March 2010 - 10 Months

So it's been a couple months since I've done an update. I have good news to share. Kathy is doing great. She's walking with a walker with no problems. She can't go very far, but she can do it! She gets up a lot more frequently now than she did a few months ago. Chuck can get her up now with no assistance from the nurses or aides.

Also, Chuck is able to help her in and out of the car now and has taken her home for a couple trips and to get her hair cut. It's nice for them to have more freedom. She's working on going up a step in physical therapy. She needs to step up a little to get in the car. They don't have a practice step in PT. I guess residents usually don't progress enough to work on stairs.

She still has limited mobility in her right hand. The damage from the clot in that arm is 99% healed but we're not sure how much more improvement she will have. She does well enough to write letters but it's really slow.

Chuck had a minor foot surgery last week. He's doing well and last weekend experienced his first couple days away from the nursing home/hospital in 10 months while he recovered from surgery. The residents in the nursing home were concerned when he didn't show up for the second day in a row. Several of them asked me where he was.

We're hoping that Kathy will be able to come home in the next month or two. I think it depends on how much work Chuck can handle. They are meeting with the therapists and counselors this week to determine a plan for coming home. The foot surgery may slow the coming home process a little. But he wanted to take care of it before mom comes home. We're so glad to see a light at the end of the tunnel for getting home.

Love to all....Lara