Tuesday 6/30

Norma in Pink! Yesterday afternoon, Norma was moved to the Rehab floor, she is in room 430 phone 734-712-4631.

Norma had her first round of therapy and gets to wear a pink helmet to keep her safe in the event of a fall. I think someone needs to find an Elvis sticker to put on it.

This room should be permanent until she is released from the hospital. Oh, she is wearing people clothes now too!! She looks much more comfortable. I will be bringing her some yogurt tonight as we can bring in foods for her that she might like better than what is being served.They will label it and put in the fridge. Until she is eating more, she will continue to need the feeding tube.

Very soon we can put her in a wheelchair and take her outside to get some fresh air (needless to say she is very excited about that). I guess there is a very nice patio off of the cafeteria that has easy access. Later on, she will be able to have 1/2 day out of the hospital visits.

Therapy is in the morning and afternoon, so my lunchtime visits will most likely stop. The nurse said the best time to visit is in the evening. I had a nice long chat with the nurse, Marlyse, very nice person. I am sure she and Norma will get along quite well.

The flowers continue to come in. Andy, Norma said thanks for the orchid and a big thanks to Janet and Paul for their visit last night.

Here is a poor picture of her flowers and Jim modeling her pink helmet.

Monday 6/29

Visited Norma around lunchtime, found her sittting up in a chair. I brought the requested People magazine, much to her delight!
Norma got to read part of the blog and the comments, I think she was very touched by the comments all of you have been adding, keep them coming.
Gave her a new coat of nail polish and helped her with some applesauce.

The Tech thought Norma would be moved to the Rehab floor (4th) sometime today, lets keep our fingers crossed.
Norma continues to look better and gain more strength every day. I know she is wondering why this happened. Despite the fact that she is unable to talk, I still feel like we have a 2-sided conversation.
Love ya Norma.
K-

Saturday 6/27 - Sunday 6/28

So, I went to a wedding in Vermilion, Ohio had a wonderful time. I wonder what Norma did on Saturday???
K-

It was a very busy weekend for my mom, as she had many visitors. I would list them all, but I'm certain I'd leave somebody out.

She has received some more very nice flowers. I would like to specifically thank Sue Brandon for all of the wonderful gifts she brought. I know that meant quite a bit to my mom. A picture will be up soon.

Jim spent Saturday night at the hospital and we were both there for parts of Saturday and Sunday. My mom looks ready to move onto the next stage of recovery. Hopefully, she will be moved to the 4th floor on Monday, at which time she would began physical and speech therapy. The doctor will meet with her most likely Monday morning to determine if she is able to do so.

- Kevin

Friday, 6/26

My Mom's hospital room is turning into a mini-botanical garden, as evidenced by above right pick. The quilt was kindly sent by the Colletes.

Me and my dad visited my mom today in the late afternoon. She was pretty sleepy the entire time we were there. However, we were bile to get a few laughs and smiles out of her when she wasn't dozed off. She is certainly improving from day to day. Her emotional recovery this past week is very encouraging.

by Kevin

I want to say thanks for all the nice flowers that you have sent Norma. The room smells so nice. Norma gets a big smile on her face when she looks at the flowers. I also want to say thanks to everyone for sending all your prayers for Norma's recovery.

Norma and I met with the social worker (Brenda) at the hospital today. It looks like on Monday she could begin the physical therapy. We are hoping that Norma can do the physical therapy in the hospital. It is located on the 4th floor. It is a 3 hour a day therapy and would last for approximately 3 weeks. The Doctors want to make sure that the patients are able to handle that amount of daily therapy. She will be meeting with one of the doctors tommorrow. Brenda said that Norma would be a good candidate because she is young and in good physical shape. I was given a list of skilled nursing facilities in the area as a back-up plan.

by Jim

Thursday

Room 821 East will Norma's new home for a few days. 734.712.4897. If you call after 7pm there will most likely be someone there with her to answer the phone. I am sure she would love to hear your voice.

Norma's finger nails now have 2 coats of baby pink nail polish. They look very nice....
Still no food, just a cocktail of colace, vitamins and meds added to her feeding tube.

But..... Shower Time at 12:30!!!! It has been 6 days, Norma seemed very excited at the announcement by the nurse.
K-

P.S. I forgot to add that the 8th floor is for stroke patients. All nurses have to be "stroke" certified by taking a year and a half training.

Wednesday

Went to see Norma during my lunchtime (still in room 2072). When I got there, she had been put in the lazy boy chair next to the bed. She didn't look very comfortable, so I asked the tech to adjust her and the pillows and we got her looking good. Her eye area is quite swollen and it seems to bother her, as she rubs it quite a bit.

Flowers from Dar! I pulled the note off and she took it and read the note. So nice to see her reading. I had noticed that she has been looking at her nails quite a bit. Asked if she would like them painted and got a great big smile...

Evening-
Norma is back at 8East (the new tower, where she was pre-surgery). Her hair had been washed since lunchtime, the tube had been removed from her head and the swelling around her eye is all gone. She looks the best I have seen. Jim and I stayed for a couple of hours. She is quite tired so we left early.

Tuesday

Norma was moved in to room 2072 today. She was just waking up as I arrived,greeting me with sounds that she had not made before.

As I was putting up the decorations that she has managed to accumulate, I realized that she had not seen one of the cards. Norma took it from my hand, read the outside then opened it up and read the greeting inside. This was the first time that she showed any interest in reading, how exciting.

I noticed that Janet and Paul left a long note taped to a bottle on her tray. I pulled it off and handed it to her she read the entire page and seemed to understand everything they wrote....
I asked if she would like me to bring some magazines tomorrow, she nodded yes.

I questioned her about the surgery and she nodded that she remembered and understood. I shared some of the information I was able to find on the internet with her.

Jim and Kevin arrived a little later, which is when we created this blog (Kevin's idea and guidance). We stayed until 10pm

Norma had a slight temperature today and they had to give her insulin due to her high blood sugar. Probably a result of the liquid given through the feeding tube. She was taken off of the self dosing pain pump and switched to tylenol with codeine as needed.

Nurse Megan and the tech (sorry, I don't remember her name) were so nice and caring. The staff continues to provide great care to our special Norma.

Karen

Monday

Jim got a call at 8am for the hospital, Norma needed to have surgery to relieve the pressure from the swelling of her brain. Surgery was scheduled for 1pm. Dr. Buckingham told us that the CAT scan from Saturday showed significant swelling of her brain, and it was only the third day. Normally the swelling peaks on the 7th. Sounded like this was the right thing to do. The surgery is called Decompressive Craniectomy and lasts a little over an hour. A piece of the skull is removed to provide space for brain expansion. This reduces the change of brain damage. The piece of skull is put under the skin in the abdomen to keep it viable for the 1-3 months until it is replaced.

Surgery went well. We got to see her in recovery a couple of hours after the surgery was over. She was out of it, as she should be. Jim and I left then as they wanted to keep her quiet with no stimulation so that they would not need meds to keep her blood pressure steady.

Sweet dreams Norma.

Karen

Sunday (6/21)

Father's Day
Jim and Kevin were here first thing in the morning. Then around 6pm the Wolford clan arrived. They finished dinner at Karen's house (saving dessert for after the visit).

Norma had a big smile for all of us, as she seemed to recognize all of us. She kept smiling at Mom. They put a feeding tube in her nose, but it was not yet hooked up to anything. A bit later, dinner was brought in to her. We all jumped, that's not hers, she can't eat food .... Alas, we were wrong, they were starting her on a "swallow" therapy. She had to have another person with her, be sitting totally upright and only a sip at a time. Unfortunately, it appeared to be the typical "hospital" food. Kevin fed his Mom several bites of mashed potatoes and some sips of apple juice. Real food, YEA!!!!
After she finished her dinner, they hooked the feeding tube up to a bag with liquid that resembled baby formula. This way, she would get the nutrition she needed and any extra calories that she might consume.
Still no word on the CAT scan they took the night before. We stayed about 20 minutes or so then left to have brownies and ice cream at home.

Jim and Kevin made a stop back after dessert.
Karen

Saturday (6/20)

Tests, tests, tests. First thing Saturday morning Norma was taken to another part of the hospital for tests on her carotid, heart and stomach (as Jim tells me, I wasn't there yet).

Around 10 am the occupational therapist and Dr. Kachman gave Norma tests to assess her physical status. They checked for eye movement/tracking, arm and leg strength, swallowing and some other things that I don't remember.

It was after this set of tests that it was determined that she could sip water and eat ice cream.

Janet and Paul came and brought decorations for the room. A great carribean like poster and one with 9 puppies on a couch. And, three butterflies and a blue stringy fish thing. It really made the room more cheerful, Norma seemed to enjoy looking at them.

Jim finally went home to shower and contact family and friends. I kept Norma company for the next several hours. She was very alert and would nod to my questions. We watched tv, the Travel Channel until she handed me the changer, I guess she had enough of China, she obviously did not like what I was watching!! We watched a bit of sports then she handed me the changer once again.....

Norma ate some ice cream, put up her hand in the stop mode when she had enough. All things told, she seemed to be very alert, was doing a good job communicating and was very sleepy. She was awake about 10 minutes every hour then would doze off. The staff treated her with great care.

At 8 p.m. she was taken downstairs for a CAT Scan of the left side of her brain to investigate.

by Karen

Mom began to show signs of improvement on this day. She seemed to be a little more aware of her surroundings. Most importantly, she was smiling some and tried her best to get a few laughs out.

by Kevin

Friday (6/19)

The journey began on Friday, June 19, 2009. While getting ready for work, Norma suffered a stroke on the left side of her brain. She was brought to the Emergency room at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor afternoon.

When I arrived at the ER at 7pm, I found Jim, Kevin and Norma. She did not look well, but put up with stories and updates on the kids. She seemed cognizant of her surroundings, but was unable to move the right side of her body. She was able to get a "ohhh" and an "aahh" out as well as attempt to smile and laugh.

At 8pm, while I was updating Mom on her status, she was moved to the 8th floor. Fortunately I was able to find them shortly there after. Her room was very nice with a great view overlooking Ann Arbor to the north.

Needless to say Norma was very tired, snoozing between pokes and prods.

by Karen Jania Wolford

I spent the night with Norma in her room. The staff was seeing her every hour to check on her vitals. The doctors and nurses are super at this hospital.

by Jim Wolford

Thank you so very much to Paul Bezaire and Janet Wilson for getting her to the emergency room and they're constant love and support through this process.

by Kevin Wolford