Day 62 - Last Day

Cindy's Home!

Day 61

FLASH!!!

This is probably the last day that Cindy will be in the hospital.  She is tentatively scheduled to go home tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned ...

Day 60

Cindy with her niece and nephew, Tammy (on left) and Edgar (right) at the hospital.

Look who is walking!!!

Day 59

Where's Cindy?  Walking around the halls and taking a break outside in her wheelchair.

Day 58

So doctor came in this morning and told Cindy she may be going home this weekend or Tuesday of next week if he can get her Pysicsl Therapy services at home or so an out-patient.  Here is Cindy all dressed and sitting outside the hospital.

Day 57

Cindy's recovery is moving along like a speeding bullet.  Her catheter and trachea were removed today (Thursday).  That means she has to get out if bed to pee and she will be breathing with absolutely no support.  She also won't be able to speak for a few days while the hole from the trachea heals.

This post is coming to you from Las Vegas.

Day 56

If you look at Cindy's picture from yesterday, you will notice that she doesn't have her nasal tube anymore.  Yippee!!!!

Check out Cindy's Christmas decorations in her room.

Day 55

Merry Christmas!!!

Day 54

No new news to report today.  Cindy continues to breath on her own, eat solid food and work with her Physical and Occupational Therapists.

This blogger is driving to Las Vegas for a few days.  I will continue to post all the news that Rita sends me.

Day 53

We have some exciting news.  Cindy's trach tube was replaced by a smaller tube and then red capped.  As you can see in the picture below, she is not hooked up to anything.  She is breathing totally on her own with an oxygen tube in her nose.  They are monitoring to see how she tolerates it. If it goes well for a week they will see if they can take out the trach.

Her nasal gastric feeding tube has been turned off and she is eating solid food.

Day 52

Yesterday Cindy walked 5 steps back and forth using a walker.  She and her roommate, Cynthia, received early Christmas (see the blankets below).

Lunch was Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes.  Tonight - steak and tater tots (see below).  Both were very good.

Day 51

Cindy had a problem with the nurses early this morning.  It was the first time that one of the nurses was working on the floor and not in the ICU.  They didn't give Cindy her pain mess, had a huge problem with Cindy's Foley catheter, spilled fluids on her bed when changing her IV, and put a urine saturated towel on her bed.   They even laughed at her.  Cindy called them over and said that she's giving them an early Christmas gift by not reporting them but they are not allowed to be her nurses again.

Cindy's roommate is back from ICU.  Her daughter came by yesterday and put up a small Christmas tree and lights.

This morning, Cindy had scrambled eggs and Corn Flakes.  This afternoon she had her first solid meal of pasta and meat sauce.

Day 50

Cindy used a walker to help her keep her balance as she sat in the chair today for 1 1/2 hours.  She had lunch while she was sitting there.  You can check out the menu and lunch below.  Things didn't look so appetizing.  The bread (bottom right) wasn't great, she doesn't like rice (top left) or anything green (zucchini in this case), but she liked the bow ties and butter (bowl in the middle).  It tasted like it was made with chicken broth.

Day 49

Cindy got to eat solid food today.  Well, it was puréed which is more solid than anything she's had since November first.  She ate the fruit and ice cream but wouldn't touch anything else.  To tell you the truth, it didn't look very appetizing and Cindy is a very picky eater.  The lids on the main course in the picture below are closed to protect the innocent.

Day 48

Fox in Sox

Cindy's Occupational Therapist stopped by yesterday to give her a device to help her put her socks on and take them off.  Kinda reminds you of another famous Dr. Seuss character.

Day 47

Cindy got to sit in a chair today.  She sat at the edge of the bed for only a few minutes and then was able to stand up, turn and sit in the chair - with a little help from the nursing staff.  She sat in the chair doing her excersizes while the Physical Therapist sat across from her giving directions.  They chatted about their cats and exchanged some interesting cat stories.

Since Cindy has been able to verbally communicate, she has gotten to know a lot about the hospital staff's personal stories and they know a lot about Cindy.  That's our Cindy - always enjoys a good conversation and being the center of any social circle.

Day 46

It was a quiet, uneventful day for Cindy.  The best nurse in the hospital, Denise (NOT pictured below), spent a lot of social time with Cindy, chit-chatting and keeping her company.  Cindy did so well today, she got another Popsicle.

Day 45

Not much to report today.  Cindy is still doing well with getting weaned off the trachea.  Rita spent part of the day partying with her sibs, taking a break from the hospital.

The holiday gizmo in the video below belong's to Cindy's roommate, Cynthia, who is in the ICU with a lung infection and will hopefully be back on the floor tomorrow.

Day 44

Cindy had another skirmish with a Respiratory Therapist.  He was just a little too rough physically and inappropriate verbally.  He called her by her hospital serial number.  Will they never learn?  Don't mess with Cindy, especially if you don't want a tongue lashing when she has the speech valve in place.

However, in his defense, he did a great job auctioning out her lungs.  Better than anyone else has done.

Happy Weekend!

Day 43

Last night, the Respiratory Therapist accidentally suctioned too hard and might have irritated her lung.  She was coughing up some blood.  This is not uncommon but can be pretty scary to the patient.

Yesterday, Cindy received a card and blanket from Fran.  She was very pleased to get it.  It made her very happy and appreciated how thoughtful Fran is to think of her. 

There was no Physical Therapy yesterday or today.

Cindy spoke with her doctor and is considering having surgery to remove the hernia within the next few months.  Rita, Mary and Debbie are going to setup a meeting with the doctors to discuss how plausible and safe this is at this time.

Day 42

Cindy is breathing on her own today and the speaking valve was put into the trachea tube.  The first conversation went something like this:

     Nurse:  We need to test the speaking valve.  Say something.

     Cindy:  Something

     Nurse:  I knew you'd say that.

A little later the nurse had to do a procedure and the valve had to come out.  When the procedure was done, the valve was put back in. 

     Nurse:  We need to test the speaking valve again.

     Cindy:  Something else.

     Nurse:  I knew you'd say that.

For such a  fine performance, Cindy got a treat:

Day 41

Cindy was back to breathing on her own again.  She was also able to sit at the edge of the bed for a 1/2 hour.

In the picture below, Cindy is trying to unlock an account.  No luck, but she enjoyed surfing the web.

Day 40

Cindy is weaning off the machine again and ...

... getting ready for Christmas!

Day 39

Cindy is feeling much better today.  She was breathing using the machine just to give her a break from the issues she had yesterday.  Interestingly, the following is an observation she noted of her experience during her struggle:

Day 38

Cindy had a slight setback last night and today.  She felt that she had a hard time breathing even though there were no signs of any medical problems.  We're hoping that tomorrow will be a better day and she continues on the road to recovery.

Day 37

Cindy had another swallow test and PASSED.  That means she is allowed to have some ice for the next couple of days and then they will start her on solid food.  I remember  when she started on solid food last time.  It got all over her face, hands, hair and the floor.  That was when she grabbed the spoon from my mother and couldn't find her mouth.  Hopefully, she'll do better this time.

This is a picture so Cindy's guests.  They couldn't wait to get on the phone and pass on the good news.

Ann (friend of the family) Lucy and Tony (Rita's parents)

Day 36

Cindy had a visit from the discharge Case Manager yesterday.  She told us that patients are usually discharged after 28 days and either go to a sub-acute care facility, skilled nursing facility or home - depending on your health status.  The Case Manager asked many questions about Cindy's condition before she was admitted to the hospital, insurance questions and some other personal questions.  But my favorite question and response was the following:

Case Manager:  What religion are you?

Cindy (after a lot of thought):  Whichever one has presents.

The Case Manager also wanted to make sure she was able to contact Cindy's main support team - Rita, Mary and Debbie.  One of us is usually with Cindy at the hospital.  Here is a picture of Rita setting up shop at Cindy's bedside:

Day 35

Guess Who's Speaking!!!

Cindy has a speaking valve - called a Passy-Muir valve "installed" and can now "speak". 

Passy-Muir Valve - courtesy of Amazon

This is Cindy's trachea with the Passy-Muir Valve.

Day 34

It was a busy day for Cindy.  First a swallow test.  She got to swallow some yummy blue ice to see if it "went down the wrong pipe" or landed in the right place.  Unfortunately, some if it "went down the wrong pipe."  This means she's still not ready for solid food - or even ice chips.  But the color if her tongue, blue, looked like she had enjoyed some Raspberry Italian Ices.

Cindy also worked with the Physical Therapist to try to sit on a chair.  She made it to the edge of the bed and was able to sit there for 15 minutes.  The Physical Therapist declared it a success.

Here is Cindy finishing paying bills.  It's about time!

Day 33

Sometimes you just have to believe in miracles.  Thank you G-d for Cindy's life.

Day 32

Reminder - Cindy is at Kindred Hospital in San Leandro and not at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek.  Kindred is a Long Term Care Facility.  The average stay is usually a month or more.

Cindy was connected to the oxygen again today for 6 hours.  The assist level will go down tomorrow morning (good news) and she will also be on the oxygen connection later in the day for at least 6 - 8 hours.

Day 31

Cindy's Respiratory Therapist surprised us today and took her off the ventilator and hooked the trachea directly to Oxygen.  This is a huge step.  She was able to breathe without any problems.  She was put back on the ventilator after 4 hours so as to not tax her breathing for too long.  She will repeat this process tomorrow for 4 - 6 hours.

I

Day 30

Today Cindy had Physical and Speech Therapy.  She did very well with both.  The Physical Therapist says she is getting stronger.

The Pulmonary Doctor continues to wean her off the trachea.

This picture is from December 14th, 2008.  It was submitted by Nike.

Day 29

Happy Thanksgivingukah

Drawing by Pauline Moreno

Day 28

Cindy started the day off with Physical and Speech Therapies.  She worked really hard at both and is getting stronger.  The Pulmonary doctor started to wean her off the trachea after giving her a rest for the last two days.  This afternoon, Cindy was moved out of ICU into a regular room.  She also started Occupational Therapy.

HAPPY CHANUKAH!!!!

Check out the Memory Lane - Pictures and Memory Lane - Stories pages on the right side of the blog.   There is also a new page called Talkies.  You can create a You Tube video and send me the link at debra.lobel@gmail.com.

And don't forget to send stories and pictures to debra.lobel@gmail.com.

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Day 27

Debbie met Cindy at Kindred - the Long Term Care facility as she arrived there in an ambulance.  Debbie was on the phone with their Aunt Sandy who was able to talk to Cindy when she was being wheeled into the hospital.  She was poked and prodded when she was admitted to her room just to get baseline stats.

Cindy has settled into Kindred wonderfully.  The staff are great.  They are very caring and gentle.  Cindy started Physical Therapy at bedside today and also had Speech Therapy.  The Speech Therapist showed her how to use a special device that she can use for talking.  It makes her sound like a robot.

Image from http://bme240.eng.uci.edu/students/06s/paytonl/CurrentTherapies.html

Check out the Memory Lane - Pictures and Memory Lane - Stories pages on the right side of the blog.   There is also a new page called Talkies.  You can create a You Tube video and send me the link at debra.lobel@gmail.com.

And don't forget to send stories and pictures to debra.lobel@gmail.com.

You can also leave a comment at the end of the post.

If you want to be notified when the daily post is ready, please subscribe by entering your email address in the box under where it says: 

     Please subscribe to get the latest posts

If you need help navigating around the blog, please find someone under the age of 25 (the new 30 for all you Baby Boomers) to help you.