check in

Mom is doing well in Ottumwa. She decided to stay at home and do hospice for a while. She is happy to be there with grandma, Mike and kids and the dogs. She will move to the residential hospice when she is ready to.

Mike and family will come back to Minneapolis on Dec. 24 and fly back to Virginia Dec. 25. My family and I will drive down to Ottumwa on Christmas and stay through Monday.

Anybody near Ottumwa who is able and willing to check in on my mom after the 27th, I would appreciate it.

They made it

Mom and Mike and family are in Ottuwma staying at Grandma Canny's house for a few days. She will start spending her nights at the hospice starting this weekend. She will be able to come and go as she pleases and spend time at home with family and friends. Everyone sounds like they are doing fine.

change of plans

After much going back and forth between the options, grandma Carol is now on her way back to Ottumwa with Mike and family. She will be admitted to the residential hospice facility at the old St. Joe's hospital when they get there.

Please pray for a safe and easy trip for all of them.

hospice

Mike and family arrived last night. The kids are all having fun together. Grandma Carol is glad to see everyone.

She will be admitted to a residential hospice here this week.

HHC

We had a visit from the home health nurse, Michelle, who came to visit my mom at home after her pneumonia. It was good to see her familiar face in the midst of constant change.

Michelle explained that the TLC program can transition to hospice at any time that my mom chooses. My mom then clearly said that she wants to go back to Ottumwa when it is time for hospice. She wants to go to the residential program at St. Joes.

So when the time comes, that is what she will do.

home

Tonight my mom got discharged from the hospital. We were surprised when the doctor came in today and told her she could go home.

I spoke to the physical therapist who has been working with my mom this week, and she said that mom is doing fine walking and that the stairs at our home should not be a big problem for her.

She will receive home health care through a program called TLC, which she had after she had pneumonia in August. At that time she had a nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, nurse's aid and social worker make regular visits. I'm comfident that they will do a good job this time as well. Hopefully the nurse will make her first visit this weekend.

writing

I went to see my mom last night at the hospital. She wanted me to tell her friends and family that she would write to you but her hand isn't working right so she cannot.

An occupational therapist worked with her yesterday, and she walked down the hallway with a cane. She feels like her walking is getting less steady.

We don't know when she will get out of the hospital. It is one day at a time right now, and the doctors assess her daily. After talking to a social worker and the priest who both spoke with my mom on Tuesday, I think she will end up staying here instead of going back to Ottumwa.

My grandma is planning to come up here with the cousins who are staying with her. They will drive up on Dec. 17. My brother Mike and his wife and 3 kids are coming here Tuesday and staying until the 25th.

thanks

Last evening I told my mom about this site and that her friends want to be informed about how she is doing.

She said thank you for caring about her, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

The past week

I got a message through my family that several of my mom's friends would like to be updated on what is going on with her. I created this weblog to make this communication easier. I will update it every day that I can.

A week ago tonight I got a call from the doctor who did my mom's laser brain surgery at the end of July. He had ordered an MRI of her head because she'd been having dizziness and staggering problems. She said her walking had changed during the week that she was in Ottumwa for her reunion.

The MRI showed that her brain had many lesions.

After meeting with the doctors and talking about options, my mom decided that she wanted to get more radiation to the head. The other option was hospice, and she is not ready for that. She has received 2 treatments so far, and there will be a total of 11.

She also received chemotherapy at the hospital last weekend, as advised by her oncologist. He said that if she wants to go forward with brain treatment he also wants to treat the lungs and liver. While we were at the hospital I asked the nurse to assess her because I had been noticing a daily difference in her gait and in her speech and thinking. It was decided that she should remain inpatient until the treatment with radiation and Decadron alleviate these symptoms of the brain cancer.

Needless to say this has been a very hard week for all of us. But, when I visited my mom last night I saw a difference in her. She had seen the priest I called from the Basilica to give her the sacrament of the sick, and I think that gave her a lot of peace. She was so at peace last night that I asked her if she had received any new drugs (i.e. tranquilizers) today. She said no. And she was talking more like herself, which makes me think that the Decadron is working and reducing her brain symptoms by reducing swelling. Or maybe radiation is already kicking in?

Anyway, today I believe that she will end up coming home to us and spending time here before she goes back to Iowa. Or maybe she will choose to stay here through this whole process. I want her to come home to us because I'm not ready to let go. And neither is she.