Update on Grace, Friday, Aug 27

Friday. Latest update 9:00 PM.

11:00 AM - Just a quick update here before I dash off to a bunch of appointments -- I'll write a LOT more this afternoon! Promise!

Jan and I looked at a potential next-facility for Grace this morning, and were quite favorably impressed. More details to follow.

Then we went to visit Grace, and she was up and alert and sitting in a wheelchair getting physical therapy. She had had a bath and was happy about that, and she had eaten her birthday cake! I asked her, "Grace! Someone ate your birthday cake! Do you know who did that??" And she put on an innocent look and turned her eyes to the ceiling.

I wish I could write more now, but I'm out of time and need to get to my appointments. More later! Stay tuned!

*****************************

4:45 PM - I promised to write more today, didn't I? Well, here it is!

I just got back from a 3:30 PM visit to see Grace, where I gave her the full briefing about everything that's going on, so how about I just see if I can recount for you here most of what I said to her? Would that be okay? (I have no idea what either of us would do if it WEREN'T okay. Ha ha ha!)

When I arrived in her room, she was finishing up her respiratory therapy, inhaling some medicine through a vaporizer tube. So while her mouth was busy doing that, I just went ahead and gave her the full briefing.

I said, "I know Melissa, your case manager here, told you yesterday that next week they were going to transfer you to another faciity, remember?" She nodded, but did so with a puzzled look, as though she weren't sure.

"Well, Melissa told us she told you about it, and I'm here to tell you the latest updates." Grace's face cleared. She could listen, no problem.

"This morning, Jan and I went to look at one of the places they said was a candidate for the next care facility for you, and we liked it. We thought it was very nice, very pleasant, and the best thing was the director of rehab was extremely nice but also very professional, very competent. She seemed like she genuinely cares a lot about the people there."

Grace nodded and took another inhalation of medicine vapor. "We looked at the rehab room, and there were quite a number of therapists in there, and quite a few patients, and all of them, both the therapists and the patients looked like they were working pleasantly together. The therapists were patient and caring, and the patients, well none of them looked like they were being tortured." Grace laughed at that.

"Then we looked at the dining room. It seems that they'll bring you your food to your room while you still have to stay in bed, but they want to get you up and active, even if only in a wheelchair, as soon as you're ready for that, and when you can get up, you go take your meals in the dining room."

Grace said, "Well..." then looked at the inhalator as though it were a piece of liver. (Grace doesn't like liver.)

I said, "I know how you really, really prefer NOT to have your meals in bed."

Grace nodded. "That's true," she said.

"So as soon as you're ready," I went on, "you can go eat in the dining room. They serve the meals there restaurant-style, where they bring you a tray with the food on covered dishes, then remove the covers."

This was what the person at the facility told Jan and me this morning, and when Grace heard it, she smiled and nodded. It's very true that Grace much prefers to eat in a more formal dining setting.

Then I said, "This facility is in a very nice, shaded area, right next to a park. And they've got a very nice outdoor atrium, with trees and shade, and you know what ELSE they have there?"

Grace raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"They have hummingbird feeders!" Grace grinned at this. I went on, "And they have bird feeders and squirrel feeders! So it seems they have their priorities straight."

"Yes, they do!" she said.

"And they told me they sometimes have their therapy sessions outside in that atrium. So that could be very nice."

She nodded.

"Today is Friday," I said, "and they are planning to move you next Thursday. So that would be less than a week and you'll be out of this place.

"At first, they had set it up so that when you left here, you would go to see the orthopedic surgeon who fixed your knee, for a followup visit, on your way to the new place. But you remember they took X-Rays of your knee a day or two ago?"

Grace nodded, but uncertainly.

"The doctor looked at those films today and said your knee looks like it's healing fine, so he doesn't need to see you next Thursday. You can just go straight from here to the new place."

The respiratory therapist came in and chatted a bit, and put away all the therapy apparatus, then she left.

"Oh, and another thing," I said. "They said at the new place they want their patients to get up and get dressed in real clothes every day, so they are NOT sitting around in a hospital gown all the time. I know you'll like that."

Grace agreed that would be a good thing.

Two of the things I forgot to mention to her, but will try to remember when we go back this evening is that the new facility also has a beauty shop and lots of activities each week. I'm sure Grace will be happy to have both of those.

When we were talking to the very nice director of rehab lady, I mentioned that Grace was still not quite tracking properly since the anesthesia. The lady said this sort of anesthesia-induced confusion is not uncommon, and sometimes it takes quite a while to recover from it completely.

It was something of a relief for Jan and me to hear this, first that it's not uncommon, and second that even though it takes a while to recover from, that most patients DO recover from it. We will continue to pray, of course.

Grace and I chatted just a bit more, then I dialed her friend for her on her cell phone, and left when they began to talk to each other.

For the most part Grace seemed a bit better today, and for that we can be thankful. Jan and I will go back and visit her again soon, and I'll report on that later tonight.

Take care, all.

********************************

9:00 PM - Tonight after dinner, Jan and I went to visit Grace. We brought her some emails, and the cards she received today, AND we brought her ... (drum roll, please) ... a piece of grilled Cracker Barrel sourdough bread with cherry butter on it!

After greeting and hugs, we gave her the piece of bread, and she was very glad to get it. She polished it off down to the last morsel.

While she was munching on her bread with cherry butter, I read her two emails that had come in for her. I'm abashed to admit that one was a birthday greeting that came in on her birthday, and even though I printed it out at that time, it sat on my printer until today, when I retrieved it with the email I got today.

By the way, to those of you who have sent emails to Grace (per the instructions farther down on the table of contents page), Grace really does enjoy hearing from you and getting those emails.

Then we opened the five cards she received today and read them to her and handed them to her to look at and read. YES! Of course she loves getting the cards, too! Thank you all who have been sending them!

Jan told Grace about her day at work, including the fact that she took her section today for their annual "ice cream social." Jan says she offered to bring in ice cream and to bring in toppings, but they all wanted to get OUT OF THE OFFICE! If you're in the office, then someone can find you and interrupt your fun. So they all went to Baskin-Robbins, and Jan got a peanut-butter cup ice cream cone. Yum!

Grace told us about an earlier happening in the corridor she found very funny. It was about a little boy who somehow was throwing a tantrum about not liking the dinner he had gotten, and getting a different one and not liking that, and finally storming off down the hall.

Jan noticed Grace seemed uncomfortable, and when she asked about it, Grace said that indeed she was not comfortable, but couldn't put her finger on why. Jan fetched the nurse, who said it looked like Grace had slipped down in the bed a bit. So together, the nurse and I hauled on the undersheet and repositioned Grace in the bed, a few inches towards the head. Grace seemed much more comfortable after that.

Neither Jan nor I had ever seen this nurse before, and she was supposed to have gotten off-shift ten minutes earlier, but her replacement hadn't yet arrived. Even so, she was very pleasant, and very willing to help. It's wonderful how the personnel at this hospital have all seemed to be very caring and pleasant people - with not even a trace of irritation or frustration from any of them. We'll make sure to mention this on the feedback form when Grace leaves this facility next week.

Grace said, "So, on Thursday?"

It took me a second, then I realized what she was saying - referring to our conversation earlier this afternoon. I replied, "Yes. Next Thursday is when they'll transfer you from here to the new place. Today is Friday, so that will be six days from now."

I was glad she was remembering that. A very good indication, I think. I went on, "The case manager here has already set up the transfer. There will be a wheelchair van that will take you there, so all you have to do is," I struck a pose, "ride like a queen."

She gave a short laugh. "I've been there before."

Jan told Grace, "I filled the bird feeders this morning, and the hummingbird feeder, too."

Grace smiled at this, and I told her how I'd seen several hummers at the feeder last Tuesday. She was happy to hear that also.

Grace seemed to be getting tired, and we certainly were, so we made our goodbyes and departed.

Grace seemed fine tonight, even though there was still a bit of residual confusion.

We'll go see her in the morning after her breakfast, and I'll let you know as soon as I can after that about that visit. But I think we're going from visiting Grace to helping a friend move to his new house, so it might be a while before I get to it.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend, everyone.

Stay tuned for more updates.

*******************************