Joni Update

Joni's estimated time of departure is Wednesday! She's very excited. Cleo and I went to visit for a couple hours on Friday and Cleo was a hit! I dressed her up in her pumpkin costume and you should have heard those residents! They loved her! She even performed a few tricks for some of them. I went to PT with Joni and it's obvious how much stronger she's getting. She is still getting pretty exhausted from the PT but she says that's getting better too. She had to get to bingo by 2:15 so I headed out then.

Camilia Rose

My mom has worked there forever it seems but I've never been close to a client that was there until now. It's very strange. Anyway...

Joni is doing really well. I went to see her on Thursday and she was in really good spirits. She was so upbeat and positive and happy she's there. She is loving the food, the staff, her room with a view, and all the activities offered. She said that during her physical therapy it's exhausting so she's glad she's there getting the help she needs. It really is a relief that she's doing so well and has such a positive attitude.

Friday she had high blood pressure and high blood sugar so they weren't able to do the morning physical therapy.

Today (Sat.) we stopped in and she's doing ok but I think she wasn't having the best day. We went to her physical therapy with her so she enjoyed that and then we took her outside for some fresh air. I guess her roomie snores! We have to get her some ear plugs! She told us that her sister Kathy and niece Shawn stopped by Thursday and hung out with her for quite awhile. She really enjoyed that. I think the company and phone calls are really whats helping her get through this. She talked about wanting to get home to her gardens. It must be so frustrating to want to do so many things but knowing you can't due to physical limitations. She is ready to be back to normal!

Update

Well, it's been a few days now and Joni is on the mend. It took them a while to control her allergic reaction to whatever medication they gave her. She ended up with a bright red face, redness around her eyes, and a rash under her nose. That is slowly but surely clearing up. Sunday they took her temp and it was high and they discovered that she got E. Coli in her bladder from the foley cathedar they placed in the ER. They thought that she would go home Monday but because of the new infection with her temp they decided to keep her a few more days. The staff there are also experiencing her extremely hard to control blood pressure which hovers around 200 (systolic). That is too high. They are also wanting to control that before she goes home.

There was also another development. My mom recommended that she enter the nursing home where she works in there short stay therapy and rehab program. It is for people just like Joni that are on the mend and just have to get their strength back. She was hesitant at first but after discussing it with her she agreed that it would be the best choice before going home. This is a load off for Troy and I. We like the idea that she is going to a place that will get her up walking and that will teach her exercises that she can do at home.

I didn't talk to the doctor directly but heard through Sandy that Joni can't even get the chills. Her immune system is really low and weak so if she does she has to go straight to the ER. That is a big deal.

Tomorrow Todd will bring her to Camilla Rose and I hope she finds it helpful and worth while.

Scary Day!

Thursday, October 8th

Well, where do I even start? I was home in the afternoon because I had no patients. I was doing laundry and vacuuming when I finally heard the phone. Troy called to let me know that Joni-Troy's mom-was unable to stand up and walk on her own. What???!!! Well, she has a very complex medical history which I won't go into but she was taking a new medication and having this weird side effect from it. She had last taken the medicine at 7:30 am and was unable to walk by 11 am. Anyway, Troy asked if I could call Joni and check on her. I called her and she sounded tired, hungry, and scared. I called Troy back and said that we needed to get over there to get her something to eat and make sure she didn't need to go to the bathroom. It was about 4:15 or so when I got there and Troy was already there in her drive way searching for a key to her house. He couldn't find it so I went to ask Joni if she could try letting us in and she said no that she couldn't walk. Oh boy. So, Troy went to Steve's-his bro's-and got a key and came right back. Well, we got in and asked if she had called the doctor to tell him what was happening. She said yes but he hasn't called back yet. Ok...so we had her call him again and his secretary said that she would have him call us. So, we sat around, had dinner, I cleaned her kitchen, and still no phone call by 8:30 PM. Well, then Joni tried to walk and assisted she could make it to the bathroon but she was still VERY shaky and VERY weak. Troy checked her BP and it was fine. She and I then played cards until about 9:30 when we had her walk again. We thought this muscle weakness was a side effect from the new medication and that since she had taken it so early that it was just starting to wear off. We talked to Sandy-Troy's sister-and she said that she wanted Joni to spend the night at her house. Well, I don't work Friday's so I said that she could just come stay for the night at our house until she gets more stable on her feet. So, we packed up some things and headed to our house. We gave her a cow bell to ring in case she needed anything then it was off to bed.

Friday morning

Troy left at about 7:30 after he helped Joni to the bathroom. I woke up, showered, and went downstairs for breakfast. When I got downstairs Joni was sitting in the rocking chair freezing. She said that she woke up in the middle of the night because she was cold and I asked her why she didn't use her cowbell and she said she didn't want to bother us. I turned the heat up and got her some more blankets. I fixed us up some Cheerios and pears and she came to breakfast. She hardly needed any help up the stairs so I thought that she was on the mend. We ate our breakfast and toward the end she started shaking very noticeably. I asked her what the deal was and she said she was really cold. I turned up the heat again and got her a blanket to put around her shoulders. She then said she wanted to go sit back in the chair so I helped her down and I put my big down comforter over her. She then asked me if I had a hat that she could wear so I went and got her that. She looked pretty funny so I was going to get her picture-she ok'd it-but then she started moaning a bit and I thought this is just crazy. I need to call up that doctor and give him a piece of my mind. Well, I FINALLY got through to him and he sounded like I complete snob, but he helped me so I can't say the bad things about him that I would like to say. He told me that what her side effects were did NOT sound like side effects from that drug. I explained she reacts strangely to most medications and he said that no this sounds different. He said to get her to the ER or regular MD right away. He also told me to take her temp.

I ran upstairs to get the thermometer and took her temp. 104.1 no kidding. I took it again 105.8 no kidding. I told her, "Joni, I need to take you to the ER can you walk to my car?"

J: "Yes, yes, ...yes" She did not make an effort to get up so I told her again.
B: "Joni, I need to get you to the ER. Should I call 911 or can you get to my car?"
J: "Where am I?" (looking dazed and confused)
B: "You're at my house, you need to get to the ER. We need to go now. Can you walk?
J: "Yes, I can." She tries to get up and when she does she pukes all over herself and the blankets. I ran to get a bucket but that was it for the vomitting.
I pause. I can't seem to think straight. I ask her again.
B: "Joni, can you try again to walk to my car?"
J: "Yes, I can. Where is your car?"
B: "It's in the garage. Come on, we have to go now."

I help her back up and we make it to the laundry room and she stops. She's swaying and moaning and she says that she can't walk anymore. I tell her that I have to go get a chair and that she has to hold on to the laundry tub, but she doesn't move. I moved her so that she was leaning on the sink and ran to get the rocking chair-hoping she wouldn't fall. I get her seated, grabbed my purse, and ran out to get the car started. When I got out to my car I realized that I couldn't get her down the garage steps and that I needed help. I called my dad to see if he was still home-sometimes he doesn't go in to the shop until late morning-to see if he could come and help me get her in the car. As soon as he answered the phone I burst into tears! He told me to call 911 because he was already at the shop. So, I called 911 and through my sobbing was able to tell them our address. The guy transferred my call to a lovely woman who was so helpful in calming me down. I told Joni that I called 911 and she said, "OK" almost like, "oh that's nice dear" she still seemed out of it. A couple firemen showed up and then a few minutes later the ambulance. The nice lady stayed on the phone with me until the firemen got there. Luckily, the night before I had gone through all of her meds and made sure they were in their cases so I knew exactly what she was taking. Then they took her off to Mercy hospital. Whoa. When they left I called Todd and Troy to let them know. Todd had called twice while the paramedics were there and Karyn had called twice too. Todd is a worrier so when Joni left I called him first. I told Todd to call Karyn and Troy to call Sandy.

I got to the hospital about 25 minutes later and they were getting a chest x-ray and an EKG. The staff I talked to-not the MD-were thinking it could be pneumonia. In the hospital her temp was 103 so it had gone down. The doctor came in about an hour later and said that she had a severe urinary tract infection. He thought she had probably had it for a few days and explained that sometimes older women just don't know that they have them until they spike a fever. Whoa. Sandy showed up about 20 minutes later and sat with us. It was nice to have her there.

I had an appointment to get to so Sandy stayed with her and I headed out. What a morning! Whoa!

Later that night Sandy told me that the MD had talked to her and said that had she not been brought to the hospital that she would have probably died. Died. Within an hour or so. The infection had gone into her blood which they call sepsis. That is major.

Honestly, I know that all is well and she's safe and sound in the hospital but I feel all this anxiousness about the whole situation. I keep going over all the what if's. What if I wouldn't have called the doctor to give him a piece of my mind? What if I wouldn't have taken her temp? It's so SCARY and FREAKY to me!

Most of all I am so thankful to God! I'm thankful for the doctor for answering my call and I'm thankful to my dad that he told me to call 911. I'm so thankful that my husband's-my sweet husband-mother did not die on my watch. Oh, you all have no idea how thankful I am for that!

Today---Joni had an allergic reaction to an anti-nausea drug and her throat closed up. She was given some Benadryl and is fine now. She's on the mend. She is being given MEGA antibiotics and she's getting rest. I warned the nurse that she gets strange side effects from medications but she said that they have to use this particular antibiotic because it's the best one for sepsis.

Once again-thank God she's ok!

Remembering Grandma Barnes

About 4 and a half years ago my Grandma moved from Lebanon, NH to Little Falls, MN to live with my aunt and uncle. When she 1st moved my aunt and uncle threw her a 85th b-day party and all the family from around the country-NH, CA, WA, and IL-that were able to come showed up to help celebrate. It was an unsaid thing, but everyone made such an effort because my aunt didn't think she was doing so well. Well, she proved everyone wrong, and in the meantime I was able to really get to know her. She was the more distant Grandma spending the majority of her time with her daughters and their families. So when she moved 1 1/2 hours away from me I decided to make the effort to go visit her about once a month.

When I first started going up there she would be sitting at her card table in front of the huge windows overlooking the river working on a puzzle. We would sometimes work on the puzzle together, but most of the time we would just talk. Many times I would go up there with my dad and it was always a double bonus for me. To talk to my dad all the way up, then talk to my grandma, and then listen to the stories they would tell each other about the past was always a real treat. My Aunt Sue would sometimes join us but most of the time she wanted to give us the time to talk to Grandma. Sometimes we would play Skipbo and she loved Skipbo. She especially loved to get rid of the cards in her hand so she could draw 5 more which isn't the object of the game but you couldn't tell her that! She was surprisingly competitive and she loved to win. She also liked to remind us that "there will be no cheaters in heaven." Grandma would love our company for an hour or two and then she needed to rest.

It went on like this for a few years. Then when we would go up there she would be sitting at the kitchen table in "her chair". My dad would sometimes bring sweets up and she always had to have a little something with her coffee. We would sit at the table and talk. We talked about family and good times. I realized that a lot of the times we would be on the same wavelength. She LOVED to talk about God and she spoke frequently about the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was always a huge part of her thought process-worrying about the salvation of her family. She prayed tons for family. She talked about Jesus dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and she said that sometimes the magnitude of that would just hit you and a light bulb would go off and you would understand it's significance. My dad would bring her Bible studies and she would have them done by our next visit. One time I brought up a book for her to read called The Relentless Love of Jesus and she told me that one night she was having difficulty sleeping due to anxiety and she read the whole book and it calmed her down.

Sometime Grandma would sit down at the piano Sue and Mick got her and she would play. She was always saying that it didn't sound good but I always thought her playing sounded wonderful. She was an excellent piano player and could play by ear. When she was young she played piano in a band called the Nielson Victorians. I loved those moments when she would sit down at the piano and I have many memories listening to her play as a kid. Music was a huge part of her life and it is for me as well. She was always asking me about my singing and if I was doing anything with it. It was always hard to tell her I wasn't doing anything about it. A couple of times my dad had a local musician come play for her. He would play oldies and old country tunes and gospel hymns that she knew. She would just sit back and take it all in.

One Saturday I went up there just me and we sat and talked for 9 hours. 9 hours! That was huge! I couldn't believe my good fortune! We talked about family, my grandpa, God, life, everything. At the time I was single and Grandma talked about how good it would be for me to get married some day. She didn't want me to end up alone. I called my dad after that long visit and told him what a gift from God that whole day was and that I hoped I would remember things we talked about and advice she gave. I remember not wanting to wear her out so I would try to leave but she just kept talking so I stayed until I had to leave!

She loved dogs too. Yet another thing we had in common. Sadie was always with her during the day and it seemed like that dog understood everything my Grandma would say to her. It was pretty cute. Sadie was always near Grandma. Of course part of that could be because Grandma shared all her meals with Sadie. :)

I was so fortunate and blessed to have her at my wedding. It was her last outing. It was a beautiful coincidence that we scheduled our wedding near the State Fair. My aunts and uncle made a HUGE effort to get grandma to the fair and to our wedding and I'm grateful for that. After all the hoopla and excitement from the fair and the wedding my grandma went on oxygen at night and my aunt got her a hospital bed. Unfortunately she didn't like the bed she prefered the recliner. My mom had convinced her at the wedding that using oxygen was an ok thing to do and my grandma started using it at night. One day when my dad and I went for a visit she said she was really glad to see us because she felt like she was going to die the day before. She had walked to the kitchen and got so winded she experienced chest pains. She made it back to her oxygen and felt better but she wasn't going anywhere without her oxygen again. Sue and Mick got her set up with some long tubing so she could get where she needed to go in the house with her oxygen on.

After that episode she was almost always in her room sitting in her recliner with Sadie right by her feet. Every so often she would get up and sit in the kitchen but it happened less and less. We still had great conversations about life and faith, but they started to drastically change in the past 1 1/2 years. She started talking about her death. It was very difficult to hear about at first but it became such a common part of our conversation I just got used to it. One day I even told her to enjoy each day to the fullest but it didn't go over too well. She was so ready to go see Jesus. Frequently she wondered why she was still here and she talked about how her soul must not be ready for heaven. She wondered if maybe she had more to learn. She was always trying to figure out what God was trying to teach her and tell her. She talked about how much she loved the 23rd Psalm. She would frequently quote it to me.

Grandma always remembered everyone's b-day AND anniversaries. It was a BIG feat because she has 6 kids, 20 something grandkids, and 20 something great-grandkids. She felt terrible about not being able to keep up with all the card sending. It just got to be too much work for her. She said she would say prayers for people instead. That was a tough one for her though so she ended up calling up her kids on their b-days and singing to them with Sue helping. That made Grandma feel better.

Grandma loved to laugh. She was always laughing. One time I drove up with my dad and all my aunts and my dad and uncle Bill were there and they all told stories. I tried to just sit back and listen. How fun that was! They laughed and laughed telling stories from the good ole days. She loved her kids so much! They teased her a bit telling her that KFC was made out of seagulls. Ha ha.

The last time I went to visit her she was all out of sorts worrying about her sister June who just had a stroke. I got her some lunch and we talked. After a bit I asked her what she was looking forward to when she got to heaven. She thought for a minute and said, "a beer. A beer and a braut. And if they have that one game I love to play at the casino..." I started laughing because here I was thinking she would say something about seeing her mom! I said, "so, you want there to be drinking and gambling in heaven?" She said, "well, just one beer. And I'd like there to be lots of animals. No wine though, I don't care for wine." Oh, what a fun memory! One that I won't forget anyway!

I'm sure memories will come back to me over the years but some things I'll never forget are listening to her talk about God and realizing how much we had in common. I always had a great time visiting her and I will miss that lots.

Love you Grandma!

Wow-What Happened?

It seems very strange that it's been so long since I've posted anything on this blog. There is always a running journal going through my head but I just haven't been writing it out in my own journal or on this blog. Some thoughts are way too personal and some thoughts I just figure no one else cares to know.

I used to keep a journal in high school. I would have a bunch of random thoughts all the time and would need to get them down on paper. One day a very good friend of mine-Andrea-gave me a fancy notebook as a gift. She said she noticed how I was always writing and wanted to support me in that. I thought it was very observant and kind of her. Then one day we had a writing assignment for my English class and it was 10 journal entries. Well, the teacher really made me nervous. She was the type of teacher that was so tough she just scared the bajeepers out of you. I remember on another assignment I felt so lucky to have Alicia writing with me because I knew she was way smarter than me. Anyway, I of course procrastinated on the journal entry assignment until the last minute when I decided to just turn in entries from my fancy notebook. I just knew she was going to hand them back (which she frequently did to students) to try again. She didn't. She actually gave me an A++ on them and said they were very insightful. Ha! I almost fell over! I could not believe my luck. Later on in my life I ran into this very teacher at a wedding. I tried to avoid her because I was still feeling intimidated by her but she found me! I asked her if she remembered me and she said "Of course, I always remember the very good and the very bad students" I thought to myself CRAP! But I did ask her which one I was and she said, "Oh, very good!" Then I said, "ME????" In utter disbelief. I couldn't believe it. Did she remember the journal entries or was it other things like the group projects? I guess I owe Alicia a big thank you!

Speaking of teachers...I ran into my old Algebra teacher a few weeks ago at a Beth Moore Bible study about "Loving Well". My mom invited me to go to this study with her because she knows how much I love Beth Moore. Side note: You get 50 or so women in a room together talking about love and there are buckets of tears! Anyway, I found myself at a table with Ms. Dietrich. Ms. Dietrich was a very scary, tough as nails woman whose legs swished together when she walked. I can still hear her walking around the classroom making sure people were doing their work. She frequently sent kids to the hall for a time out or whatever it was and then she would go out there and talk to them and we would all sit inside and try to hear what she was saying. I was so intimidated by her and was always nervous when she swished by wondering if I was doing something wrong. Anyway, here she was sitting in my small group at a "Loving Well" Bible study talking about LOVING! I couldn't believe it and I thanked God many times that I had never done anything to this woman like put a whoopee cushion on her chair, etc. My mom actually asked her-"So, do you remember Beth?" I was mortified. She said "Yes, she was a very good student" And I said, "I was horrible at Math!" Anyway, she remembered me too. Man, I guess I've always been way too hard on myself. It turns out that Ms. Dietrich (I get to call her Judy now) is a nice, normal person who really isn't scary at all. Who knew?