Diane's Week

1/18/15

Pete closed on his new home in Houston Thursday and then headed to Pittsburgh last night to give Karen a well-deserved break and help prepare the house for Mom’s arrival.  He’s been busy with Dad getting Christmas decorations up to the attic – picking up where Karen’s kids left off.  Dad got the walker out of the attic since it will be Mom’s new helper to get around house safely until her vision improves and she is steady on her feet.  Pete helped Dad manage his first load of laundry last night- quite an accomplishment considering Dad’s never done a load in his 75 years!  I’m waiting on a phone call from Mom after she finishes up PT today.  According to all the detailed reports from Karen & Dad, Diane’s energy level is returning to normal as is her blood pressure.  She is able to stay awake most of the day and can watch television which is something I didn’t expect with her major concussion.  She is a great patient and has taken up every challenge offered by her therapists.  She continues to work the muscles of her eye to and her body to slowly regain what she lost from the fall.

She had played some ball game in PT on Thursday and was very proud of winning the game versus Sam.  Her competitive nature is alive and well!  She got her first shower this past week – I can’t imagine how great that must have felt but will need a chair for shower until she’s steady on her feet and her vision improves.  She been given the ok to go up and down stairs when she’s home which will help her mentally recover since she will be able to settle into a routine at home.

I’m so thankful for all Karen has done to help Mom and Dad through the challenges of hospitalization and am grateful to Pete for giving Karen some time off from these added responsibilities as he and Dad prep the house for Mom’s return on Monday.  I’m eager to come pitch in next weekend and give Karen a well deserved break as she travels to Arizona.  By then I’m sure Pete will have Dad running that household like a well oiled machine and preparing meals and doing the shopping like nobody’s business!

Great news today!  Diane’s blood pressure is at an acceptable level of 116/78.  A huge improvement from her initial BP which was between 170- 180.  We’re hoping she will be able to reduce the amount of BP medication she is taking.  She is pretty much pain free and started her physical and occupational therapy today.  No doubt she was the star student.  I was amazed by what I saw from my dad’s videos.  She is walking with a spotter down the hall, turning completely around and gradually going up and down stairs.  It must be difficult going down the stairs since she can’t see her feet past her large neck brace!  Her PT score was a 47 out of 56, which puts her at a low risk of falling.  (below 42, the higher the risk).  She said her vision has improved and it is good when she first wakes up but she’s still waiting on an eye patch – aarrg!.  What a great feeling to be able to put on sneakers and workout clothes after a week of hospital gowns!

As I said in my first post, my sister Karen is very gifted with words.  I have taken the liberty of posting her FB posts so you can follow Diane’s story from the very beginning. Diane did move into her rehab room today!  It will be a nice change of scenery and she is excited about getting three hours of physical therapy each day.

Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns for my Mom. She is still in ICU at Mercy Hospital after falling yesterday morning on the ice. She was out in icy conditions trying to get to her exercise class of course (if you know my mom). She has fractures on the base of her skull right above the neck, a very bad concussion, bleeding on the brain in the front and back. She is under fantastic care with the UPMC Neurosurgery Dept. They will determine when she moves from ICU to a room and begin therapy and eventually rehab. The first thing my mom asked the neurosurgeon this morning was how long until she can lifeguard again so you know she is definitely going to be OK! Unfortunately the answer is likely 3-4 months. She is fine neurologically. She is extremely tired and sleeps most of the time trying to heal her brain injury. This will be a long recovery but my mom is the most fit person I know so she will be back life guarding when she is all healed. I just hope she is patient with her recovery. 

I have always been inspired by my mom and her strength and it will serve her well as she slowly recovers from that bad fall on the morning of January 3.  She has been lifted up in prayer by hundreds of friends and family and I am so grateful for that!  Keep them coming!  My mother always has said my father would do anything for her and I believe right now he must be having a difficult time since there’s nothing he can do but patiently wait and pray for healing.  There’s not much he can do and he, like my mom is a doer.  There is also another person who has been an inspiration to me throughout this difficult time and I can’t express how grateful I am (I’m NOT alone) for her constant care and questioning of the people in charge of her care.  That person is my sister, Karen.  She has always been an extremely dedicated mother, an accomplished businesswoman and now advocate for our mother.  Karen has not missed a day of visiting my mom at the hospital, even if it was just to watch over her while she slept.  She has first hand experience at the same neurology department at UPMC Mercy (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) when she herself was a patient less than two years ago.  (but that’s another story!) Besides being a steadfast presence and advocate, Karen is a skilled writer whose posts on Facebook and WhatsApp have been a great source of information and encouragement.

I once used this blog to communicate with my students up until our school district asked everyone to switch over to Edmodo.  I feel as though this is a good site to post Karen’s updates on Diane’s progress.  It is going to be a long road to complete physical healing for Diane and we pray she is patient and encouraged.

You can find my updates on our Edmodo site!  Ask me for the code.

We have been reviewing gender of nouns, and definite / indefinite articles this week, as well as numbers so we can tell time and tell at what time something occurs.

Homework:

2nd period and anyone else needing extra help: create flashcards with  verbs from pages 47 & 109.

All periods:  Finish Worksheets 1 & 2 (U2E2) that you received today.  It is the one side only (boys can do just the odds, and girls the evens).

Afternoon classes need to finish word search and turn in for credit.

The following tabs are required for your Spanish binders:  Warm up; Classwork; Notes; Homework.

8th:  Keep studying!  HW if you want a perfect 100% HW grade for this quarter is to do 8 out of 14 practice quizzes from Etapa Preliminar – U5E1 from Classzone (tab is above).  Copy and paste entire results page of each quiz that are at least 9 out of 10 correct onto a word document each time you finish one.  Continue copying and pasting into that same word document and then you can print the word document (two or four sheets per page when you are finished if you wish to conserve paper).  IF YOU WANT YOUR ENTIRE GRADE TO GO UP ONE POINT, do all fourteen quizzes and provide results pages for all 14 quizzes (follow printing instructions above).