12 Weeks Today

It has officially been twelve weeks today since Sandi was admitted to the hospital. Tomorrow we will have been here at Walnut lawn as long as we were up on the 5th floor at Cox South. It is hard to believe, we still feel sometimes like we are training nurses here. We will miss them when we are gone..... but not like we still miss the staff on 5 west!

Sandi is doing well still. She is sleepy in the mornings but has been working her tail off trying to strengthen her legs and arms doing physical therapy. We work on getting her up and out of bed twice a day. She can stand with some help and yesterday we managed to get her into a wheelchair that allowed us to sit her by the sink so she could have her hair washed and cut. She said it felt great. Imagine going three months without having your hair REALLY washed! We have been using the shower caps for washing her hair but the feeling of actual water running over her head was a luxury she had missed! Dee did a terrific job cutting her hair and it is really cute. Much easier to take care of when we get out of here!

THAT'S RIGHT! I said OUT OF HERE! Sandi is headed home! We spent a day earlier this week interviewing home health agency's and hospices and managed to find one that we think will be the perfect fit! Season's hospice will be helping us take Sandi home next week. One week from today in fact! We will spend the time between now and then trying to make sure we have her care as simple as possible and trying to move out of here. Six weeks allows you to accumulate a LOT of stuff! Computers, sewing machines, books, cd's, posters, tea machines, refrigerators. You name it, we probably have it here! As much of a pain as it will be to move it all back out, it has made our stay feel much less clinical and more homey. Every person that walks in the room for the first time spends time looking around and is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support Sandi has shown on these walls. I don't think we will be decorating her walls at home however, she is just happy to get the opportunity to see those walls again!

Sandi will be happy to have visitors at home but we probably need to wait at least until Friday to visit to make sure we have her settled in and acquainted with the staff of her new hospice and she can have a chance to rest after the hassle of the ambulance ride home! Those cots are not meant for patients with no padding!

I am going to sign off for now. We have an appointment with PT!

Butterflies

Day 88....

And counting...

I have been gone for a few days again, I know you all know that because I don't post when I am not here. Sandi is still doing well, she seems to be getting a bit stronger and is able to sit up on the side of the bed a few times a day. Today she asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so Mom and I jumped to get it for her because she doesn't have much of an appetite for anything these days! What Sandi want's Sandi gets!

Yesterday was a busy day with Sandi's sister in law Jo having a party for her Daughter who graduated from High School on Tuesday and I had a party for the twins who will turn 7 next weekend. We were all running around yesterday, I hear that the party for Emily went well and there were over 25 people at my mother in law's house last night to have ice cream cake with Megan and Abby.

It is possible that we are looking at breaking Sandi out of this joint in a week or so to take her home with Hospice. Right now we are not positive and until now Sandi wouldn't even consider it but as the months wear on here it looks like a better and better idea especially since my kids will be out of school and we can move up here to help take care of her at home. This will be much easier in some ways and more difficult in others but will probably give her much desired time with her kids as well as more privacy than all of us living in one room for three months together has afforded her. Until now she has not wanted to take this illness home with her and make it more real in their home but I think three months in a hospital room has changed her outlook on that just a bit. More on this as the situation develops!

For now I will leave you with some pictures of the butterflies that we have been raising in Sandi's room. Jami brought some caterpillars for Lauren to raise and we decided to keep them here. As soon as they spun themselves into their chrysalis' we put them in the butterfly cage as we were told to by the directions and waited. Just nine days later we have two that have hatched? There has been some discussion about whether that is the correct term or not! I think Mom and Sandi and I are more excited about this than the kids but hey...we spend more time with them! Those nasty looking brown things are more cocoons waiting to be butterflies! Any ideas on what we should name our new friends? Hope and Faith comes to mind as good name choices but since those are the names of my husbands second cousins I hesitate to name them that. Guess we will keep working on it!

Have a happy Memorial Day and keep in mind all of those that have died for our freedom and pray for the safety of those that are currently fighting so that we may enjoy all of the freedoms and security that we take so much for granted! Be safe!

Three in a Row!

Yes I know, Three days in a row! How lucky you all are! Sandi is very sleepy today and is doing well. We actually got some sleep last night and it appears that Sandi was not ready for the night to be over. She tries to wake up but isn't so successful.

Gina Daniels and her mom Carol Snow were here this morning to visit from Rolla and she loves the visits from old classmates and friends. Those of us that are here are just trying to be somewhat entertaining when she wants to chat or watching tv with her when she doesn't. We have a set date for Tuesdays and Wednesdays for American Idol and try not to watch too much daytime tv so as not to rot our brains! Talk about a lack of quality television. I sure do miss my TiVo!

She is also starting to read more. She just began re-reading Harry Potter 6 so that she will be ready when book 7 is released this July. She and I have always taken the kids to see each movie and we are looking forward to movie #5 this summer too! Don't know if she will make it to the theater with me or not but I will continue the tradition and take all 5 kids with me alone if need be!

Well, I don't have a great deal left to say today, I have some knitting that is calling so I think I will get back to that. I will however post some pictures of the beautiful flowers Sandi has been getting here recently. We may have to bring in more tables soon, the room smells more like a florist's shop than a hospital room and we are more than thankful for that! She is getting flowers from old friends and even from our High School. I can't imagine the High School sending a plant 16 years after I graduated...Crazy! She loves all of them though. They certainly help brighten up the room.

78 days

I was getting tired of counting the weeks so I thought for a change we could count the days.
March 1st seems like it was so long ago. Apparently it was, 78 days is a LONG time!

We can't seem to remember the date exactly but it was around 4 years ago this month that Sandi was first diagnosed. She went into the hospital on a Wednesday I think and they did the surgery on Thursday for what was thought to be appendicitis and it turned out to be this horrible cancer. All I remember was that it was a Monday night when mom called me to tell me what the diagnosis actually was. It never even occurred to us that she could be stricken with this
at the tender age of 29. Turns out May is just a bad month all around where Sandi and this illness are concerned. Both of her re-occurrences were diagnosed in May as well. Sandi and I used to joke that we were just going to tear the month of May out of our calendars and go on with our lives!

That said, Sandi has always had this great Pollyanna attitude about this. Those of you who know her personally know that she doesn't allow it to drag her down. For every bad thing that happens she seems to find the positive side to focus on. I have given her a lot of grief about this but it is one of the things that I admire most about her! The ability to focus on the positive aspects, whether it is the fact that because she was diagnosed in May so she had the summer to heal from her surgery so she wouldn't miss as much school or the fact that she was diagnosed early enough to give her a fighting chance is a quality of Sandi that many of us need to adopt I think!

Sandi didn't give up then and she is not giving up now. She seems to be breathing a little easier again and while there is not much new to report on she is still doing much better than expected and she is still keeping the doctors on their toes. Each day is certainly new with Sandi! Keep praying for her strength and health. Each prayer helps.

10 Days

That is all it has been, 10 days folks! I got to go home last week to do the Relay for Life with some friends in Cabot and see my own children for a few days and reacquaint myself with my own house and I get nothing but grief about the blog not being updated, gees.... Just kidding, I know you guys want updates and info so I will try to do better.

Sandi is continuing to do well. She hasn't made it out of bed to go outside again mostly due to the fact that it rained for a while and then she has been more out of breath here lately making it more difficult to get out of bed. When you have been laying there for 1o weeks plus a few days it takes quite a toll on the strength in your extremities! When she is feeling up to it she does a bit of Physical Therapy to try to maintain some muscle strength but she can't exactly jump up and dance a jig!

Sandi got to spend a great Mother's day with her family. I had borrowed Logan and Lauren for the weekend to visit their cousins in Arkansas and attend the Relay and help with a Girl Scout project but they wanted to be home to see mom for mother's day. Sandi got lots of beautiful flowers and her room smells like a florist shop more than a hospital room.

Amazingly she is even getting flowers from our old high school and friends we haven't heard from in years and years. Sandi is managing to pull people back together even from her hospital bed! She keeps telling us that God isn't done with her yet and as each day passes I realize how true that is. His work through her life is truly an inspiration to all of us.

She has loved the visits from old friends and students. It helps to keep up the hope and the drive to keep fighting. Feel free to stop by and visit, she is in the Walnut Lawn transitional facility in room 304. The west entrance is the easiest to find her room from. Please just keep in mind that she tires easily and talking can be difficult and do not outstay your welcome!

More tomorrow I hope!

Short Trip Outdoors

Since it was a beautiful day and Sandi was feeling better than she has in days we took the opportunity to try to get her into a wheelchair and take her outside. Aside from the trip from the hospital to Walnut Lawn and the trip back and forth again for the thoracentesis two weeks ago it is the only time she has been outside since she was admitted to the hospital on March 1st. It is now May 6th and she got to sit outside in the sun for half an hour and she really enjoyed the visit. I know she has got to be terribly tired of sitting in a bed all day long every day. Every time I think of how tired I am of seeing these walls I think Sandi has got to be even more tired, at least the rest of us get to leave once in a while!

There is a courtyard outside the window of Sandi's room and there is one on the back of the facility that has a fountain that the kids love to play in.There is a great garden area around the fountain. It would be nice if someone planted some flowers though!

Sandi wanted me to pass along the fact that she is up for visitors. While this is the call that many of her students have been waiting for, we would like to ask that you try to keep your visits brief and try not to come in large groups. She still tires easily and needs her rest if she is going to get stronger. If you would like to visit between the hours of 5-7pm that is the time that she is the most wide awake and she would love the company!

She is feeling pretty much the same and other than a few days here and there that she had reactions to some medications we are still hopeful that she will continue to improve. Each day she amazes the Doctors and nurses but those of us that know her always expect the unexpected from Sandi! Keep the prayers and thoughts coming, it brightens her days to get notes and cards from her students and friends!