Thursday April 30, 2009

Today was spent doing a battery of tests and working on managing Lisa's heart rate down. They have been able to bring it down from where it was but still not down to where they would like it to be. No Physical or Occupational therapy as they wanted to keep her activity minimal while managing the heart rate. No procedure today but we are hopeful they will be able to perform it tomorrow. We will keep you posted.

We appreciate the prayers, thoughts and words of encouragement.

Jim,Josh and Melissa.

Wednesday April 29, 2009

The results of last nights MRI indicated a blockage. Today Mom was scheduled for and endoscopic procedure to determine the cause of the blockage and relieve the obstruction. Unfortunately, due to the procedure she was unable to eat or drink and as a result was unable to take her meds. Mom's heart rate elevated and they were unable to perform the procedure.

They have moved Mom to the Telemetry unit to keep her monitored, while administering meds. Once Mom's heart rate has stabilized, they will reschedule the procedure. We expect that the procedure will happen within the next day or two.

Mom remains in good spirits and they will continue physical and occupational therapy while in the Telemetry unit.

Thank you all for your continued support, thoughts, and prayers!

Jim, Joshua, and Melissa

Tuesday April 28, 2009

A bit of a setback today. Last night Lisa's color was a little off so they ran some tests. Unfortunately, the results showed elevated enzyme levels for the liver, indicating a possible blockage or other problem. They performed additional tests today including an MRI and we are awaiting the results. Lisa still managed to get in a couple of good walks today with PT. No speech today as she had to go without food or water for 8 hrs. before the MRI.

Your prayers are much appreciated as well as your encouragement and positive thoughts.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Monday April 27, 2009

Back to full schedule today. A couple of long walks for Lisa today along with her full regimen of exercises with both OT and PT and an hour sitting in her chair. They also had her stand at a table and shoot baskets(Nerf basketball)! She had to keep at it until she sank 5. Melissa brought her her favorite soup tonight from CPK so she finished off the day on a high note!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Jim, Josh & Melissa.

Sunday April 26, 2009

Back to work today. Lisa was up twice with PT walking with the help of the walker and the therapist today. She also had speech therapy with more work on her swallowing. We also got to practice for the first time, me (Jim) transferring Lisa from her bed to her chair and from the chair back to the bed. It seemed to go well ( I didn't let her fall once!). Tomorrow will be back to a full schedule.

Thank you for the support, encouragement and prayers.

Jim, Josh & Melissa

Saturday April 25, 2009

Lisa was feeling much better today. She got off easy with a light work-out for OT and no PT today. She is settling in to this eating routine, but has not found anything on the hospital menu that she really likes yet! I am sure tomorrow the rest will be over and she will be back to the full workout.

Thank you for all the encouragement and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa.

Friday April 24, 2009

Lisa had a rough day today. She was feeling nauseous all morning which hindered her ability to do her therapy to the fullest extent. She got most of her morning therapy in but had to go light this afternoon. This has also been her first full day with no nutritional supplement through her feeding tube. She is now fully dependent on hospital food :( and she is having to take all of her meds and supplements orally.

Thank you for all your words of encouragement as well as your prayers and support.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Thursday April 23, 2009

Another day of work. They continue the intensive therapy with PT and OT twice a day and speech once a day. Her leg strength is a major focus as she continues to experience weakness. She continues to work hard and make progress every day.

Lisa continues to enjoy hearing your comments every day and she and the rest if us (the fam!)continue to appreciate the thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Wednesday April 22, 2009

Work, Work, Work. More of the same for Lisa today. Nothing new to report other than Lisa continues to work hard and make progress. Somehow I think we all knew that would be the case.

Thank you for the prayers and encouragement and constant support.

Jim, Josh and Melissa.

Tuesday April 21, 2009

Another day of hard work. More standing , sitting, walking and swallowing today. They continue to work on strength and balance and they push a little harder every day. Lisa continues to push herself every day with the goal of getting home as soon as she can.

Thank you for your encouragement and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa.

Monday April 20, 2009

More of the same! Another day of work for Lisa. She had PT twice, OT twice and speech (swallowing)today. More standing, sitting and walking with the help of the walker and therapists. In addition, a full routine of exercise just in case she has any energy left. She is feeling the effect with lots of aches and pains, but these too are signs of progress.

Thank you for all of the support, encouragement and prayers.

Jim, Lisa and Josh

Sunday April 19, 2009

Another day of work for Lisa. More practice standing, sitting and walking as well as a full compliment of exercises. No Speech Therapy (swallowing) today but she continues to receive three meals a day of soft hospital food which, according to Lisa, lives up to the reputation for hospital food.

Thank you for the prayers and support.

Jim, Josh & Melissa

Saturday April 18, 2009

First day in the new digs today and there is no resting on the weekend anymore. Lisa had PT twice and OT twice as well as Speech today. She got up and down and in and out of bed multiple times today as well as walking with her walker and the help of the therapists. She also did a variety of exercises with and without weights. She is certainly tired but this is definitely the road home!

Thank you for your support and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Friday April 17, 2009

Good news today! Blue shield approved the move and Lisa is now officially in Acute Rehab. It will be a lot of hard work on her part, but it is the next step in getting home and she is excited about that. She also had PT twice today with lots of steps and exercises and her first adventure with a walker (and 2 PT's). She also had OT and Speech today as well.

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement, they continue to motivate and sustain!

Jim, Josh & Melissa

Thursday April 16, 2009

Another day filled with standing, sitting, exercising and eating. Normal routine for the day. She was a little tired today after the big day yesterday and she is a little nervous about going to acute rehab. The hospital appears ready to make the move, but they have not received clearance from Blue Shield. We have made the appropriate calls and now will wait for their response.

Thank you for the constant support and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa.

Wednesday April 15, 2009

Lisa had her first meal in almost 3 months today. She enjoyed Mac & Cheese and peaches for lunch with an Arnold Palmer to wash it down. She had OT and also had PT twice and was taking multiple steps with the assistance of the Therapist and the parallel bars. She managed to do this several times and managed up to 16 steps at a time. Her doctor and Therapists thinks she is ready to move to Acute Rehab which is the next step with 3 hours a day of therapy. The Dr. has requested an evaluation and if she is ready, will move her to the Acute Rehab unit.

Thank you for all of the support, encouragement and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Another busy day for Lisa. She had Physical Therapy twice, Occupational Therapy once and she also had her swallow evaluation. PT consisted of exercise, standing, turning and sitting in a chair. OT was pretty much the same. The swallow eval went well, showing significant improvement from the last one and they will start her on soft foods tomorrow!

We hope everyone is enjoying Spring break and appreciate very much the continued prayers and support.

Jim, Josh and Melissa.

Monday April 13, 2009

Back to weekday work schedule for Lisa! Today she had Physical Therapy twice and Occupational Therapy. In the morning and afternoon, she stood with the help of the PT's then sat in the wheelchair. She also did a full regimen of exercises in both sessions and in the afternoon worked for 5 minutes pedaling on a portable exercise machine. OT worked on self-care. No speech therapy today as she had it yesterday. She is scheduled to have her next swallow evaluation tomorrow so keep your prayers strong that all goes well and she can begin working on eating foods.

Thank you for the continued support and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Sunday April 12, 2009

Today was a quiet and restful day. She had a good Easter with dad and I and even got to eat some jello and graham crackers today!

All is well. Back to intense physical therapy again tomorrow.

Thank you for the continued prayers!
Melissa and the fam.

Saturday April 11, 2009

Although today was a relatively quiet day, it was a big day none the less. Today Lisa took her first steps, it was only a couple of baby steps, but steps none the less! After that she got to cruise the hospital again in her wheelchair and see the sights. No Occupational or Speech therapy today so she got to rest the remainder of the day.

Lisa also wants to thank Team Lisa for the beautiful roses and lovely card that are now brightening up her room.

We can't thank you enough for the wonderful words, prayers and support.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Friday April 10, 2009

Today was another good day. Lisa did all her therapies today, PT times 2, OT once and speech once. She even stood an extra time this afternoon! (I think it is all the positive energy flowing from Team Lisa!) Swallowing continues to go well and she is looking forward to the next evaluation and hoping it will lead to tasty treats. It is truly a Good Friday and Lisa wishes everyone a happy Easter/Passover.

Thank you for all the positive energy, wonderful words and sincere prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Thursday April 9, 2009

Lisa continues to work hard and improve. Physical Therapy twice a day with standing, Occupational Therapy once a day with weights and speech therapy once a day with swallowing exercises. Her swallowing has improved a lot, yesterday she was able to eat applesauce and jello and she had more jello today. The Speech Therapist thinks she is ready for another swallow evaluation so they will try to schedule it for next week. If that happens and all goes well, she will begin to get real food (as real as pureed food can be) as part of her nutrition.

We all appreciate the continued prayers and support and Lisa looks forward to hearing your comments each day at "mail call".

Thank you,

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Wednesday April 8, 2009

No slack here for Lisa! She had PT twice again today and both times going to the rehab center and standing with the parallel bars. After the morning PT she followed up with an extended sit in the wheelchair and then with OT and Speech Therapy. In the afternoon, after PT, we got to take her on a wheelchair tour of the ground floor of the hospital. It was her first foray outside the unit and she enjoyed seeing her surroundings.

Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Tuesday April 7, 2009

No rest for the weary! Today was another busy day for Lisa. She had Physical Therapy twice today. In the morning she did her exercises then got out of bed (with lots of help) and sat in a wheelchair for 30 minutes. In the afternoon, she got into the wheelchair again, but this time got to go for a ride to the rehab center where she was able to stand 3 times with the help of the therapists and the parallel bars. She also had Occupational Therapy with some weight lifting and she had Speech Therapy as well. She continues to push hard and is making progress every day.

Thank you for all the positive thought and for your support and prayers as well.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Monday April 6, 2009

Today was a busy day for Lisa. She had Physical Therapy twice , Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. She was able to stand twice and do lots of exercises. She did a little weight lifting as well. She is plenty tired but did well with all of the therapies. she is gaining strength daily and remains in good spirits.

Thank you for the prayers and support.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Sunday April 5, 2009

No rest for Lisa today. She changed rooms this morning so she now has a private room. She also had Physical and Occupational Therapy today. Today she was able to brush her teeth and put on make-up which really made her feel good. She is still munching away on the ice chips but no food yet.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Saturday April 04, 2009

Today was pretty much dedicated to the move. Lisa spent the morning getting ready for the move and so no Physical or Occupational Therapy. The move happened at 2pm and went very smoothly. The remainder of the afternoon was spent settling in to the new facility and going through a variety of assessments as well as speech therapy. Tomorrow Physical Therapy will assess where she is at physically and develop a preliminary timeline for getting her ready to go home.

Thank you for the continued support, encouragement an prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Friday, April 3, 2009

Today, the physical therapists helped mom get into a wheel chair and let her cause a commotion as she wheeled herself around the room.

The procedure to remove the tube from her nose and place it in her stomach was successful, and she is now resting as the sedatives work their way out of her system.

The plan is to move mom to another unit within the hospital tomorrow that specializes in rapid recovery. From what we understand, she will have a rigorous physical therapy routine to keep up with.

As always, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Melissa and the Fam

Thursday April 02, 2009

Another good day for Lisa today. She had Speech and Physical Therapy today. She now feeds herself ice chips to practice swallowing and is showing improvement. She also stood-up briefly twice today with the assistance of her therapists and the sat in her chair for 30 minutes. Tomorrow morning the Doctor will insert the PEG tube and if all goes well she will transfer out of the respiratory hospital on Saturday into the Transitional Care Unit where they will focus on building her strength. Another step in the right direction!

Thank you for your support and prayers.

Jim, Josh and Melissa

Wednesday April 1, 2009

A good day today for Lisa. No Physical Therapy, however she did sit in her chair for over an hour today. She did have Speech Therapy today and she is now able to have ice chips a often as she likes (within reason of course). They will Insert the PEG tube directly into her stomach on Friday which will allow them to remove the NG tube in her nose. This should be much more comfortable for her and hopefully will make it easier to progress with swallowing.

We continue to appreciate the encouragement, prayers and support.

Jim and the Kids