Mom Update #08

Mom day started out really good today. She was able to get into the beauty shop at the rehab facility and get a shampoo and style. That made her feel much better. Therapy went good today also. She got her first taste of the Contiuous Passive Motion machine today. Her leg is strapped into it and it slowly bends it back and forth. She's gonna have it for 6 hours a day in 2 hour blocks.

Some of you have ask about her getting email. I took a laptop up there tonight so she can read her email now over a dialup connection.

She gets a break from therapy on Sunday so she'll rest then.

Mom Update #07

Mom is now settled in to the rehab facility. Before leaving the hospital though she had therapy once more in the gym there. Today she bent her leg to 85 degrees. That's really, really good for three days after surgery.

It only took about 30 seconds for Mom to have folks laughing at the new facility. She went down the hall in her U of A duds proclaiming "Roll Tide" to passers by.

PS: This is my first attempt at posting to the blog from my cell phone. I hope it worked ok.

Mom Update #06

Mom's therapy session in the gym yesterday was outstanding! A goal after knee replacement is to get where you can bend your leg to a 90 degree angle. That usually happens by bending it a little at a time and gradually over time reaching the goal of 90 degrees. Mom bent her knee all the way to 83 degrees yesterday! The first first time she went to the gym for therapy. She is just doing wonderful.

She'll leave the hospital today and check into Shelby Ridge Rehab Select. The norm is to stay at a skilled nursing facility like this for 3 weeks but she is doing so good that the talk is she may only be there 1 week.

I had several comments yesterday about how Mom just looks and sounds like Mom so soon after the surgery. Let me remind you...she is one tough cookie ;)

Mom Update #05

Mom rested very good last night. It was a very quiet night with just the normal nursing interruptions. Sometimes I wonder if so many interruptions are really what's best for a patient. The one I really couldn't figure out was when my grandmother was in the hospital once and I was staying with her. She and I were awakened by a nurse saying she had come to give my grandmother a sleeping pill! They woke her up at 2:30 AM to give her a sleeping pill!

Sorry for the tangent...mom is doing very good. She got up this morning and replaced the hospital gown with her stylish Bama shorts and shirt. She said "it sure seemed easier to get up this morning than it did yesterday morning...progress, progress. She again walked around the room a little. Everyone involved continues to comment on how good she's doing. She will probably have a trip to the gym this afternoon for her first therapy there. I report how that goes later.

Mom is going to take a little detour from the hospital to mine and Loretta's home. Tomorrow (Friday) she is going to be going to Shelby Ridge Rehab Select which is a skilled nursing facility that's less than 3 miles from our home. She will be there a week and then evaluated and maybe come to our house after that one week. This gives her more one on one time with a physical therapist and gets her further down the recovery road than coming straight to our house and having home health care coming only 3 days a week. We had been told (by a doctor) that her insurance would not cover the skilled nursing facility but that was misinformation.

So now another group of people is going to get to see my mom letting her light shine as she does everywhere she goes.

More to come...

Mom Update #04

Mom is still doing very good. The pain did come on last night but she used her pain medication pump and it controlled it nicely. She got up out of bed this morning and walked over to a chair putting weight on the new knee for the first time. She sat up for about two hours before laying back down. This afternoon she got up again and this time walked all the way across the room to the door and back to the bed. This was really good for the first day. There are still no complications and things are progressing very well. She goes to the gym in the morning for physical therapy so please pray specifically for this.

As I'm sure many who are reading this can imagine she is keeping the doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, food workers, physical therapists...everyone around her smiling and laughing.

More updates to come.

Mom Update #03

FROM Tuesday May 27, 2008
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Mom is resting comfortably tonight. She's had no pain so far. When asked to grade her pain level on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most severe she said "zero, it's not hurting at all"! So far she hasn't taken any pain medication. I'm sure it will kick in but I'm just blown away that she hasn't experienced any pain at this point. She will be getting up on the knee in the morning so say a special prayer for her then.

Some of you have ask for an address for mom. Currently she is in room #-### at St. Vincent's Birmingham.
That address is:

EMAIL ME FOR ADDRESS

She'll be going home (to Neal and Loretta's house) either Friday or Saturday. She'll be there during her rehabilitation (6 weeks or so). Her address there will be:

EMAIL ME FOR ADDRESS

If you're receiving this and you don't even know what I'm talking about, I'm sorry. It just means I got a little click happy. If you've seen enough updates just reply and let me know and I'll take your address off the list. Otherwise I'll send other updates in the next couple of days.

Thanks so much for the thoughts and prayers.

Mom Update #02

FROM Tuesday May 27, 2008
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Mom's total knee replacement surgery was completed about 1:50 PM. Doctor said it went "smooth as glass" with no complications. There was a delay at the beginning because of some equipment not being prepared that should have been. Once started though the procedure went fine.

He said she would get the bad knee of the month award because her knee was so bad, bone rubbing bone. He removed one bone spur that was the size of a golf ball.

She'll be here (St. Vincent's) until Friday or Saturday.

Thanks for the prayers!

Mom Update #01

FROM Tuesday May 27, 2008
==========================
Just wanted to let you know a status on Mom.

She got to the hospital at 8 AM and they immediately took her to a holding room to get ready. They had problems getting her IV in and wound up call an anesthesiologist (sp?) to do it. Around 10:15 AM they came and got her and told her they were taking her to surgery. We sat in the waiting area awaiting the call to tell us they had actually began the surgery. About 12:30 PM we hadn't received that call and we went to the desk and ask about her. They called the OR and checked and they said that they were about to start. Wow, quite a long wait after taking her back. They said it would be a good idea for us to get lunch then. We went down and had a quick lunch and when we walked back into the surgical waiting area they were calling for a member of the Champion family. It was now 1:20 PM. I was told then by an OR nurse that they were starting right then. She said "they brought her up here way too early". We kind of had that idea ourselves.

Will send another update when we know more.