Grove School Road.

It was a sad day as my family pulled out of town, knowing we would never be visiting at this house again.

But we can’t wait to make memories at the new house.They only moved about 5 miles away to Wildhawk West. So they are still close. As soon as they get settled we will take some more pictures of the house.

 

 

So we haven’t updated in forever!!! But life has settled into a routine, that really isn’t post worthy on a daily basis.

It has been weekly therapy sessions, and going through the house to decide after 22 years what to keep and what to get rid of, it has been a huge task.

PS- that is their new car in the driveway, so don’t be looking for them around down in Mom’s  “old” car anymore!!!

We will also try to post more often, but no promises

Pampered

Today Mom and Sherrie went for manicures and pedicures. This is something else we have been talking about doing since her stroke in January. She really deserves it after all the hard work she has done over the last few months.

Wish I was there too!!

Doesn’t Mom look good!

Mother’s Day

For Mother’s Day mom got one thing she has been asking for since she got home. A BATH. She has wanted to just sit and soak. So on Saturday night Sherrie and Dad made it happen.

Between the 2 of them they were able to get her wheelchair up the stairs at Sherries house and she got her bath.

It wasn’t easy and she said it was a little weird and she didn’t feel all that stable but it was worth it.

Then Sunday Sherrie and her family and Randy and Leslie got together with Mom and Dad for a nice dinner.

Here she is on the phone with me telling me about her bath, Leslie and Randy and some of the yummy treats they had.

 

Mom- we all love you and want to say again how proud we are of you. Of your courage and strength, your will to fight, and what an example you are.

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Happy Birthday and an update

Happy Birthday Mom!!! (and Karon- her twin sister)

We couldn’t let this day go by without letting Mom know how much we love and admire her. We are so glad you are here today to celebrate another year with us. We hope it is the best one yet!!

Tonight she is celebrating with a trip out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. She has been wanting ribs for SO long. I think she was even talking about them while she was still in the hospital.

This poor little blog has been kind of neglected lately. Life has settled into a kind of routine now, and mom is still making progress, but it is slower and harder to document.

She is getting much stronger and needs less help with her transfers, and standing up.

Out patient therapy continues 2 times a week. She goes on Thursdays to Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy and every other Tuesday she has Speech Therapy.

Last week she spent the day with Karon and they went out to lunch and ran a bunch of errands. It was nice to be out doing “normal” things. She is starting to crave the “normal” things she use to do.

She is also getting her computer back up and running. She has been asking for this since she got home from the hospital. She still has a hard time with reading and the computer is harder than a paper to read, so it will be slow going, but once she has her inbox cleared out(she has over 500 emails), we will let you know when she is ready for emails.

Her latest toy is a Hemi Walker. Below is a video of her showing off her new skills with it. She is a little tired in the video, this was the second time she had walked. The first is so awesome, but Sherrie recorded it on her new phone and it came out upside down, so it is too hard to watch. So being a trooper mom walked again for us. This is it:

House is up for sale

Well, it is official. Mom and Dad have listed the house. If you know of anyone in the Sacramento area who is looking for a house on some land share the link below with them.

 9948 Pleasant Grove School Rd, Elk Grove, 95624

Doctor Update

Last Wednesday mom met with the Stroke Doctor here at Kaiser South. He is a Physiatrist which means- A doctor whose specialty is medicine and rehabilitation. ( I had to look it up)

He spent about an hour with them and did a total re-evaluation. During this time he took her off some of the medicine she has been on( Heparin- which she will slowly go off) and changed the doses of some others. He also turned in a referral for outpatient therapy which she is now strong enough for. He outpatient day will be Tuesdays. She will go to all 3 therapy's together.

Also during the evaluation she was able to confirm that she has sensation  and muscle control form the knee up in her left leg. She can raise her own leg and kick out. Still no sensation or movement in the ankle or toes. So the brace she wears is still critical for keeping her foot in the right position for walking and standing.  They say the muscles come back from the largest to the smallest so this is normal.

In her left arm she still had no sensation or movement. But we are still hopeful that with time and therapy that it will come back to some degree. She also has a special brace she wears on this arm to help keep it in the right position, and to help the hand not tighten up.

She will start her outpatient therapy tomorrow. So we should have more to report soon. If they don’t kill her! (She thinks all the therapist are out to get her).

Funeral

Many of you have heard that my Mom’s mom- Laura Allred passed away on March 19th. Her funeral was on Monday the 28th.

It was a short graveside service at the Veteran Cemetery in Dixon. Dad conducted the service, Jamie gave the eulogy, Sherrie and Jamie sang and Dad then concluded the service and dedicated the grave.

Sunday night mom’s sisters showed up to help write the eulogy. They all ended up laying on mom’s bed laughing and reminiscing. They said it reminded them of when they all shared a bed growing up.

Here they are cleaned up a bit at the funeral.

This is one of  the girls with one of their brothers and their dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rod, Karon, Mom, Cathy and Cas (not pictured Richard)

 

At the cemetery, Sherrie kids and Great Grandpa (Poppy), Dad and Randy after the service

Figuring it Out

Mom and Dad are still figuring out the whole cooking thing.

Dad has never been one to spend a lot of time on cooking. Mom has some limitations now- like not having the use of one arm, the counters being to high, and having trouble seeing.  They have breakfast and lunch pretty much figured out now, but dinner has been a whole different ballgame. They have been lucky enough to have an incredible ward that has been bringing in dinner a few times a week, and Sherrie and Randy have also been cooking.

But tonight………..

Mom and Dad worked together and made a pot of soup. She talked him through it and he was the muscle!!

More updates

This is mom's at home Physical therapist Anna. This is at the end of one of their sessions last week. They were walking forward and backward along the counter. She is getting stronger everyday.

This week will also be her last week of at home therapy. All of her therapist agree that she is ready to move to outpatient therapy. We aren't exactly sure yet what this will entail, but it will definitely mean more outings! So far she hasn't gone to far from home. She has gone to Doctor and eye appointments, Sherrie's house, church, a soccer game and last week to Costco!!

House Cleaning

Last week my family was down in Sacramento. We came during our Spring Break to help mom and dad clean out closets and get the house ready to go on the market.

Yes, after 25 years they are going to sell and look for a one story home that will be more practical for mom. It should be on the market by the middle of April at the latest, so if you know anyone looking for a house on 5 acres…….. Let us know.

Sherrie and I spent the week with mom and dad going through every closet, cabinet, drawer, and getting rid of a ton, packing up some and just organizing everything else.

We really wore mom out a few of the days, going through stuff and making decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of. She did an amazing job.

Here is our DI pile at the end of the week. It just about takes up most of Dad’s garage.

At the end of a long day of cleaning this is where the boys could always be found- playing Angry Birds or sleeping like Dad.

Or if Mom was resting in the recliner, the kids like to take turns in her wheelchair. Emma was very good at getting around in it.

We did get in a little fun too. Saturday right before I left we got to go to Emma’s championship soccer game. They won by the way.

Make Up

I am starting to realize all of the little things that I take for granted.  Things like—putting on my own make up!!

Last week I was over at Mom and Dad’s and we were talking about Sunday, and how the day was going to work.  Mom has a few friends who have been absolutely WONDERFUL to her.  They have worked out a schedule to make sure she gets to church every Sunday because Dad has meetings before hand.  The first couple of weeks I went over in the morning to help do her hair, get her make up on, and of course put nylons on because we don’t trust Dad to do that!!    Now since I wasn’t going to come over Sunday mornings anymore, we needed to work a few things out.  Like MAKE UP!! 

Mom was determined that she could do her own make up.  So, I got everything out and we did a trial run.  It was very interesting to watch.  Have you ever tried to open your mascara bottle with ONE HAND?  How about those little eye shadow containers?  Try it sometime…………

The first time through wasn’t bad.  I had to remind her to go all the way to the left, especially on her left eye, a few times.  It is amazing still to see the results of how her brain/eyes are working.  And make up application was a great example of that.

So Saturday night I set out all of her make up in reach at the table, a table mirror, and brushes.  And when she got to church she looked great (sorry no pictures for proof)!!  Way to go Mom!!

Wednesdays

We have all started to adjust to life “after Vallejo”.  Mom had a schedule with her in-home therapists pretty much very day of the week.  Some of them come in the afternoon, and some come in the evenings.  On Wednesday she comes to my (Sherrie’s) house.  This way she can get out of the house for awhile, and I can get a few things done at my house too.

Last Wednesday we made a batch of Banana Bars for my mutual activity that night.  Mom read the recipe to me (even though she could have probably done it from memory I made her read it to me—therapy moment!!), and I did the actual hands on stuff.  At one point she said, “I don’t remember there being any vinegar in this recipe.”  I said, “Scan left Mom.”  “Oh yeah, that says VANILLA,” she replied.

We’ll see what tomorrow holds!!

First week at Home

Sorry for the lack of posting. This first week at home has been a week of learning.

Learning for the family- how to care for mom's need with no help. Meeting new therapist that will now be coming to the house and learning what they want her to do. Figuring out schedules, Doctor appointments, and getting back into life for everyone involved.



We already posted that she went to church on Sunday, but on Saturday she also got out for a few minutes and went to Emma's soccer game. It was a but overwhelming, but good practice.



Mom has 3 different therapist who come to the house to work with her. A physical therapist, a speech therapist and a occupational therapist.



The physical therapist comes 3 times a week for about 45 minutes each time. They are working on gaining strength and walking. She told me the other day she had her standing at the end of her bed. She keeps saying she thinks this lady is trying to kill her. She has been really sore this week. They seem to be doing the same type of exercises she was doing in Vallejo, but more repetitions so it is making her a bit sore. When she told the therapist this in hopes she would ease up on her she was told NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!

Her speech therapist comes 2 times a week. The occupational therapist also comes 2 times a week.

She also had a check up with her new primary care doctor and was given the all clear for month.


Mom has also been trying to now feel her free time. She is use to being at the rehab center and having every minute of every day filled. Now she has down town and I think is getting a little bored. She still has trouble reading so can't enjoy her favorite past time, so this week she figured out how to dial the phone again(with her vision it takes some serious concentration) and now calls me daily with updates herself. It is nice to be able to chat again after 2 months of not talking.

This week she is going to be having a few friends come over to visit to also help with the down time.

Going to Church

Sherrie snapped this picture this morning on the way out the door to church. Mom was all dressed up for the first time, and she was ready to go. It was their ward conference today and she was NOT going to miss it.

The End of the Rehab Center

This post if just full of odds and ends about the Rehab Center. Sherrie finally had time to get everything off her camera and since we hope to put this into a book for Mom someday we had to go back and add all of these pictures.

This is Mom doing Wii bowling one day for Occupational therapy. Not only is this fun, it works on both her range of motion and also visual feedback. She has to follow through and see where her ball went and keep track of her score.

Here is mom making cookies with the Recreational Therapist. She found out that mom is a baker and enlisted her help to make cookies for the patient Valentines party. One day they made the dough, the next they cut out the cookies and then after they were baked she even helped frost them.

Here is Mom(red) playing Connect Four with Sherrie(black). Sherrie won the first few games until mom figured out that Sherrie was purposely putting her pieces on Moms bad side(left). Once she figured that out and remembered to look left it was game on!!

One day she got the treat of an ice rub down. They use the ice to help stimulate the muscles. They smaller muscles like the ankle that they are working with take the longest to come back so they like to keep them stimulated. Notice how nice her toes look? She got them done here in Arizona, before she went home. She has gotten so many comments on how nice her feet look we just had to include one picture of her feet.

 

Here is mom working with Gail and Elyse (another PT)  doing  facial exercises. 

With Gail they are in front of a mirror working on left recognition. She had her start at the top of her head and run her right hand all the way down her left side to her toes watching herself in the mirror. this is to help her make the mind body connection with the left side of her body.

With Elyse she is doing what is called Bulbar exercises. The Bulbar muscles are the one that are responsible for speech and swallowing. So they are working on strengthening these muscles.

 

Last but not least, this is the outdoor patio where Mom spent her break in between morning classes many times enjoying a few minutes of fresh air and sunshine.

Home Sweet Home

In anticipation of Mom coming home we had to make a few changes at the house to accommodate a wheelchair.

The biggest being a room downstairs for Mom. It still needs a few finishing touches, but we wanted Mom to have a say in that, so the finishing touches will be happening over the next week or so when she is home.

This room use to be Dad’s office.

Now his office is what use to be the dining room.

There is also now a wheelchair ramp in the garage.

Green Means GO!

Today Mom got her GREEN SHIRT. A green shirt means you are going home!!!



Today is mom's last full day at the Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo. Tomorrow she will be released. We still haven't heard what her outpatient therapy will entail yet, but we should know by the time they release her tomorrow.