July 7, 2011 We’re Baaaaaack!

Well.  It’s been an interesting week.  I’m glad to report that Mom sailed through her most recent hospitalization, was successfully anti-coagulated with Lovenox SQ and Coumadin PO, rapidly overcame an infection, exhibited a great attitude throughout and is now back at the skilled nursing rehabilitation facility in full therapy mode.  She is thrilled she avoided a vena cava filter placement by the cardiologist  and glad to know her clots are dissolving as evidenced by the significant decrease in swelling in her legs.

**grateful today for all the prayers offered for her quick recovery from this setback**

**grateful the skilled nursing rehabilitation facility held her bed in anticipation of a quick return** (I am glad to have avoided redoing the 86 pages of admission paperwork again . . . )

While Mom was moving through her obstacles last week with grace and a smile, I was greeting mine with anxiety and a grimace.  I won’t list them. But suffice it to say, a neighbor stopped me while I was out walking and said that if she could, she’d throw a penalty flag on my life for ‘piling on’.  (Remember everything, absolutely everything, in the life of an Alabamian can be related to football!)  The last straw was watching Anna have a complete screaming, head-banging, running, barking meltdown when I tried to drop her off at Camp ASCCA and being utterly incapable of settling her down.  In her, Down syndrome, autism, and puberty are proving to be a volatile mix.  :0(

At my family’s urging, I took a break and walked away from to-do lists, turned off my computer and cell phone for most of 48 hours, left town, slept, and thought about Isaiah 30:15-18.  A few week’s ago our pastor from Texas had challenged me with this passage.  Parentheses are the EKV – exhausted Kara version – interpretation.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:  ”In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT.  (ouch)  You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’  (I will overcome the fallenness of this situation with organization and to-do lists) Therefore you will flee!  (frenetic activity)  You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’  (I will subdue the chaos in my life by intellectually trying to understand it)  Therefore your pursuers will be swift!  (crazy-making thinking)  A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”  (as best I understand this, a banner was placed on a hill to summon troops but in this passage they all run away and leave the reader – me – alone, unprotected, vulnerable)  Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!

God offers salvation and strength.  But clearly there is a great deal of volition required on my part – otherwise verse 15 wouldn’t say ‘but you would have none of it’!!  So I’m praying for the ability to choose repentance and rest, quietness and trust.

The five males I left behind didn’t miss a beat without me, Mom was fine, and I got a sweet unexpected text that Anna’s counselor at camp was a friend’s favorite babysitter and though there had been ‘some moments’, she was doing ok.

June 30, 2011 The Good, The Bad, and The (not at all) Ugly!

The Good -

1.  Mom and Dad’s mail is forwarded to our house.  Their phone is supposed to forward to our house but sadly it does not.  So when we opened a forwarded letter from her neurosurgeon saying, “We want to see you but we can’t find you!” I called the office and was told that they had ONE opening in the next 2 weeks and it was for this morning.

**grateful for the neurosurgeon’s persistence at communicating with Mom**     **grateful we got the appointment so quickly**

2.  Today was a beautiful, warm, sunny day for Mom’s first ‘elective’ venture out of the rehab facility.

**grateful for the wheelchair enabled van that came to transport her**

3.  After a battery of x-rays, Dr. Pearson said her back was healing well.

**grateful for his skillful work 9 weeks ago and good news today**

The Bad -

While Mom’s back looks great, her legs do not.  They have continued to swell and be problematic in relearning to walk.  After examination, Dr. Pearson sent her for a Doppler scan which revealed blood clots in both legs.  Suddenly the nice outing on a pretty day turned into another admission to the hospital through the ER. Ugh.  She received an immediate dose of Lovenox and will be restarted on Coumadin asap.  Barring any other hiccups, the process should take 3-4 days and then she can return to the rehab facility.

Pray for the blood clots to dissolve quickly and the adjustment back to a Coumadin regimen to be without incident.

The (not at all) Ugly -

Grand-daughter visits!!

Anna accompanied Mom and Dad and me today on our little outing – pictured here outside what she believes is the ‘beach’ hotel!

Kathleen paid Mom a visit on a break from her camp counselor job in Tennessee – there were smiles all around!

June 25, 2011 Mom officially up, Tree officially down

Editor’s Note:  I do love trees, really I do.  Just not ones that crash into houses and bury people in debris . . .

This journey has felt like a drawn out boxing match between Mom and the tree. Each week is yet another round (we are now in Round 9).  For a while it seemed as though the tree was winning.  It crashed into the house, flattened its opponent initially and rested defiantly on broken  trusses.  Then the counteroffensive began – the tree was lifted off the house (a big right hook) but remained a large, visible presence in the yard.  It was then cut into pieces (some successful uppercuts) and the bigger logs were hauled off.  Slowly the smaller pieces were cut up (multiple quick jabs) and dragged to the street but the huge stump and upturned earth remained.  This week the monster stump grinder paid a visit (a straight on punch) and we now have an official TKO (technical knockout).

  

 

 

 

On the other hand it looked like Mom was instantly KO’ed (knocked out) on 4/27. But Mom is a fighter – never, ever count her out.  The ref started counting to 10 – harrowing gurney ride – 1, broken ribs – 2, pneumothorax – 3, ‘chance’ lumbar fracture – 4, bruised kidney – 5, neurosurgery – 6, rapid blood loss – 7, lacerated spleen – 8, infection – 9, and then she started turning the corner.  Slowly moving from side to side logrolling, pulling on the trapeze bar, tolerating elevation of the head of the hospital bed, dangling on the edge of the bed, transferring to a wheelchair, engaging in seated PT and OT, standing between bars fully supported to now taking steps wearing a back brace, held by a gait belt and using a walker. Drumroll, please!  Tada!  (This was a photo op only – to all my PT friends, yes, I know the gait belt and support person are missing . . . actually the support person in training was napping!)

    

**grateful today for INCREDIBLE progress**  I still do not understand prayer much but this week felt its efficacy intensely.

**grateful this week for successful removal of the indwelling catheter and resolution of some of the renal issues that have plagued recovery**

Pray for continued wisdom about the future.  The house has about another 3 weeks of work left on it – that would be 12 weeks (rounds), the same number as a championship prize fight . . .  :0)  The plan now is for Dad to move back home first, then Mom will come home at some point after that once we get in-home services lined up.  Lots and lots of details to be ironed out.

Pray for Mom’s continued progress in regaining independence in ADL (activities of daily living) skills – ambulating, bathing, dressing, eating and toileting.

**grateful for smiles**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 19, 2011 Things I’ve learned from Dad

It’s been an interesting 7.5 weeks.  Not having lived under the same roof with Dad for 30 years has been an adjustment and has often sent us down Memory Lane – sometimes at very high speeds!  In honor of Father’s Day, I’ve compiled a list of things we’ve re-remembered . . .

1.  Never bet on the Vikings.  Always go with the Cowboys.

2.   “Thou shalt floss and brush daily” is the 11th commandment.

3.  Preachers see EVERYTHING from the pulpit – especially their own disruptive children.

4.  The game “Aggravation” is aptly named.

5.  Never let your arms cross the midline when you run – you waste precious energy.

6.  The best malted milk balls around are sold at Cub Foods in Minneapolis.

7.  It’s difficult when you give your children visually matching names but don’t pronounce them in a similar matching fashion . . .

8.  Raspberries are the absolute best fruit ever.

9.  Do not fear rhubarb.

10.  Eschatology is over-rated.  Soteriology needs more attention.

11.  ”Salvation” and “Lordship” are two completely different things.

12.  Learn a new word every day.  Like ‘eleemosynary’.

Happy Father’s Day!

 

June 18, 2011 Part II These shoes are made for walkin’

Mom’s always had a hard time buying shoes.  Even before the medical ups and downs of the last four years and way before the tornado trauma, she frequented a shoe store called “Unique Feet” and quipped that her large feet gave her a ‘good understanding’.  Add foot drop from the stroke, neuropathy as a result of the ‘chance’ vertebral fracture, and swelling caused by a weakened cardiac system and you complicate the shoe-buying process even more.

After a numbers of ‘misses’, I think we finally had a ‘hit’ today.

**grateful there is an SAS store here in Birmingham who had 10.5WW in black in stock**

**grateful we have the resources to acquire such fashion-forward footwear** :0)

Pray that these shoes will be just what the physical therapists had in mind when they sent me on this shopping venture.

Pray that she will be able to walk confidently again with a walker.

Pray that she will see the similarities of her physical trappings to spiritual armor as she learns to get back up on her feet physically and spiritually.

From Ephesians 6 (with additions)

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist (gait belt), with the breastplate of righteousness in place (chest brace) , 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (new supportive shoes). 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith (walker), with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

June 18, 2011 Part I Old Stumps / New Surfaces

A new type of debris truck has invaded the neighborhood.  First there were singles with claws, then doubles with claws, now there are singles with HUGE claws pulling a flatbed trailer.  We’ve all been watching for weeks as the first two types picked up pile after pile of brush but left the stumps behind, marked with orange spray paint that no one can seem to read.  (I’ve ruled out “Go Vols!”)  Well, wonder no more!  It’s clearly code for the new trucks.  I got stuck behind one yesterday and watched it hoist a huge stump up onto the flatbed for transport to the debris site.  And then I saw it . . . the Minnesota tag!  I’m guessing the orange scrawl said “takedisone” or “uffda” or “youbetcha” and we just couldn’t read Northern!

I got stuck behind another one of these monsters today and it had a Minnesota tag too!  So I brazenly got out of the car and asked if I could photograph the license plate while I waited.  The driver seemed amused and told me they worked for a Minnesota company that had won the stump contract and were now down here sweltering away!

    

**grateful for these Neighbors from the North**

**grateful for the smiles it gave Mom to know her home state was working away on her street**

A new type of smell has also invaded the neighborhood.  This is their formerly tree-invaded bedroom with all new surfaces and a fresh coat of paint.

**grateful for my parents’ friends Bob and Donna who have helped expedite the reconstruction process**

This is the stump of the tree that did the most damage as seen from the newly put-back-together bedroom window.  As you can see, it hasn’t been extracted yet. There are over a dozen of these around the yard that we have to figure out what to do with – grind up where they are or haul to the street for some orange graffiti?

Pray for progress for all the tornado victims.  As frustrating and exhausting as the myriad of medical and insurance details has been for me, there are many facing much more dire circumstances.

June 15, 2011 Roy’s Roses

This is Roy, one of Mom’s older brothers.  He is a retired Air Force veteran who spends his time honoring fallen heroes bugling taps at military funerals.  He drove all the way from Colorado to Minnesota with his daughter Marline to play at the funeral last week at Camp Ripley.

        

**grateful today for Roy’s patriotic spirit**

Roy is also a master gardener.  He and Marline sent me home with instructions to procure some beautiful flowers for Mom from them.

This is Mom with her roses from Roy and Marline.  She was soooo excited to see these flowers and enjoy this special gift from her big brother and niece.  As you can see, she was up in her wheelchair with her back brace on and her oxygen off awaiting her lunch when the flowers arrived.

**grateful today for the encouragement of beauty**

This is Sara, my younger sister and phone-a-friend stress reliever (pictured here with Dad a few weeks ago).  Mom’s flowers arrived around lunchtime yesterday and I called Sara to report Mom’s delight with the gift.  Sara’s laughing response threw me off guard until she composed herself enough to tell me her just-opened fortune cookie at lunch read, “A blonde from afar will call you with good news.” Not sure how fortune cookies fit into my theology, but I’ll take it!

**grateful today for unexpected smiles**