Mom is home!

Good News -- Mom was released tonight from the hospital. Her doctors are confident the Heparin/Cumadin combination has done it's job for now.

We arrived in Surprise almost the same time they got home from the hospital. She was able to sit in the chair and chat for 2 hours before we were all ready for bed! She's tired and appears to have pulled a muscle in her neck but doing well.

She needs to rest a lot but can have visitors & calls!

Thanks for your support!

Back In The Hospital

On November 17, 2009, Mom was hospitalized again for blood clots in her legs. These are the same blood clots she's had since she was released in June. Unfortunately, 3 weeks ago, despite a daily regimen of cumadin pills, the blood clots suddenly started getting harder, thicker and more painful.

After a doppler scan on November 16, the Doctor decided to hospitalize her so her could add a IV drip of Heparin in addition to the cumadin. Over the last week, the pain in her legs has lessened a little but not as much as we hoped. In addition, she has developed pain in her neck and shoulders which they are treating with morphine.

Today, while trying to figure out why the pain and too slow reversal of the blood clots, they did a procedure to check the clot filter which was placed in her vena cava while she was on the ventilator. They discovered it is basically clogged slowing down the blood flow which may be why it's taking so long for the clots to break up despite the Heparin and Cumadin. They put a catheter to try to break up the clots by the filter... but with her history, it was decided to take out the catheter immediately.

Unfortunately, because of the concern for a hemarrage like she had last May, they are not sure what they are going to do about the "clog". At this hour, they are continuing the current course of treatment and watching for bleeding from procedure.

So, it does not appear she will be home for Thanksgiving. We will be traveling there so they are not alone... and, lest we forget, to put up the Christmas decorations - UGH! :)

I will continue to update the blog until she is home from the hospital. As always, you can call me for updates - 520-488-8279. Please no calls to Dad or visitors to the hospital at this time. With the amount of pain medication, she is a little out of it. I will let you know when it is ok to call again.

Thanks for your support.
Katie and Sullivan Family

Final Health Blog Posting For Karen

As of yesterday, Karen completed a successful series of occupational therapy tests. She no longer will require any physical therapy. We knew this was coming as she has quickly improved all motions of her upper body, including shoulders, arms, elbows, and hands.

Karen will continue with hospital physical therapy due to multiple problems caused by the blood clots in her legs for at least two more weeks. However, she has made good strides from when she started. She can get in and out of our pool without any assistance. All pillows have been removed from "her" chairs as she can now get up herself without needing a higher spot from which to get up. She continues to require walking with a walker with balance and leg strength are still not what they need to be. I expect her to be able to discontinue the walker use by mid to late August. We're hoping and praying that she can return to her favorite activity, golf, sometime this fall. It will probably require most of her blood clots being dissolved by coumadin, but we're optimistic that will happen sooner rather than later.

We have now finalized our plans for a two week trip to Aruba the last week of September and the firtst week of October. We will be home in time to celebrate our 50th Wedding Anniversary on October 10th. Later on in October, we plan on going to Bonita Springs, Florida for a reunion with her high school friends. We're making up for lost time!

Her rapid recovery has been helped along with all the positive thoughts and prayers from our family, relatives, and friends. We strongly believe that all the prayers on her behalf have been answered with her comparatively quick recovery.

She is now back on her computer, thus there is no need for the continued posting on her health blog. Better that all of you and she correspond directly by e-mail, phone, or personal time together. Her e-mail address is karen-surprise@cox.net for anyone who might not have it. Needless to say, she loves to be "back" to a more normal lifestyle. She looks forward to speaking to everyone ditectly.

Our combined "thanks" for being there for us in so many ways during the journey she has had from the life threatening beginning she beat to her current remarkable recovery. We feel very blessed to have the support of so many people during the last three months.

Love, Bill

Continued Progress

In spite of ongoing leg pain, Karen continues to gain strength and flexibility in her recovery from the blood clot effects. With the additional two concrete blocks on the pool steps, she can virtually get in and out of the pool by herself. I'm always just behind her, in case she has any difficulty.

With temperatures around 115 every day, the water is a welcome place to spend time. She uses the time to good advantage walking and swimming "laps' in our 33 foot pool. The water temperature is in the 92-94 range, but still is somewhat refreshing, though 86-88 would be nicer.

The summer is about half over now. I fully expect Karen to be walking well on her own by the end of August. This, of course, is without any kind of unexpected setback.

She loves to get phone calls and visits. Please feel free to visit, but with a call in advance to inbsure her availability. She still takes some naps, along with the many visits to doctors, thus the need to call in advance of visiting. She loves to hear from family, relatives, and friends.

Love, Bill

Success In Our Pool

I got two concrete blocks (8"X8"X16") and used each of them to make the entry and exit from the pool much easier for Karen. She did it twice, and we felt equally good about this success as it allows her to go into the pool for therapy as many times daily as she wants to. The doctor today re-stated that walking/swimming in the pool is excellent therapy. She will continue with physical and occupational therapy at the hospital for as long as Medicare will support her therapy.

Although the doctor didn't like the swollen, red, and painful legs, he said it was to be expected. He re-iterated the need to keep her legs elevated whenever possible. The coumadin is doing its job, and time is now the only thing we need for the blood clots to break up. In the meantime, her pain should diminish as the clots slowly break up.

Karen is definitely getting stronger. She is determined to be completely mobile again, possibly later rather than sooner, but nonetheless to be able to travel and play golf again down the road. Her faith has played a big part in her recovery thus far, and we know it will continue to do so.

Love, Bill

Good and Bad Day

Karen had her best day at therapy. In both PT and OT, the therapists said she is making progress in spite of her painful legs. She is determined to be back on the golf course sometime later this year. This is a great motivator!

In the months just prior to her lengthy hospital stay, Karen had cataracts removed from both of her eyes. The results were great as both eyes could see at a 20/30 rating. Since coming home from the hospital, her vision has declined. Her opthamologist checked her sight today and got a rating of 20/50 on both eyes. She also sees some double images and glare bothers her. The doctor is having a special test run in two weeks to try to determine what has changed. He found no reason today for such a precipitous drop as well as her other other difficulties. He ventured a guess that the great blood loss in her hospital ordeal may possibly be the reason. He also stated that her eyes may have been negatively affected while she was onj the ventilator. Also the combinations of multiple meds during her three weeks in intensive care may also have affected her sight. She just can't catch a break!

That's about all for now.

Love, Bill

Lingering Leg Pains

On a 1 to 10 scale for pain, Karen's pain remains at an "8". It's really tough for her to do anything requiring leg dexterity. I'm giving her dilaudid as needed, and tylenol between her dilaudid pain pills. It's not what we like, but keeping her out of pain is a priority. Both of her doctors stated as pain-free as possible should be our direction.

The leg pains inhibit her physical therapy, not occupational therapy. Although the PT therapists understand the nature and severity of her pain, they continue to press her to do as much as possible. We both wish she could do more, but it's next to impossible given her pain level. Again, it will take a total of 6-9 months to fully rid her legs of the clots. The coumadin, along with PT and time, are the only means we have to reduce the blood clots as far as we know.

Tomorrow, we make our final visit to Karen's opthamologist in follow-up to her earlier cataract removal surgery on both eyes. Unfortunately, we never did get to make the final follow-up visit as her seven week hospital stay occurred before we could see that doctor. The surgery seems to have worked, except for her continued difficulty reading or anything in print. She will see her her internist on Wednesday, and we'll try to find out if anything additional can be done to combat her severe leg pains.

Megan is with us just about every day since her return from her two week stay with Kevin, Karrie, and the kids. She had a wonderful time and is now looking forward to her trip to Seattle to be with Pat and Mike and their families. Megan has a hard time understanding what is going on with Karen, but I've now got her at the point now where she no longer breaks down when with Karen.

We're still planning our late September/early October time in Aruba. After spending these two weeks in Aruba, we'll be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary here in Sun City Grand. Again, we're hoping and praying that Karen is OK for these two very special times in our lives together. Please join us in praying that she is capable of enjoying both events.

Love, Bill

Difficulties With Legs

A doppler procedure performed two days ago revealed no additional clots in Karen's legs, which is the good news. The bad news is that her legs are extremely swollen, hard, and constantly in pain. We are trying to reduce the swelling by keeping her legs elevated, little salt in her diet, and daily doses of lasix(blood thinner). The physical therapy is also considered as an additional tool in reducing the blood clots. The major factor is the continued use of warfarin(coumadin generic).The doctor again said that it will be 6-9 months before they are gone.

Karen gets around pretty well with her walker. We've been to a movie, eaten out, and of course visited many doctors without serious mishap. The only real problem we've experienced is getting her up from some chairs which are too low. At home, we have two pillows on all of the chairs she uses. We've also been trying to get to our local community pool once daily. Walking and swimming is excellent therapy for her. We also try to do the prescribed therapy, given us at the hospital, every day we're not at the hospital therapy unit. We've missed the past two days as Karen had her monthly 5-hour infusion of gamma globulin yesterday, and has been in no shape(headaches and exhaustion) to do therapy nor to go into the pool.

She is a stubborn lady, so will not be giving up on the therapy. She "is" going to get better, and is working hard so that she may some day be able to get back out on our golf courses.

Love, Bill

Continued Progress

We saw both Karen's pulmonogist and primary doctor today. Her coumadin is a little high, and the amount is being slightly reduced to bring the level into the proper range. Her legs are very sore due primarily to the blood clots. Over the past several days they seem to have gotten worse. Another doppler of her legs is being done tomorrow. I'll pass on the results when I get them. In the meantime, lasix is being started to remove excess water in her legs.

With Jeannie here, we've gone into our Cimarron Community Pool, every day. It has an ocean entry which eliminates steps, making it much easier for Karen to get in and out. Being in the water is therapeutic and enjoyable for her. Jeannie is making all of our meals and helping us in many ways. We're really going to miss her when she leaves on Friday.

Jeannie, Karen and I had dinner with Katie, Tim, and Caitlyn on Sunday night at Fogo De Chao in Scottsdale. It was wonderful; many varieties of meats arrive at out table to be cut and served to our cooked request. We've been to a franchise in Aruba which is the same as this one. Apparently there are many of these franchises world wide. Wherever they are, all of us recommend them highly.

Our temps are now in the 108 to 115 range. Our swimming is done in the mornings. The girls take naps in the afternoon, while I get a chance to read the paper and do any chores needed.

Love, Bill

Improving Day By Day

Karen got in and out of our pool today with the help of a woman giving her three showers weekly, and some help from me. Unfortunately, I can't do it alone, thus she won't be able to use the pool until she can do it without help. Tomorrow, I think we'll try one of our community pools which has an ocean walk-in, which should work quite well. I'll use the hot tub while she walks and exercises in the pool. This Friday will be the last time for the "shower lady" as Karen feels she can hereafter take her shower without help.

On Friday, Jeanne Clark, our friend from Chicago will fly in and stay with us for seven days or until June 10. This is really a wonderful thing on Jeanne's part. She will help in all areas with Karen, which will be a great help to me. I'm sure she will make some meals as I'm pretty sure she won't consider my cooking among the best she has ever had. Karen is very excited to have Jeanne coming to stay with us for the week.

The twice-weekly physical and occupational therapy sessions continue at the hospital. Though the sessions are only 1/2 hour each, Karen is exhausted after completing the sessions. There has been noticeable improvement each day. However, her legs remain very painful due to the blood clots running the full length of both. The exercising, combined with the blood thinner she is taking are undoubtedly working, albeit very slowly. Her legs are often times warm, and always very hard to the touch. Care must be used whenever there is a need to touch her legs as any touch hurts pretty badly.

My thanks again to all of you "bloggers" for your continuing thoughts and prayers on Karen's behalf. If you would like to leave a note for Karen, simply click on the word "comments" at the conclusion of our posting, following the prompts as it comes up, and I'll see to it that she sees your comments. The cards and letters do a lot for her psyche.

Love All You Guys, Bill

Pool Difficulties

Mom did great getting into the pool this weekend. It was excellent for her and she was able to move around really, really well. I think the swelling was a little less in her right foot after working the in the pool.
Here's the problem -- she could get in no problem... but can't get out without help. Tim and I could get her out without issue but she can't do it on her own. Dad can't help her without hurting himself. So I gave Dad a suggestion of seeing if we could get an aide who would be willing to get in the pool. He's going to explore that tomorrow.
She's a little down as she really wanted to be able to get out on her own. Hopefully, the aide deal will work out.
It was great to be there... and have both of them home. I was able to get Dad out to the Transformer movie... it as fun.

Hospital Therapy

Karen completed her first sessions of OT and PT this week. She has the most severe problem with her legs, thus the physical therapy will be the most important of the two therapies for her. The occupational therapy will be concentrating on improving her strength in her shoulderrs and arms. She has the full range of motions, but is pretty weak in the upper torso. She is unable to get up from regular chairs and/or lazyboy rockers without two pillows under her when she gets into each of the chairs. The wheelchair also needs a lift in it for her to get out to her walker. The blood clots in both legs remain painful, but not as severe as the pain in them a few weeks ago. The therapists are pushing her quite hard, always reminding her that she will have to push through each exercise, regardless of the pain she might encounter. This is sometimes hard for her to accept, but I know that she realizes she has to work hard to have a chance to use the pool, and certainly to ever get back out on the golf course.

Katie, Tim, and Caitlyn are with us this weekend. They are going to try to find a way to be able to get Karen in and out of the pool, without any help. This will be an interesting exercise. I hope she can do it, as she really enjoys swimming in the pool. They are a big help to us in many ways, and we really look forward to having them here. I'm sure Caitlyn misses Megan not being here.

Megan is with Kevin and Karrie for two weeks. This was supposed to be a trip we were to make, so she is standing in for us. She loves being with Fiana and Liam, as she gets down on the floor with them and plays with them as she does with all of her nephews and nieces.

Please continue to keep Karen in your thoughts and prayers. She is facing a long and arduous journey, and needs all the help she can get.

Love, Bill

Home Therapy

Since coming home on Friday, Karen has been trying to walk arouind the house as much as she can(with a walker). She is limited, as she gets very tired quickly. We've had some difficulties with getting up from chairs, but we've found out how many pillows are needed on each chair to insure she can get up.

We start physical therapy at the hospital this Friday. The following week, she is scheduled for both physical and occupational therapy. We chose the hospital for therapy as it has more equipment and good staff than home health has. When Karen broke four bones a year and a half ago, we chose home health which included nurse visits, therapy sessions, and showers twice weekly, all of which was covered by Medicare/Blue Cross-Blue Shield. We were disappointed in the care and service she received from the home health people. Out-patient physical and occupational therapy is covered, but nothing more. We felt the hospital therapists and facility will be far better than the services offerred by home health. We have a private pay caregiver coming in to give her three showers weekly.

We see the doctors later this week in f0llow-up to the hospital stay. Her legs, ankles, and feet have noticeably swelled up, thus the visits will be timely. We believe it's from the walking with both legs still full of multiple blood clots.

If anyone wishes to visit Karen, just call in adsvance to insure we're home and available.

Love, Bill
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Life At Home

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there -- including my own!
Life at home is going to take some time before it returns to normal. Mom is having some real difficulty getting out of chairs... but she is so happy to be home and sleeping in again!
Many of you have asked how you could help... home cooked meals for my parents would not be turned away. Dad is too proud to ask -- but I'm not so if you would like to help out this way that would be great. No one should feel obligated but Mom may soon get tired of Bertolli Meals out of a bag!
There won't be as many updates from here on out now that she is home and taking phone calls. If anyone would like to email me at katiechoal@hotmail.com I will send you a personalized update.
I hope this blog was helpful to all of you. It was very helpful to my dad as it saved him a lot of time and repetition at home. Thanks again for all of your support.
Katie

At Home - Finally!

She's now at home... and very happy to be there.
Nurse Bill is running around like a chicken with his head cut-off getting prescriptions, special push up seat for chairs, etc. But he's also happy to have her home.
She says she is up to taking phone calls... but keep them short.
She also says she will take visitors but CALL FIRST and be aware when she is on medication she is not always herself. Don't be offended if you are turned away by the guard dog (Dad :))
She is not able to check email... at least not yet.
We are so thankful for your support -- thank you so much for being there for her and my Dad.

Heading Home Today

Mom should be heading home sometime today... I think the plan is for after lunch.
I know she is really looking forward to it. She had a nice long shower yesterday and PT.
Please keep in your prayers Mom's sister - Kathi - she is having surgery on her spine -- to fuse some disks in her neck. the same surgery mom had some years back.
I'll let you know when mom is home and whether she's up to phone calls.

Reality

Karen and I both got a big dose of reality today. Moving around a home is very different from moving around in a hospital room. Not only did she get pooped after half of the "home evaluation", she was unable to get out of some of the chairs in our home. The bed, toilet, and shower were handled quite well. Her computer chair, kitchen chair, lazyboy rockers, and lawn furniture presented significant difficulties. I've got some work to do in the next two days to make everything "ready" and will be getting some help from Gerry Heck, our wonderful friend. As they leave for three months on Tuesday, I'll have to work him hard in the next few days. Judy Heck will be cutting and styling Karen's hair in our home Saturday. Two great friends!!

Use of the pool will be delayed several weeks. She could probably get in OK, but getting out would be next to impossible. She and I agreed that she will have to be very careful in all of her movements and transitions. I'm unable to offer her much help, so she will need to err on the side of extra care in all new efforts.

Love, Bill

Officially Going Home

Mom will be going home on Friday. But after the home assessment today, she realizes she has a long recovery ahead of her. She can't get out of most chairs in the house... and definately no pool. She will return to the outpatient hospital therapy several times a week and Dad will hire someone to come in to help her with a shower a couple of times a week.
We all agree staying another week in the hospital would help her physically... but mentally she needs to come home. Both Mom and Dad are very happy about that -- and Mom has agreed to the restrictions around the house.
I'm sure Dad will update you all tonight.

Home Assessment About To Start

The home is assessment is supposed to happen at 10am.
Expected to take at least two hours.
I'll let you know what happened as soon as I can.

Ready for Home Assesment

Mom had 3 hours of PT today. She did well.
Dad got everything needed for the home assessment tomorrow. He needed to get oxygen filled, wheelchair, walker, raised toilet seat etc. He's ready to go.
Keep your fingers crossed that it goes well.