Lea didn’t seem to rest as well overnight last night, as she apparently napped with frequent periods of alertness throughout the night. David stayed with her overnight again, bless his heart, and reported this morning that he was ready to go back to the room for some badly needed rest. Lea evidently had a lot of “I needs,” and kept him on his feet tending to her all night.
She is definitely getting better, although she complains of being tired, thirsty and hungry. She got a food tray this morning with hot oatmeal, hot Cream of Wheat, pineapple puree, orange juice, 2% milk and steaming hot coffee. Of course, she couldn’t have the oatmeal, milk or coffee, so that left the Cream of Wheat with Sweet & Low, and the pineapple puree. We also had thickened ice water and some thickened cranberry-apple drink I got from the cafeteria.
After I mixed up the Cream of Wheat with Sweet & Low, she tasted a bit from the spoon, pronounced it was “okay” and said, “Keep it coming.” She probably ate six or eight half teaspoons full, and was satisfied. We then laid her back in her cardiac chair for a little rest, waiting for our first “field trip” at ten o’clock. We had made plans with the day nurse, Chris, to cruise down to the family lounge on the east end of this floor, which has a nice view to the foothills between here and Long Island Sound, forty miles away.
Since she is able to be off the ventilator for several hours at a time, it makes it possible to put her in a recliner with wheels, and get her out of her room. It isn’t as easy to maneuver as a wheelchair, but this was great just to let her see some other scenery. She got a lot of “thumbs up,” “congratulations,” and huge smiles from the nurses and nurse supervisors as she was pushed through the ICU.
She also was told that if the weather is nice next week, that they would take her downstairs and outside the hospital for a brief visit on Monday or Tuesday. She will be having friends from back home visiting during that time, so it could be a terrific boost for her morale to get to go outside and visit with “the girls” for a while.
She is not yet reading books or magazines, nor writing or typing, since she has little strength or control of her arms and hands. She isn’t yet able to feed herself, stand on her own, or even adjust her bottom when it gets tired of lying in one spot too long. She needs quite a bit of help, and is willing to accept all you are willing to give. She doesn’t care to watch TV, and would rather visit with those who stop in to see her. She can’t yet hold the telephone receiver to make or receive phone calls, but once she’s ready for that, I think she’ll be much happier.
I have mentioned before that I just can’t imagine what it is like to be paralyzed, in bed, unattended, but Dr. Mah was right when he told us a few weeks ago that she would need someone with her most of the time after she came out of the drug induced coma and became able to communicate. Her mind is sharp and alert, although her body isn’t yet ready to do much of anything. She is still spending several hours a day on the ventilator, to get her lungs working at full capacity. (Thank you, God, for letting me make the comment that she is spending most of her waking day off the ventilator.)
It is hard to comprehend how weak the body becomes in such a short time, but the loss of muscle mass became very evident as she began taking off the large volume of water she had taken on during the illness. She is down now, incidentally, to less than 59 kilograms, bed and all. At one time she was 114 kilograms! She is very frail, and her lungs are weak, but the talking is helping build up her lung capacity, although she tires quickly.
She is starting to eat again, consuming about a tablespoon of food at each meal, and a “large” volume of liquids, by comparison, as she likes to have a variety of flavors of drinks, and usually has ten to twelve half spoons full every half hour or so. I’ve been making a number of small plastic foam cups half-filled with vanilla yogurt mixed with flavors such as cranberry juice, apple juice, cola, and mixing water with thickener to get it to the puree state so she can safely drink it.
It’s a challenge to keep up with her “needs,” because her mind seems to be running 100 miles an hour. I’m sure the pace will slow, eventually, from the constant streams of consciousness she experiences right now, in which she jumps from one desire to another. The muscles in her legs need massaged, she’s hot and needs a cold rag on her head, she needs her pillow under her arm fluffed, and the one behind her head changed for something thinner, and she needs to have her mouth rinsed again. And, you know what? I’m SO happy!
Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful blessings you have worked in this illness. Thank you for the many, many people who care about Lea’s recovery. Thank you for the support you give us through family, friends and others. Thank you for the blessings you give others through us. Thank you for the strength you give us to carry on. Praise your name, and to you the glory! Amen
By the way, I am attaching a photo Lea asked me to take and send to you, “So they’ll know where I am.” Here she is in her cardiac recliner after the tour of the floor. She is looking (really!) out the window to the south. She wanted you to see “all the wires and things.” Little does she know how few there are compared to what was required earlier. 🙂
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June 15, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Prayers
FROM: Pam
Oct 15 @ 10:11 AM
My Precious Sister Lea,
Who ever thought that a hospital food tray would bring tears of appiness ??? You go, Girl !!!
FROM: Marilyn
Oct 15 @ 5:37 PM
Dear Larry and Lea,
What astounding progress you have made and how delighted I am to know about it. I know I do not write much to you personally, but have appreciated Pam’s letting me know what is happening in your day to day recovery. Whenever I visit Lance’s web site, I laugh at the lobster pictures and think of the lobster story in MY life. I am not a big meat eater, sometimes a tiny bit of chicken or fish, but primarily for me it’s veggies!
Toni, my 2nd daughter, and her family moved to Maine in the late 80s and were there for some time after Dan finished his baccalaureate work at Lincoln Christian College, Lincoln IL. I made several trips to see them, often at Christmas time. One year we thought it would be a great treat for Teresa and her family to have a live MAINE LOBSTER as a gift on my return. So, just before I returned to Illinois, we traipsed to the nearest market, selected a lovely lobster, had her/him packed appropriately for a plane jaunt from Maine to Illinois.
As luck would have it, being mid-winter, O’Hare Airport was snowed in just after my arrival there, so all passengers were given a few options, few of which I recall today, but among them was the opportunity to stay the night in a hotel near the airport and attempt to get home the next day. So, I being in charge, and “Larry” the lobster, SORRY, LARRY, OLE PAL,” no pun intended, decided to stay the night and take our chances the next day. Imagine my arriving at the registration desk with “Larry” in tow! The clerk graciously assured me that “Larry” would be safely ensconced in the hotel frig! “OK”, says I and entrusted “Larry Lobster” to the capable hands of the concierge! Nighty night!
Next day, I found “Larry” to have had a decent night of rest as I had, and we embarked for Quincy. NOW the story picks up a notch or two! Yes, we arrived safely at the Quincy airport, yes, both of us unscathed by any misdoing! I promptly called Tres to pick us up at the airport, reclaimed the checked baggage, and proceeded to wait at the door! Tres and one of her sons, arrived in due time, and we began tossing things into the trunk of her car! Umm! So far, fairly calm, right? NOT! A woman who had parked in front of Tres, picked up a youngster traveling alone, and put her in her car, proceeded to put the car in reverse WITHOUT a backwards glance and consequently hit Tres’s car. As the car took the hit, it ran over my grandson’s foot, hit both Tres and me, Tres in the knee and I, according to an eye witness account, turned a backwards flip landing on my back! Needless to say there was a lot of confusion, a fair number of phone calls, etc., and the three of us, Tres, her son and I, spent the next several hours at the hospital! Tres’s husband came to tend to POOR LARRY, took him home to a ‘very warm bath’ and at some point in this saga they enjoyed dinner at Larry’s expense!
SO, the wonderful photo you have shared via Internet is a bit contrary to the experience I have with lobsters! Is it any wonder I prefer vegetables! ? *
I hope you have formed graphic mental images of this experience and have had a few good laughs! I wish all of you the very best in terms of recovery and strength!
FROM: Pat
Oct 15 @ 9:20 PM
What a blessing!!!!! When I answered the phone the other day, and Lea was on
the other end, I just started yelling! Poor Joe,I think I scared him to death, but what a thrill! I hope it was good for Lea, because it sure made my day, and Joe’s too! He was released from the hospital this afternoon, just in time to go to our niece’s wedding. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful wedding, and Joe really enjoyed seeing everyone. We didn’t stay very long after the wedding itself, as he was getting very tired, but he was glad to get to go. So far, his heart is still beating as it should, and both Dr’s came in to see him this morning, and they both had glowing reports, and are very pleased with his recovery so far. I’m still an emotional mess, but what’s new! At least Joe is doing good today. Now the main thing is for him to stay in reg. rhythm, so I pray everyday. That’s what’s gotten me through all of this so far. So “Miss Lea” you keep doing whatever you need to do to get back home! But try not to get too disgusted at yourself, because it took Joe awhile before he could do anything for himself, and he wasn’t in Hartford as long as you have been. But it will come back, trust me, I see
more each day with Joe, and you’ll do the same. Just remember how much you
are loved by all of your family and a few choice friends!!!! Love Ya Bunches!!!
Pat