Drum Roll Please...

We finally have the PET Scan scheduled! Mom will be going in this Monday, April 28 at Noon. The scan should take about 1 1/2 hours total. Not sure how quickly we will know the results, but will let you know when I know! Please pray for a specific diagnosis, sounds kooky, but this is the last "hurdle" and a specific diagnosis would be fabulous. We would at least know what and how to move ahead in regards to treatment.

Mom has officially taken her last dose of Keppra and I gotta say, she seems much stronger and bit more together. Neurologist said because of moms type of stroke, it could have triggered the seizures temporarily, so now that she is off the Keppra, the Dilantine level has been lowered and hopefully finished within the next few months.

Mom is walking with her walker much better and more frequently! Now she will tell you because I (Sandy, aka, Team Harrass) and Dawne (aka Team Nasty), moms nicknames of course, are "making" her use her walker as much as possible. That's a true statement, but if she's not walking, she's not leaving that place! So we both say "bring it on" if it's gonna help mom come home! Speaking of home, Dawne and I have been checking out assisted living facilities, man there are some nice, and expensive places out there! Keep ya posted on that as soon as we figure out what path we need to take.

Joshua stopped by on his day off to hang out with Gram this afternoon. I got there after work and Joshua and I "broke" mom out and grabbed a bite to eat. Here is a picture of the two of them before we "sped" off in the car, just kidding!

Ciao

Hmmm, Whose the Patient?

As you can tell from the photos, it gets quite tiresome waiting in doctors offices! So Dawne decides to climb up and lay down and of course within minutes, the doc walks in and says, "Wow Grace, how you've changed" which mom replies, "I know, don't I look fabulous?" Gotta love her! Visit went well...mom weighs 166, I know, she'd kill me if she knew I printed that, but she doesn't read the actual blog, so I got one over! Considering she eats 3 meals regularly and doesn't get much exercise, I think that's good...The xrays from a few weeks ago do show a "something" on the right lung, so we are off to the Pulmonary doctor on Thursday. I am hoping he suggests a pet scan, mom is not strong enough for a surgical biopsy to actually gather some tissue from whatever "it" is. Ciao

And the Winner is...

2 days! Yep, it took mom only 2 days to "bite" her polish off of those pretty nails! I was driving home from work today and my celli rings and it says "mom" so I pick it up and mom says "Hey" and I say "Hey you, whatcha doin"? and mom replies without missing a beat, "I'm just sitting here trying to figure out how to get out of going to dinner"! Ha, priceless. Soooo, I picked her up and we went to sonic. Mom should sleep great tonight, we are having thunderstorms, rare for DFW, but most enjoyable to those of us who grew up with them.


"What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it". Job 38:24-26

Word of the Day...TREAT

Mom has had a few "slow" days since the doc started lowering her Keppra, although it is to be expected, so when I got to Baybrooke this morning, I was pleased to see mom still in the PT room and then walking, with a walker & a therapist, down the hallway. There is a salon at Baybrooke, so after PT, we skooted down so mom could get a mani/pedi. The gals name is Charlene, and I gotta tell ya, she went beyond the call of duty (notice she is on the floor doing mom's pedicure). Here are some photos of the event, mom had a good time! What girls doesn't like being pampered? It's been awhile since she's had a treat like this. I'll keep y'all posted how long it takes before she "bites" the polish off her finger nails. If you're wondering what happened in the last photo, check it out: After mani/pedi I tucked mom in for her afternoon nap. I purposely left her feet uncovered so they could dry some more. I ran down the hall to grab my celli and drink and when I returned, mom is still laying in bed, but she has crossed her feet! Ugh, I was gone like 2 minutes, so I fixed it, but didn't have nail polish remover to get the smeared polish off her foot and of course Charlene was "gone to lunch" so I guess I'll take care of that tomorrow! And yes, I did pick out the polish for her toes, she calls it a "Sandy" color and I say Yay, everyone needs a little "Sandy" in their life!

Sweet dreams!

It's All About...ME!

Just got back from visiting mom. She had a good morning and after lunch, Dawne took her to her house and they hung outside by the pool. Today was sunny, 80 with a slight breeze, so it was a great day to be outside. Unfortunately, mom sacrificed her afternoon nap, so dinner was a hoot. After riding my new bike, 3.7 miles one way, to mom's place, I walk into the dinning area and Dawne is waving, but mom appears to be sleeping! I'm thinking, wow, bad day, what's up with that? That's when I find out mom didn't get her nap! Dawne skoots and mom and I finish dinner, sort of. When mom gets tired she has this "gangsta" lean to the right, kinda funny, except when you're trying to eat, it gets in the way. So we finish dinner and head outside to have dessert. I am showing mom my bike and telling her about it and she's not responding, not even a "yep" or "nice" and then I see the gangsta lean. I peek behind my sunglasses she is wearing and realize, MOMS ASLEEP! I wake her up and she asks, "whose bike is that"? I know, right? All I can think is, how am I going to get her ready for bed, which includes a potty stop, by myself? Needless to say, the potty stop turned into a potty nap, kinda funny! Bottom line, mom was refreshed from her potty nap to brush her teeth, I helped her into bed, gave her a kiss and then dreaded getting back onto my bike for the trek home! Obviously, I made it! Ciao

Drive by Post...

Mom saw the Neurologist today and YAY, she's going to gradually take her off Keppra! She will remain on Dilantine for now. We talked about Plavix vs. Cumadin and the Doc brought up a good point that when she was off Cumadin and only on aspirin, she stroked. Now that she has been on Plavix, no strokes. So for now, she will stay on Plavix. The lung xrays that were taken last week have been forwarded to the Pulminary Doc, waiting to hear what he has to say.

After her Doc appt today, I brought mom back to my house and Dawne joined us for pizza. It was refreshing to sit around the table and eat and joke around with no beeping, folks hollering or nurses being paged! After about 4 hours away, Dawne took mom back to Baybrooke and tucked her in for a well deserved nap!

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.

Puts everything into perspective! Ciao

I know, this is loooooooong overdue!

Thought this would be an easier way to keep you all informed of the going ons of Grace. I will try and update every few days, but don't hold me to it!

Last week, Miss Independent tried to put her shoes on herself, which in itself isn't a bad thing, but she was in her wheelchair and her shoes were not close by. So she leans forward to get them and of course leans out a bit to far and BAM, right on the floor, head first! Thankfully, she only hit her head, but man it was a HUGE bump. A few days later she was looking in the mirror and kept asking if we thought other people thought she had really bad eyebrows cuz she had bruises above each eyebrow, she looked like Groucho Marx!

We got mom a Jitterbug phone. I love that Samsung teamed up with the hearing aid folks, Beltone, to make this "senior" phone. Her number is 972-439-1092. She DOESN'T have voicemail, makes life easier. She would love to hear from you!

Hope you enjoy the Easter photo, she had fun making the bonnet with Dawne at Baybrooke Village.

A BIG thanks to all of you who have sent cards, she loves reading them, keep them coming! Who doesn't love to get mail?