One last night..

Bonnie's final night at Virginia Mason! I think a combination of 16 days in the hospital and no sleep last night made for a very tired Bonnie. Dad commented she was sleepy all day, and when I showed up she was already passed out. I cleaned up some of her belongings to make tomorrows transition faster, and left her a note and some Wedgwood grown veggies! She woke up briefly and smiled at me, but I am not sure she is even going to remember I was there.

I visited Wedgwood School today. It was definitely hard being there, but everyone is so caring and supportive. Bonnie has a list of people waiting till she gets settled back at home, and then the visitors will come pouring in. I am going to try to set up a calendar on this blog to help organize food deliveries. Jim Spoor mentioned how much they appreciated the dinner deliveries and the relief it brought when they went through a medical mess. So, even though Peter is probably going to complain, I think it's a good thing all around. Mom is also going to need various stimulation activities to keep her mind busy - so if anyone has a craft project or skill they want to teach or be taught, card games to play, puzzles to solve - I think we will try to fit those all in. Gotta keep her brain sharp.

Peter has been working very hard to get the house ready. New hand rails have been put in place all over. He set up a bed on the main floor (no stairs yet for mom) and rearranged some furniture to make more traveling room. I think Mom will be impressed with the changes. I am sure Dad is anxious to have Mom back, and for them to get a routine down.

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If anyone is having trouble posting, I will try to explain the easiest way to do it. Start by clicking the 'Comment' link at the bottom of any entry and write in the 'Post a Comment' section. Where it says 'Comment as...' with a drop down box - choose 'Anonymous'. Type the word for the 'Word Verification' and it should appear! But, be sure to put your name somewhere in the comment so we know who is writing! Let me know if you are still having problems, I can give more help if needed!

MRI updates!

Bonnie had an MRI this afternoon to check on the progress of that nasty tumor! According to today's pictures - all news is good news.

There is no new tumor growth - which is probably the best news we have gotten in a long time. Whatever was left of the tumor, which is still there - will be attacked with radiation starting Wednesday. There was no swelling or bleeding either! Yea!

Dr. Weinstein (not the wiseass) has been assigned to mom. She likes him. There are quite a few Floor 9 staff that mom likes also, so we were just discussing doing something nice for them after she gets home. They have taken pretty good care of her and have tolerated all of us for the past 2 weeks.

On a side note, I apologize if I have not gotten back to my personal emails. Like phone calls - I am terrible at returning messages, but I am planning on tackling them soon! Thanks again to everyone for all the well-wishes!

Weekend Updates

Bryce and I stopped by Saturday evening with a burrito and a cribbage board. Bryce played against Mom and I - he won - boo! Bonnie played well - has a little trouble moving the pegs and shuffling. Her math skills seem right on point, which was good to see. Hopefully she doesn't think I am patronizing her when I make her explain her calculations but I think she knows I am just checking to see how well her brain is functioning.

I came by today also. Evidently she had tons of visitors. Jim and Kathy came during group therapy - so they joined in! Peter came for 2 therapy sessions and will go to one tomorrow. At least 4 other people stopped by with treats and stories. I could tell she was worn out by the time I got there. She wanted to stay awake to watch Desperate Housewives but I left an hour before it started and she was already in bed with droopy eyes. Mom had a session with Molly the dog, yesterday, which she enjoyed! I think she misses Emma Dog and I know Emma misses her. Dad is rearranging the furniture so Emma will have a bed right by Bonnie when she gets home. It will be nice to get Mom home so we can get our new routines down. Wednesday will be a big day!

Friday night recap...

Hello all, here is the continuation of Friday night's post. I visited Mom in the early evening with Dick's cheeseburgers and fries at her request. We had dinner and talked about her day. She mentioned during therapy she got to use one of the computers and that she was allowed to use it but couldn't get there by herself, so I knew that was my cue to take her.

I asked her if we needed to get a nurse to help her up, but she said the two of us could do it together. She talked me through her steps, making sure her walker was in the right spot, the wheelchair was locked, etc. She got up with no problem and no help from me. Within a minute or two we were cruising down the hallway. We had to walk past the nurses station before getting to the room, and that's when her nurse, Larry - stops us and asks if I had been cleared to walk with my mom! Busted!! Ah well. He walked with us the rest of the way.

We checked the blag and she read the comments. She posted her entry, but I could see she was struggling with things to say and was having a little bit of a hard time typing. I think her long fingernails weren't helping much. She really didn't know what to say, hence the short entry, but any type of 'thinking' activity is going to help her regain her brain skills. Next she played a game of Spider Solitaire. Overall, she understood the concept and how to play - but I think the part of her brain which is for thinking a few steps ahead needs some retraining. She could always find her next move, but couldn't really see how moving one card now could be beneficial in a turn or two. But with some slight prompting, she finished the game - but I could see it had worn her out a bit.

Since she is coming home so soon - Dad will start going to her therapy sessions to learn new ways of helping her. I think I will try to visit some also. It's nice to see the way they do things, because they try to keep things consistent to help her remember the right way to do things. For instance, every time she stands up now - she counts to 3. These verbal cues help all of her know what is going on - so it's kind of silly to watch - but they are working - so I am all down with it.

I am heading off to visit her now, looking forward to seeing how her day is going.

Bonnie's First Post

5 more days and counting. Thanks to all of you for the nice comments. And especially to Paul for making such a valiant effort. Jenya says my hair appears to be growing in gray now.

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Bonnie and I are sitting in the conference room at VM using their computer. She is walking quickly, with 'long steps'. She is well on her way to being strong enough to come home on Wednesday which was a slight concern last week. If you haven't seen her in a few days, the improvement is amazing! I will post more later tonight. Right now I can tell she wants to play some video games!

Wednesday Night

Today was a fairly normal day for Bonnie. I showed up a bit after 7 pm and was greeted by Jim Spoor who was there visiting. Linda Spoor visited earlier today as did Lyle and Carolyn Rathe. Other than that, it didn't seem like anything new happened today.

Mom was already in bed when I showed up, which I thought was pretty early, but she said was feeling tired from her therapy. We hung out with Jim, and talked school. After Jim left, we watched some Dancing with the Stars. I told her I needed something exciting to write about, since nothing really changed today. She mentioned that I can let everyone know they are invited to visit her. She has various therapy sessions 2 -4 times a day - but is almost always done by 3pm. So if anyone would like to visit, she would like to see ya.

Other than that - she's complaining about the hospital food - but when I asked her what else she wanted, she just gave me that 'meh' look. Ah well. She'll be home soon!

Today was a good day...

Tuesday brought a few changes and advances for Bonnie. After a test, it was noticed she had very high levels of the anti-seizure medicine in her system. So, the doctors decided to stop the medication until it could be better controlled. Evidently, this over saturation of medicine was bogging down her system as today two separate people (Joyce and my Dad) called my mom 'perky.' As you all know, and even Bonnie commented that 'perky' is not a word normally used to describe her - so it was a good thing. She walked twice as far today compared to all previous exercise sessions and was in good spirits.

Also, one of the nurses removed all 25 of her staples tonight. She toughed through it complaining very little about the pain, only commenting that he pulled a few of her hairs. There was no bleeding or separation of the incision - so that turned out very well also. Her head is very much starting to itch with healing and hair growth, so the nurse warned her to be careful about scratching gently.

Mom also got to read the comments left on the 'blag'. I showed her the nice things you all had to say, which she very much enjoyed in between segments of Dancing with the Stars. I could see she is missing her computer time at home, and I didn't have a mouse on me (those laptop touch pads are tricky) but next time I will have it all ready for her to play some games and get that brain moving.

Thanks to everyone who is bringing in snacks/treats. She has been cleared to eat outside food, and her blood sugar has been very stable so she is allowed to have some sweets. I hear her friend *Rick is bringing her some cookies on Wednesday and Peter brought in some Fritos! I am sure that is more exciting than the turkey dinner she's had way too much this week.

Monday's Visit

Peter, Misha and I just got back from the hospital. We got there just in time for her final physical therapy session, which turned out to be 'our' session. Sarah, the PT, and surprisingly, our neighbor... talked to us and showed us ways to help lift mom out of the wheelchair to a bed and back. We each took turns helping shift her and get her situated. I am sure we will all have a few more training sessions before she makes it home. On that note...

After talking with the Social worker, Mom's estimated discharge date is Sept 30. This is the same as radiation visit #1 - so that might get pushed back a bit. The release date is very much dependant on Bonnie's progress but it is still nice to have a time frame. We were also told that after Bonnie gets home - we will have various services coming to assist her and us. She will be getting occupational and physical therapy, speech and memory therapy, nurses to help regulate her blood sugar (the steroid she's on throws that outta whack) and other assistance depending on what is needed. Emma will have so many people to bark at - she will be exhausted!

Bonnie worked on a Sudoku today. It took a bit of prompting to get it all done, but with just a few reminders it she solved it and we moved on to a crossword puzzle. That was a bit trickier but with some practice she will be able to work on them by herself. I think it was a nice change for her to actually 'do' something, even if it was a bit of a struggle.

Thanks again for all of your support. We have been receiving so many cards and flowers. It is always nice to know we have friends who would be willing to do anything!

What I know so far...

Thanks all for your comments! I am super excited for Mom to read all of these things and see such wonderful things you all have to say!
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For those of you who haven't heard - Bonnie has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Basically, since she retired, my Mom has been a little 'off.' She wasn't as quick as one would expect and was getting distracted easily. No one in the family was quite sure what was going on - but were we all watching and waiting to see if it would pass. Last week while getting some crackers, she fell (and sat on the floor eating crackers with Emma the dog) and combining that with a bladder problem - my dad's concern heightened.

So, on Thursday, Sept 10 - Bonnie visited a gynecologist. While talking about the problem, Mom was leaning a bit to the left and the doctor noticed and mentioned she thought all the problems were neurological or related to having small strokes. She was given a CT scan which showed a mass in her brain. She was transferred to Virginia Mason and given an MRI which showed the mass was a tumor and due to the aggressiveness nature of it - most likely cancerous.

She stayed overnight, but Friday was allowed to come home until surgery which was scheduled for Monday. Things were mostly normal over that weekend. She returned to VM on Monday - had the surgery which went well. The surgeon said they got a 'pretty good amount' of the tumor but not all. Since being located in the brain - aggressive removal of tumors can lead to loss of normal functions and no one wanted that.

Since the surgery, Mom has been playing musical floors at VM. She started in ICU - stayed there for 2 days - moved to the oncology floor for another day and now has settled in on the Rehab floor.

Her 'wiseass' doctor - an Irish redhead :) - explained to me a few nights ago that they were still testing the tumor to see which type of cells it was composed of and therefore the best way to treat the cancer. As far as I know, the plan is still going to be targeted radiation at her brain. Her first appointment is scheduled for the 30th of September, but maybe be postponed depending on her strength. We are not sure when she will be coming home, but it looks like a few more days for sure at the hospital.

Phew! I think that is most of the information I know. Again, thanks very much for all your well-wishes and support. She has been entertaining lots of visitors (Mr. Peterson came by today) and is cracking jokes and had real pizza today! (thanks Sasha!)

So, overall - things are okay. Everyone is keeping spirits up and keeping her entertained. She is our priority and we all very much appreciate the cards, phone calls, emails and the comments. We are very lucky to have such amazing friends. Thanks!

Sunday - Sept 20

Due to the overwhelming interest in how Bonnie is doing - I figured I would put all updates in one spot - that way everyone can see what is going on instead of waiting for emails from me.

As of today, the 20th, Mom is located at Virgina Mason on Capitol Hill on Seneca. She is on Rehab floor 9 in Room 18. She is getting physical therapy and occupational therapy usually 4 times a day.

Bonnie is enjoying visitors. She may look distracted while talking to you - but she's mostly listening. :) She will often play with things, but I think some of that is just boredom. She has mentioned being bored but her attention span is not quite there to do much else but watch tv.

I will be visiting her later today and will post an update when I get home.