Archive Page 282

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Home Leave a Comment

It is Thursday morning. I know this because nurse Sita faithfully changes my ‘headboard’ – the flipchart that indicates my care takers: RN = Sita, PCA=Tessa and still MD=Dr. Potato. My faithful team. There were others yesterday: Sook spent a good chunk of the day with me, bringing a delicious lunch. We went on a fieldtrip as Sita already indicated: an exploration of the two wheelchair accessible showers in our two neighbors’ houses. You might think that for someone like me that would be a boring or insignificant trip. To the contrary! Sook and I had a very nice time with the Kneissels and I am looking forward to my first real shower at Jackie Hooper’s or the Kneissel’s today. Thanks so much.

More food showed up with Carol and Suzie and we started eating some of the harvest goodies Mary Scofield left by the door the other day.

Un update on the garden indicated that the squash is growing quite large and little pattypan squash looks like a flying saucer. Other than some minor weeding, Sook says the garden looks great. Remember to swing by and pick some lettuce or spinach or whatnot.

I was relieved to get good news from Axel yesterday. We talked a few times. And maybe it was this relief with the overwhelming outpouring of love, support, meals that made the tears come more than once yesterday. They just begin to flow. Sita and I sat, holding hands, no words needed.

Our experimentation with the pain medecine appears to be working. I had a more or less painless night and could manage with the Oxycontin only, not needing the percoset to get through some rough spots, of course I felt very drugged, which is OK at night.

I had a long conversation with Joan, yesterday morning, urging her or her kids or Morsi to update the journal as well about her status. All it requires is to sign into the site as an author and use my last name as a password. Alison, I know you visited her recently, maybe you can say a few words about her progress and her state of mind. There are plenty of people checking into this site daily who know her as well.

Today’s highlights are Joe’s arrival from San Diego, progress reports, hopefully, from Worcester and more fading of the bruises on my body.

cheers
s

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Tessa's posts Leave a Comment

Today was another great day with dad. He started off his day with an MRI at 2am that apparently went really well (he again slept soundly up until that point). He was not freaked out or anxious or uncomfortable which is great. then in the early morning hours he was told he would be going down for surgery soon, but he was told quickly after that, that he had been bumped to second place as there was an emergency with a child who needed surgery. he was totally fine with this and was quickly occupied by the psych team who spent a good amount of time interviewing him and talking to him about his experiences in the hospital and his meds. dad seemed very happy about this, asking lots of questions and giving some great axel answers. it was quite interesting and entertaining to listen in. around 12 we were brought down to the OR for his surgery (the metal pin put into his humorous to help set the bone), by 1pm he was wheeled into the anesthesiologist, and i think around 2pm they began the surgery. at 4pm he was in post-op recovery and at 5pm steve and i got a phonecall in his room saying he was asking if we were around and that he would be up in an hour. 3 hours after that he finally rolled back into his ‘own private nook’ (tubes back in but only temporarily) in great spirits and looking good. his arm is in a sling but looks quite a bit more comfortable than before. So he’s in good spirits, one giant step closer to getting home (discussion about post-hospital arrangements and his MRI first, and some issues to straighten out with his vision still, then onto the active rehab fun). so things are feeling good and moving along (his scar on his forehead is really healing amazingly). oh yeah and sita told me to say that mom got a tour of two showering facilities one on either side of our house at Jackie Hoopers and at the Kneisel household as well, which is quite exciting.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Sita's posts Leave a Comment

If anyone is available to visit Axel in the hospital tomorrow please do – Tessa and I are going to be in Manchester taking care of a million things that need to get done (for ourselves and our parents) and he’s very excited to see some other familiar faces. Andrew is planning on being there at around 11, and Woody will show up sometime after lunch , then Carol Williams will be there after work until she gets kicked out, but if you’re available, and willing, and have some amusing radio or audiobook to while away time during the drive, do stop by and see him. He knows his daughters won’t be there, and is really excited to have visitors. He may be tired, he may sleep while you are there, but having someone by his side through waking and sleeping hours is very important. There is also the added bonus of the smoothies – Tessa is leaving her ‘snack cart’ there so if you feel adventurous and/or don’t want to see Axel ingest the toe paste that is the hospital food, you can make him (and yourself) a smoothie! Send me an email if you have any questions –
sita@klompje.com
s.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Home Leave a Comment

It is Wednesday morning. What happened to the speed of days? They used to go so fast and now all has slowed down. The slowing down started that fateful afternoon at Gardner airport now 10 days ago. Although some of the details are still eluding me – or rather I can’t understand them – when I tried to pull up again, knowing that I was running out of runway, I remember clearly the moment of losing control of the plane. But there was no panic or frantic trying to save the day that followed, but rather a total quiet and a sense of complete surrender. Of course it couldn’t have been quiet with the stall horn beeping, and the motor running louder and faster as we headed down, the branches breaking and all that. Fortunately, after the surrender I blacked out and cannot remember a thing, no sound, no falling, no bump. I think I woke up after Joan. From the WBZ news clip I learned that a woman held Joan’s hand and talked with her. I think I was still out then as I do no remember this.

 

When I came to my senses the rescuers were already there. I just remember seeing boots everywhere, people directing efforts, big loud machines cutting things away that kept us entrapped and throughout Axel’s and Joan’s calls for help. Through my dazed state I remember registering that this meant they were alive. In the background, through the forest of legs, machinery and plane wreckage, I could see Morsi, busy pushing large amounts of love and prayers our way and I remember absorbing it, his presence so reassuring.

 

I still can’t write about the botched landing itself, other than that the landing conditions (runway heading and wind) had changed after my previous three successful landings. I tried to apply what I had learned and practiced for so long. But the time for decision making is infinitely short as the evaluation of options has to happen in nanoseconds – this is where experience comes in of course. I am now one experience ‘richer’ that will definitely make me a better pilot. Of that I am sure, bought at a heavy price, but there it is.

 

So, I am going to get back in a plane as soon as I can. I don’t expect anyone to want to fly with me anymore. And for those, like Alison, who have said they’d fly again with me (I am very moved by this), make sure you have health insurance, otherwise I counsel you to stay on the ground. I am thanking my lucky stars (again and again) for being employed and insured. It will make the recovery so much easier.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Tessa's posts Leave a Comment

What a great day with Dad!!! things to be straightened out with the meds and he is doing well. His surgery is back on for tomorrow sometime in the morning (he asks that everyone hold him in the light) which is great. He unfortunately has to have an MRI at 2:00 am which he is not looking forward to (his first MRI was not a fun experience due to some crazy hallucinations), but seems to be much less freaked out about it than he was when he heard the idea yesterday. He was busy all day… occupational therapy for his hand, a great visit with Gary, a long visit with mom and Sita, 2 chapters in the new Harry Potter, more smoothies, and a bunch of great phone calls as well that really made him incredibly happy.

Thanks to everyone for all the Love and support, Dad was getting weepy (but joyful and grateful weepy) for all of the Love that has been surrounding him. He says he feels it all, and would not be doing well if he didn’t know he had so many people rooting for him.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Home Leave a Comment

Early morning, another entry about the same day but now seen from Lobster Cove. The Reiki, prayers, love you are all sending (as well as the food) are working their magic.

I am reading Sita’s and Tessa’s entries about the 23rd as well and they make me cry. The tears are beginning to come more frequently now – it is as if they were dried up or sitting in shock in some part of my body that could not figure out how to release them.

Sita’s fast exit to Worcester yesterday morning was of course very distressing. But Anne Dodge seamlessly took over and we had a pretty good day. The Visiting Nurse Association network folks showed up, first Regina, a wonderful intake nurse who pointed out some other main management options, and put in a request from a home health aid to releave Sita a couple of times a week. Then Robert the physical therapist. PT can’t do much now with me as long as I have to keep my weight off my right leg and my right shoulder is still hurting. I am alternating wheelchair and walker day by day to let the right upper part of my body heal. Right now I have all the colors of the rainbow going from my right hip to my right elbow, right chest.

For the first time my right foot is hurting against the cast. It feels like raw/sore/tender skin being grinded into hard plaster. Of course I can’t move anything inside the cast and when the pain medication isn’t doing its work I try the breathing exercises I learned in yoga a long time ago. This has served me well throughout the ordeal, from the moment I opened my eyes at the crash site and anytime the pain takes over my whole consciousness.

Two more angels, Debbie Hinds and Edith Maxwell, walked in with meals yesterday and it required the eye of a puzzler to fit everything into the refrigerator. Edith stayed with Anne and me for dinner and we watched the Corporate Trainer episode from the (British) Office, an episode the Buxbaums introduced me to years ago and which I have watched countless time ever since. It was fun to watch it with Anne who is also a trainer. Anne also brought a 500 piece puzzle and we completed the edges before I collapsed from tiredness. For me puzzles have always been associated with wintersport vacations in the mountains (in the US or Europe as child) and only the crackling fire was missing.

Sita returned home around 11 PM, exhausted but in good spirits as you can read from her update on Axel. We are off today to Worcester, a long trip I am dreading a bit but a reunion I am very much looking forward to.

More later
Cheers
s

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Tessa's posts Leave a Comment

Dad had a tough day at the hospital (starting early early in the morning). His surgery was postponed (as mom already wrote) until he has another MRI and the neurological team figures out some medication and/or injury issues. Sita, Steve and I were there today (Sita drove out because I was having a tough time seeing dad so uncomfortable and confused). He had visits from the neurological and psychology crews, and later on in the day Steve went with him down to get a CT scan. By afternoon he woke up from an intense and restless sleep, we began to sort out some things with him and talk some of his wild and crazy dreams, he now understands they were not real, but is trying to sort out why and how they felt so real. We managed to keep him awake and hopefully entertained by eating some more smoothies (I tried to make some Gazpacho with the Magic Bullet blender today but definitely need to tweak the recipe), watched some tv and just talked. He was back to his regular condition (talking, joking around and just being Axel) by around 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon which was a huge relief.

Some awesome news today that dad was very excited about… he’s now officially a hospital pirate, he got an eyepatch today that is pretty cool (to help with some double vision problems…ooh that double vision).

Please keep holding dad in the light, especially at nights (his ‘witching hour’ as he calls it is from 12pm-6 or 7am, when he wakes up disoriented and confused and I think sometimes half in dreamland and half in reality). He was snoring soundly when i left (thank goodness he still doesn’t have a roommate), and looked to be actually resting.

I’m sure there is more I missed… it was a tough day but things seem to be back on track, hopefully the night is going smoothly (he’s got an awesome team looking after him tonight).

signing off for tonight
-tessa

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Sita's posts Leave a Comment

Today was a really hard day – Axel’s surgery was postponed because he woke very confused, more so than usual.Tess was there with him in the morning, expecting to see him off to surgery, but he had had a fitful night, ripped his splint and bandages off – he was very upset, and yelling – so today he was groggy, and mumbling a lot and confusing his dreams for reality (some say this may be from morphine but he hasn’t been on morphine for some time now). Tessa called me at home, very upset, so I raced to Worcester (with Anne staying home with Sylvia). When I got there, Axel was restlessly sleeping, sleeptalking, fidgeting – it was unusual behavior for the middle of the day. His nurse was soulless and had no bedside manner to speak of with a nervous twitch that was rather unsettling. He manhandled dad’s arm when trying (unsuccessfully) to put it back on and didn’t respond when dad introduced himself. We don’t like him and made sure that he won’t come back to Dad’s watch.

So this weird behavior lasted for a while, but toward evening – about 4ish – he began to become lucid again. He had a catscan and from that point on was pretty much with it. He will most likely have another MRI tonight – as ordered by the neurological team that came in and evaluated him. They performed a bunch of tests with tuning forks and flashlights and rubber hammers and math questions. They determined a few things. 1) he is having a really hard time with concentration. 2) the (small) part of his skull that he fractured is very near his right ear mechanisms – so this is why he is having trouble hearing out of this ear, and why there has been occasional bleeding from this ear. 3) he is seeing double, with the image on the right appearing a bit higher than the one on the left – when they did the flashlight test the right eye was not in sync with the left – it was staggering a bit behind . This is one of the pieces of information that they have that can’t be explained by the injuries they know about – which is why they called for more scans.

To deal with this for now, they gave him an eye patch, so he looks like a pirate. We had him practicing his pirate speak after his dinner smoothie (mango/orange/apple/pear). He got a cold washcloth for his head around the same time as the patch – so it was pretty piratey in the room, I have to say. When the orthopedic surgeon came in to check in on him, and left without commenting on his pirate look, dad said ‘I can’t believe he didn’t comment on my pirate outfit!’ I must say, I can’t believe it either. This is the doctor, by the way, who also told us that the initial cat scan of his head (the one from today) didn’t show any huge glaringly obvious things wrong – which is a good thing. the bleeding hasn’t gotten any worse. They have to do an MRI to see better, I guess.

Tonight they had a really great ‘babysitter’ as she called herself – someone who looks after him/just sits there with him to make sure he doesn’t try to rip his splint off again. They had some fun, back and forth banter – it’s true that laughter is good medicine. Hearing laughter and laughing himself really seems to change his mood. She told us that there will be someone with him all night and through the morning, just to make sure he makes it through the night OK and doesn’t have another fit. I think his fits are brought on when he is all alone, wakes up in the dark and is confused about where he is with no one to help him, or calm him. So – hopefully having Tessa there again until midnight or so and then having a nurse by his side all night will allow him to get a good nights sleep (which I doubt he’s gotten since he was checked in).

It was a long day – I am glad it’s over. Tomorrow I will take mum to Worcester for her follow up appointment, and we will get to have a family reunion with dad and Tess. I can’t keep my eyes open anymore – I’m sure I forgot something, but it’ll have to wait.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Home Leave a Comment

As we are branching off into different treatment scenarios, updates now coming from three different sites. Tessa wrote about Axel early this morning.

Yesterday morning I talked with Joan who is at Spaulding Rehab in Boston and getting a work out. She is using visualization to help her out of her bed, chair and the to the end of the hallway. Go girl!!

It is a dreary day at Lobster Cove. I am inside today. Yesterday Sita wheeled me out into the yard in the sun and we sat and ate raspberries brought by her friend Brian.

Katie Blair ‘mommy sat’ in the morning so Sita could take care of some other things. Although I won’t be able to see this myself, KB also helped various fruits and vegetables to grow properly upward.

And once again, when we need something, the universe provides. Last night when Jim asked what we should have for dinner, in walked Carol with an extraordinary mediterannean chicken dish, while we were still nibbling on her exquisite pickled beans.

The VNA nurse came by today and helped Sita and me sort out my pain medication regimen which isn’t quite working the way it should. Tomorrow I have to go back to the trauma clinic in Worcester and that will be an occasion to see Axel (whose surgery has been postponed until some psychiatric and neurological glitches have been sorted out).

In a couple of hours I start my physical therapy at home. News from the bowel front is good for those of you who want to know. Nurse Sita and Personal Care Assistant Anne Dodge are keeping me from racing too fast around the kitchen, and as for Dr. Potato, he hasn’t shown up yet, maybe for lunch.
Cheers
s

Monday, July 23, 2007

Published December 23, 2007 Tessa's posts Leave a Comment

From Tessa last night, who has been camped out at the hospital…
‘Dad was doing well today… he had another difficult night last night but we think we may have straightened out his difficulties by eliminating some unnecessary medication, so hopefully he sleeps well tonight. His surgery has been moved to 11:30 am tomorrow (it was originally 7:30) which he is not too happy about as he is anxious to get the surgery done with (one step closer to getting home). He is doing well though, eating lots of fresh fruit smoothies, drinking plenty of liquids, and using his ‘thunder box’ as he calls it (the bed pan). He has more movement in his thumb today but seems to have back tracked a bit on the finger movement, but he’s working hard and doing well. He talked on the phone a bunch today which was tough work but really seemed to help boost morale. His room phone is working (Steve switched the broken one today), but he probably won’t be in his room until late in the afternoon tomorrow and will need to rest from the surgery. Things are looking good though, it was much easier saying goodnight than yesterday. Steve and I are staying in a hotel down the street (originally to be there early for his surgery, but since that changed we just stayed with him until he was passed out around 11:45 (we watched the Bourne Supremacy and Ocean’s 11, he’s following story lines and doing well). Things are looking good, the love and prayers are really helping in his recovery, so keep ’em coming!!!’
– Tessa

October 2026
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  

Categories

Blog Stats

  • 144,609 hits

Recent Comments

Olya's avatarOlya on Pocket rollers
Edith Maxwell's avatarEdith Maxwell on Boosted out
Sallie Craig Huber's avatarSallie Craig Huber on Rays for real
Lucy's avatarLucy on Probabilities
Olya's avatarOlya on Cuts
Subscribe to my feed

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 83 other subscribers