Please pray for my mom

[Eddie]

Heather - glad to hear Mom's home - let us know how she is doing - our prayers will continue for her.  Give our best to your dad.

Eddie

[Happinessangel]

First off I want to thank Pam so much for keeping you guys informed on my mom.

Mom has been home since Tuesday afternoon, like Pam said. She was doing good then, just tired, which is too be expected. Since then things aren't going so well. Due to the severity of the infection the hospital took Mom off all of her arthritis medications, which was fine in the hospital because she was getting an iv of penicillian (hope I spelled correctly) every two hours, but obviously she can't get that at home. Every single joint of her's is swelled up, is in so much pain, and you can feel the heat coming out of the joints (this is due to the RA). Yesterday it was a 5 on the scale of 1 - 10 for pain. Come last night it was getting so bad that she slept in the recliner, because it was to painful to get up and walk to bed. In the middle of the night Mom woke me up, I should mention that I've been sleeping on the couch in Mom and Dad's living room since Mom came home as that is the next to their bedroom, because she needed a drink and couldn't pick up her bottle of ginger ale on the table next to her  . I know with the infection her options are very limited as to what she can take, so I called her arthritis doctor, who has knows everything that has been going on to see what can be done. Of course, this is his day off, but his nurse said that she will send him a message and he will defintely give Mom a call back today.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers they really mean a lot.

Heather

[cindy w]

Heather, how's your mom?  Have you gotten a call back from the Dr. yet?  I'm still praying.

[Happinessangel]

Cindy, Mom is doing a little better tonight. This may seem like nothing to most people, but she was able to feed herself supper tonight, which is a huge change from earlier today. Yes, Dr. Fischer did get back to Mom shortly after lunch time. It makes you feel good when your doctor is as upset as you are about the pain that you are in. He did put her back on one of her arthritis meds, he said he doesn't care what the hospital says she can't be in pain 24/7. Also, he started her on regular prednisone not the prednisone... See More pack like he usually puts her on. Then he told her that the other two meds that she was taking, which includes the Enbrel, he may not put her back on even after the infection finally gets healed up, because those two are know for causing an infection to get even worse. After he told Mom this she started crying on the phone, and he even joined in with her because she was doing so good on those meds. He told her not to worry because he will get her on something else, when the time is right, that will make her just as comfortable if not more comfortable. I took Mom's temp an hour ago, and it is down to 100.4, so it is at least going down. Thank you for your prayers.

Heather

[Riley]

This is great news heather! God bless!

Riley

[mingy]

Heather, I was happy to do whatever I could to help you out.  I wish your mother was doing much better than she is.  It is hard to balance so many medications.  I have a close friend whose husband has mysthenia gravis and Parkinson's and she has to work all the time to keep track of his meds.  Too much of one thing causes hallucinations but not enough and he can't move at all.  So I think I can see what your dear mother is going through trying to get just the right mix of meds to keep her comfortable and pain free but also infections free.  You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

[Happinessangel]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I haven't been on in so long to let you know how Mom is doing. For the first three weeks since she came home we had a visiting nurse coming out everyday to change the wet to dry bandage on her foot. The past couple of they changed the bandage to a silver cell bandage and the nurse was coming out on Mondays to change it, and the wound clinic was changing it on Thursdays when she went. Last Thursday for Mom's appointment the doctor said that the wound is healing up, but extremely slowly because of her arthritis, so he is going to change the course of treatment, which will start at her appointment with the wound center tomorrow. He is going to start having her use a vaccum, sorry I don't know the technical term, which will have to be on and running 24 hours a day everyday. This is suppose to help pull the blood and healthy nutrients to the surface and promote healing quicker. The doctor said for example it can change the healing rate from like six plus months to two plus months. Her doctor said that he wants to try this so the wound will hopefully heal up faster so Mom can get back on her medications that she needs for her arthritis. She was taking Enbrel, methotrixate, folic acid, and relafin, but since this has all started she is only on 5 mg of prednisone a day, which basically only makes her comfortable and able to move her hands some. This is also the same doctor that was treating Mom while she was in the hospital so he knows exactly what is going on, which is good. Since Mom has been home she has to sit in her recliner all day with her foot up, she also has it on a pillow that is like 8 inches thick or so, to get the swelling down. She has to use a walker around the house to put as little weight on the foot as possible, and when she goes out we use Grammy's wheelchair and put her left leg up with a pillow under her knee for support. Mom is pretty nervous about this knew form of treatment. At the sametime she is also nervous about what Jimmy and Nina will say and think when they come to our church on Saturday, May 15th for a fundraising concert when they see her. I think I have gotten everything on Mom.

Thank you for all the prayers you have sent Mom's way.

Heather

[Eddie]

Heather,

I'm praying for Mom's quick recovery. Things seem to take forever but I'm praying that the doctors take the best care of her.  I'm sure Jimmy and Nina will love to see her at the concert.  You take the greatest care of your parents and we're all proud of what you do for them.  I'll continue to pray for Mom.  PS Heather, check your email.

Eddie

[Happinessangel]

Heather,

I'm praying for Mom's quick recovery. Things seem to take forever but I'm praying that the doctors take the best care of her.  I'm sure Jimmy and Nina will love to see her at the concert.  You take the greatest care of your parents and we're all proud of what you do for them.  I'll continue to pray for Mom.  PS Heather, check your email.

Eddie

Eddie,

Thank you so much for all your kind words, they really help especially today. Mom, Dad, and I are in charge of the concert, and today I realized that it is less than 2 weeks away!!! With all of Mom's doctor appointments and everything going on with her, I honestly didn't even realize that we had hit May yet, not good. I did check my email and saw your message this morning, and just got back to replying.

Heather

[mingy]

Jimmy and Nina are going to love your mother and won't say or think anything but that you have all done a wonderful job.  We are looking forward to meeting all of you.  Should we be looking for our tickets now?

[Happinessangel]

Jimmy and Nina are going to love your mother and won't say or think anything but that you have all done a wonderful job.  We are looking forward to meeting all of you.  Should we be looking for our tickets now?

They do, Pam. Hopefully they are looking forward to seeing her again like she is with them.

[Ladybug]

I am so glad you mother is feeling better.  More prayers for her recovery.

[Happinessangel]

Yesterday, Mom went to the wound clinic and they put the vacuum on her foot. The doctor also surprised her, and said that he was going to do a skin graft at the sametime. He said that he did one the day before, and still had some left so he was donating it to her, otherwise it was like throwing $2,500.00 away because he only used half of it and the cost of it is $5,000. It is something that is grown from a baby's foreskin that was used. He said that if it is going to take hold it should take hold in two weeks. So we will find out the day before we leave for Lynchburg, VA. Now with the vaccum we don't need the visiting nurses to come out, and it will be changed once a week at the wound clinic. The swelling in Mom's foot has really gone down to wear she thinks she will be able to wear a sandal when we go out anywhere now. Once again thank you everyone for your prayers for Mom.

Heather

[Sandy]

That's great news, Heather.

[mingy]

This is great news!  How good of that doctor to think of your mother and to be able to do that for her!