Visit to Virginia

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. Friday, a week ago, I flew up to Richmond, VA to help out with my dad and spend time with the family. The week actually went by really fast. On that first weekend, Kim, Elise, & Grayson came over to visit. Everyone takes turns helping dad at the nursing facility, but mom had asked if Kim would watch Cody while I watched dad on Saturday. She had not been able to do anything with both Rachel & DeLeigh since they had both been helping on different shifts for the last month. She took the 2 girls to lunch.

After the weekend, I got into a routine fairly quickly. I dropped mom off at school at 6am, drove to dad's at 6:30am and stayed til around 1pm when Rachel relieved me. I would then pick mom up from school, she would drop me off at home so I could do some work while she would go visit with dad. DeLeigh or I would get Cody from the bus stop at 4pm and watch him until Rachel got home at 6pm. DeLeigh would then relieve mom around 7:30pm and stay until midnight.

Dad has been coming a long way all week. The occupational & physical therapists are teaching him to do more and more on his own. One big challenge is moving from the bed to the wheelchair, to a toilet. He has to use a long flat board to slide from one object to the other without touching his feet on the ground. He has mastered this fairly well, but there is always someone there to make sure everything is sturdy and stable. They are working with him on dressing himself and getting his back brace off and on. With limited mobility, and huge boots on, it's difficult. He's not allowed to twist, lift, or put his feet on the floor.

This week they will do a home study to see what all he needs at home to get around okay. His co-workers came this week to build a ramp for him to get from the driveway into the house. Dad also learned to get in & out of a car front seat from his wheelchair. All of the staff at the facility were great.

Each day I would eat lunch with him in the dining room. We had pretty good food. It was somewhat bland, but that's exactly what I like. Mom had neighbors and teacher friends bring us meals at night to the house. I think I had pork three nights in a row, but it was all good. Everyone has been so helpful.

The weather was so beautiful all week. I took dad outside to feel the sunshine every day. He's good at wheeling his own chair around since he has good upper body strength. Most of the other residences in the nursing facility were much older and weaker. Many of them had broken hips or arms or legs. The rehab part of the facility was set up much like a small gym. I've never seen so many people crammed into one room for rehab all at the same time. It was like wheelchair derby trying to get around in rehab & in the dining room.

The WiFi connection at the nursing facility was not very strong. I tried to bring my computer several times, but it would not keep the connection long enough to be very useful. I mostly signed into work in the afternoons through the evenings.

Dad will most likely be discharged to go home next weekend. He got his casts off this past week on Wednesday and will get the stitches off next Wednesday. He was also thrilled to get a new more comfortable back brace that did not have the neck brace attached. He can now look down at his food tray and see what he's eating. He has to wear large boots with air pumps in them. He can take them off one hour per day and flex his ankles up and down. This is the time I used to finally clean off all the betadine orange junk that was left on his feet from surgery. One of the nurses helped me and changed his dressings for him. He still has quite a bit of swelling in each foot so he keeps them propped up often.

It was great to visit with dad & mom. Rachel and Cody are fitting right in in Richmond. Cody is enjoying kindergarten. It was nice to see my cousin DeLeigh after so many years. She helped so much around the house with laundry and cleaning. DeLeigh, Rachel, and I took Cody for ice cream on Friday, the day before I left to come home. It was nice hanging out with the cousins again. We used to spend our summers together in Florida at Granny's house when we were growing up. DeLeigh lives in PA, Rachel is in AL, and I'm in SC. Funny how the most random things can bring us all together again.

Pictures coming soon.

Attic Ladder

Before Pictures:

Vince worked last weekend to install a ladder and new attic door to access our attic. The attic access panel was placed in the back bedroom closet, which was difficult to access. We had to bring in a step ladder to get up into the attic. The attic access panel was just a piece of drywall so the closet was not insulated very well due to heat or cold seeping in from the attic. The closet also had an industrial long light bulb above the door frame just inside the closet. This location was hazardous as every time we brought in a ladder, it would almost hit the light.

Vince found a retractable ladder that is made just for small attic spaces. Our attic access panel was not the required 54" in order to buy a pre-made drop down attic door/ladder. It was much shorter. Vince installed the new retractable ladder & it works perfectly. He also built and installed a new attic door and insulated it. The package came with a stick that has a hook to open the door & to pull down the ladder.

After Pictures:

And he installed a new bulb light to the side of the attic door. This picture shows the pole with the hook on it that opens the door.

He installed a large long light to put in the attic in order to provide more light than the single bulb that was in there. This attic is much more accessible and user friendly!

15 Weeks

This week I hit the 15 weeks mark in my pregnancy. Over the past week, I have noticed that my baby bump seems to be increasing upward, not outward. I think this baby is pushing my internal organs up so he has more room. I took a picture at 15w1d (15 weeks 1 day) pregnant. I haven't felt any movements yet, but according to everything I read, I should start feeling something around week 17.

Dad finally had his surgery this week on Thursday. They used bone graft material, steel plates and 5 screws in each heel. The surgeon told mom that they started on the right foot first since according to the CT scan, it had cleaner breaks and would be faster to do. Only once he got inside, he said the right foot was much worse and that it was a "very bad break." It took him much longer to operate than he thought. Dad was in surgery for both feet for about 4.5 hours. He then stayed in recovery for about an hour and a half and was then moved to room 555 (easy enough to remember that room!).

Rachel told me as he was wheeled past them he slurred his words but told them it hurt a lot. For the next 23 hours, he stayed in constant pain, getting no relief. The hospital staff pumped him full of pain meds. He could push the morphine pump every 8 minutes, but he got no relief. The doctor told mom it would be about 24 hours before he felt better, and right around 23 hours, dad turned a corner. He is still in a lot of pain, but doing better. He will be returning to The Laurels today around noon to keep his hospital visit under 47 hours.

He received two new soft casts after his surgery.

The Laurels of Bon Air

Dad is now enjoying a large private room at a skilled nursing facility called The Laurels of Bon Air. They have folks 24/7 that can help get dad moved around when he needs to be moved. They also have a dining room, salon, and physical therapy station. He has visited all of those this week. This is a 5 star rated facility.

Rachel took dad to the dining room to enjoy his first lunch away from his bed since the accident.

He also visited the salon for a hair cut.
Today he met his foor doctor for the first time in Richmond. They removed the braces to inspect his feet. Still shows lots of bruising. The doctor told him to elevate his feet as much as possible to get the swelling down.


They then fitted him with new "removable" braces. The doctor said he could take these off while in bed being still.

The title of this picture is Robo Dad. All he needs to complete this picture is a black helmet and cape...and maybe a light saber.

He sees his back doctor on Wednesday & if all goes well, the foot doctor will do surgery next Friday.

Underground Literary Society

My friend Dawn asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would be interested in joining her book club in Greenville. They meet once a week at Coffee Underground on Main Street. I have never been in a book club, but love reading. So of course, I said yes! Our first book to read was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. At first I was a little wary being that the first book to read had such a weird title. But I started reading it and really liked it. It was based on WWII and the German occupation of the channel islands. It was fiction, but based on a lot of facts. Great read.

On Sunday, we met to discuss the book, which took about 5 minutes. The rest of the time, we just gabbed and talked about other stuff. One of the girls is a professional photographer so she wanted to take our picture in a nearby park. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time pretending to be a secret reading club like in the book. We also named ourselves that day. Since they usually meet at Coffee Underground, we came up with Underground Literary Society.

My friend Dawn & I are expecting babies at the same time. Her due date is March 12 and she is expecting twins. So we also had our picture taken together. She is showing more than I am, but since she's carrying two, that was expected. What a fun day!

Update on Dad

This week dad has been at the trauma center in Fredericksburg wearing a back and neck brace for his broken T-7 vertebrae. It did have 3 small bone chips that came off, but they did not damage the spinal cord. He will have to wear the brace for some time and will see a spine doctor this next week for further treatment.

He has had his feet in splints along with air bags on them to maintain circulation. He crushed the heel bone in both feet. These will both require surgery to correct after the swelling has reduced. He meets with the foot surgeon this next Friday.

All week we have been waiting for the insurance to approve his transfer from Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg to a skilled nursing facility in Richmond. The doctors in Richmond will take over his care and perform the surgeries. After lots of paperwork from the hospital, nursing home, and the insurance company, hopefully he will be transferred on Monday.

This will allow mom to actually start school like she was supposed to this last week. My cousin DeLeigh has been helping out at the hospital during the night shift. Mom has been with him during the day & Kim has been with dad during the afternoons. DeLeigh will return back home to PA in a week.

I met Pat & Rachel & Cody in Commerce, GA Friday afternoon. Rachel was trying to drive to VA but her car has had some trouble. So Pat drove her part way & I drove her to my house. John & Grayson then drove down to get her on Saturday. Rachel, Cody, John & Grayson left this morning to drive to Richmond.

Rachel will help dad out during the day at the nursing facility, The Laurels of Bon Air. Also, she is going to enroll Cody in kindergarten. In Alabama, he has to be born after October 1, but in VA, he has to be born after Sept 1. His birthday is Sept 20. So Rachel will be able to use mom's address for the next couple of months while he goes to school. Then hopefully, he will be able to transfer into kindergarten when she returns to Alabama in a few months.

Pat and Ravyn will stay in Alabama. Ravyn has lots of friends (& parents of friends) that will help her get home from school and get to her dance lessons.

It's been an interesting week. We've been able to visit with family and talk to them on the phone all week. Dad has been monitored for his oxygen levels as they have been getting a little bit low, but overall, his spirits are up and he's doing well.

Dad has wheeled himself down the hall in a wheelchair and has been doing leg lefts with the P.T. and O.T. folks. They are keeping him busy at the hospital.

Dad's Broken Feet & Back

I got a call from my sister this morning that my dad had fallen from a ladder & had possibly broken both feet. He had gone up to King George, VA from Richmond to help them with 5 trees that had fallen thanks to hurricane Irene. Dad & John had finished trimming one tree so dad was coming down the ladder. John moved on to the next tree, when suddenly the ladder slipped off to the right of the tree & dad fell, landing on his feet, then back, then bumped his head.

After an ambulance trip, x-rays, and a CT scan from the neck down, they determined he had broken bones in both feet, and he had broken a bone in his thoracic vertebrae (middle of the back). He can move just fine & is alert, but in lots of pain. This picture was taken shortly after he arrived at the hospital.

The trauma unit ordered an MRI for his back and an orthopedic surgeon to come in to help. Hopefully we'll get some more information soon. Please keep him in your prayers. This picture was taken after a few hours. You can see the swelling in both feet, as well as his right foot is slightly crushed in and swollen.